THE TRANSFORMATIONS TO SUSTAINABILITY NEWSLETTER
Guest editorial by Mathieu Denis, Science Director, International Science Council. The International Social Science Council (ISSC) – the initiator of the Transformations to Sustainability programme – has recently undergone a transformation of its own. At the beginning of July 2018 the ISSC merged with the International Council for Science (ICSU) to create the ‘International Science Council’ – the world’s largest non-governmental science organization, with a unique global membership of more than 180 organizations, including national, regional and territorial scientific bodies, international scientific unions and associations, and affiliated members.
The International Science Council emerges from a decade of increasingly close collaboration between the ISSC and ICSU, which included developing and implementing capacity-building initiatives and integrated research programmes (such as Future Earth or Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR)). Merging these two well-established organizations was an exciting and demanding two-year process. ICSU and ISSC repeatedly argued that if we want to bring scientific findings to bear on public policy and action, business as usual is just not an option. The International Science Council provides a new framework to foster and advance collaboration across disciplinary and geographical boundaries, in order to help address global challenges in innovative and much more imaginative and impactful ways.
The International Science Council has a vision of science as a global public good and for the global public good. Science should be inclusive and equitable, and its benefits universally shared. These principles are very much in the spirit of the Transformations to Sustainability (T2S) programme. The programme was designed and piloted by the ISSC between 2014 and 2018 to help redress the lack of genuinely interdisciplinary and North–South collaboration in research on global environmental change and sustainability, and to open up the scientific endeavour, for instance by involving non-academic actors in the design of research questions and development of solutions.
Now the ISC is proud to be closely involved in the new T2S programme (2018-2021), which brings together two major international consortia of research funders (NORFACE and the Belmont Forum), and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Like its predecessor, the new T2S programme is an example of the kind of innovative, interdisciplinary, internationally collaborative research initiative that we need to tackle urgent social and environmental challenges. This is exactly the kind of research that the Council aims to champion.
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Our new mission was the focus of a public event that took place in Paris on 5 July, hosted by the French Académie des sciences, to celebrate the launch of the new organization, featuring addresses by Craig Calhoun, Esther Duflo, Ismail Serageldin, Cédric Villani and others. You can watch the event on YouTube. Information about the first Governing Board of the ISC, elected on 4 July, can be found on the ISC’s new website. Photos from the founding General Assembly (3–4 July) and the public event on 5 July are available on Flickr.
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T-LEARNING latest: DayOne podcasts on Cape Town water crisis, decolonizing education, seedbeds of transformation
The T-LEARNING network has been busy with the production of several new audio-visual resources that focus on transgressive learning for social change.
First up, the DayOne podcast: In the face of a complex water crisis in Cape Town, two early-career researchers have launched DayOne – a podcast created by and for Cape Town to share understanding on how water flows in the city. The series aims to counter confusion and uncertainty about the changing situation by creating a platform for sharing urgent information, responding to water-related questions, and building a network of local leaders and innovators. The podcasts are multi-lingual (most episodes are available in English, Xhosa and Afrikaans), and feature people from all walks of life in Cape Town.
Early-career researchers from the network also feature in a number of new videos: Watch Injairu Kulundu talking about decoloniality and transgressive learning in an interview for South African TV. Dylan McGarry and Priya Vallabh were interviewed on the sidelines of the Seedbeds of Transformation conference held in South Africa in May. Heila Lotz-Sisitka contributed to the opening plenary at Seedbeds (video).
See our Transformations Stories below for more updates from the Seedbeds conference.
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ACKNOWL-EJ latest: Workshops examine transformative futures, science and activism, resistance
The last few months have seen the ACKNOWL-EJ network participate in dialogues in a number of different fora, starting with Leah Temper speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on 23 April 2018, as part of the Eighth Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature. Her speech - Blueprint for an Earth Jurisprudence Economy - is available online.
A workshop on “Imagining Utopias” held on 28 May in Barcelona brought together artists, journalists, activists, researchers and students to help imagine what a just and sustainable future could look like. ACKnowl-EJ also hosted a meeting of researchers working on socio-environmental issues prior to the Latin American Studies Association Conference (LASA) in Barcelona, and a special panel at LASA on Co-production of knowledge in Environmental Justice struggles, presenting processes of co-production of knowledge from three complementary approaches being developed by the network, analyzing processes, practical experiences and methodologies of co-production in Latin America and beyond.
At the Political Ecology Conference held in Oslo (20-22 June) a “transformative toolbox of resistance” session presented a collection of ‘curiosities’ (ideas, visions, worldviews, emotions etc) and ‘objects’ (banners, blockades, bulldozers), with the aim of reflecting their scholarly work from bottom-up. Marta Conde and Mariana Walter also gave a presentation on science and activism at the Degrowth and Environmental Justice summer school held at ICTA-UAB in June, discussing different forms of knowledge, forms of co-production and political rigour.
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PATHWAYS latest: Rapid transition in China, Open Source for seeds, early-career summer school
The China hub of the PATHWAYS network completed its second T-lab workshop on 21 April in Beijing. As China pursues a programme of ‘ecological modernisation’, polluting industries are being rapidly closed down. The PATHWAYS Network is exploring what happens to workers who have lost their jobs, and how the transition could be carried out differently. The workshop, organized by Beijing Normal University, involved 20 participants, including government officials, laid-off workers, NGO workers, the media, a factory owner and researchers. The workshop highlighted different gender perspectives, and made use of gender analysis tools.
The PATHWAYS network at STEPS America Latina is co-designing an Open-Source licence for seeds called Bioleft, with the purpose of defending and recovering a traditional culture of openness, sharing and collaboration in seed breeding. The goal is to use IP regulations to protect – rather than restrict – the free circulation of seeds for research and development. A digital platform will help people to use and diffuse the open source licence and to connect breeders and farmers. Key stakeholders see the platform as an important tool to help participatory breeding and are involved in co-creating it. See also: Hacia una red global de semillas de codigo abierto.
In May, a summer school on Pathways to Sustainability in Brighton, UK, included early-career researchers connected to the T2S programme, including Jessica Cockburn (Rhodes University), Sol Sebastian (CONICET/CENIT, Argentina), and Victoria Chengo and Winnie Khaemba (ACTS, Kenya).
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KNOWLEDGE BRIEFS
Accelerating the kinds of learning needed to make transformations to sustainability will require transformations in the way knowledge is produced and used. The first 'knowledge brief' published by the Transformations to Sustainability programme highlights ten essentials for research that responds to the challenge of environmental change.
The knowledge briefs synthesize findings from recent research papers on transformations in an accessible format, with the aim of opening up the latest transformations research to a wider audience.
Download the first T2S knowledge brief: Ten essentials for research that responds to the climate challenge.
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TWELVE TRANSNATIONAL PROJECTS RECEIVE 11.5M EUROS FOR RESEARCH ON TRANSFORMATIONS TO SUSTAINABILITY
In late April we announced that twelve transnational research projects had been awarded 11.5 million euros from the Belmont Forum and NORFACE joint programme Transformations to Sustainability (T2S). The new programme - starting in 2018 - builds on and expands the original Transformations to Sustainability programme launched by the ISSC in 2014. The twelve teams will undertake research in areas ranging from groundwater, mining, urban development and land registration, to the role of migration and intellectual property rights in sustainability transitions. The projects involve researchers from a wide variety of disciplines working together across the globe, from Brazil to Sweden and from Japan to Burkina Faso.
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JUST TRANSITION(S)
The 'Just Transition' - the idea that justice and equity must form an integral part of the transition towards a low-carbon world - is the focus of a new digital publication launched earlier this year by the Just Transition Research Collaborative (JTRC) in partnership with the International Social Science Council.
With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, the international community has committed to bold and ambitious steps for tackling global warming and improving sustainability. However, the greatest challenge still lies ahead: identifying and mobilizing the resources, processes and actors necessary to set the world on the path to a sustainable low-carbon future.
The 'Just Transition'; is one of a handful of concepts emerging as we collectively strive to address these important questions. In recent years we have seen a proliferation of references to Just Transition in policy circles, among NGOs, think tanks, philanthropic foundations and business interests. Instead of leading to an alignment of people's views, the concept's growing popularity has actually led to an expansion of its meanings. Is Just Transition just another buzzword? Should we take it seriously? Can it play a positive role in the international climate and sustainable development debates?
The Just Transition(s) forum seeks to connect the social sciences and humanities with the Just Transition concept and those who use it, and with the climate and development conversation more broadly. Through a combination of concrete case studies and more conceptual analyses, the online publication acts as a shared space for academics and other interested parties to share their views (and voice their concerns) on the Just Transition, its meanings, its current uses and its potential. A number of think pieces, including by Rebecca Shelton - part of the PATHWAYS network - are already online, and more will appear in the coming weeks. Join the conversation.
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The COBENEFITS project continues to grow, having recently been officially initiated in Turkey and participating in Petersberg Climate Dialogues on speeding up transformation to leverage the opportunities of early action on climate. COBENEFITS connects the social and economic opportunities of renewable energies to climate change mitigation strategies. |
The National Science Policy Network (United States) has launched a new website to help early-career scientists based in the US to engage with policy processes, civic engagement and advocacy. The group has announced a number of initiatives, including a microgrant programme. |
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IPBES WORK PROGRAMME
The Multidisciplinary Expert Panel and the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) have opened a call for requests, inputs and suggestions on short-term priorities and longe-term strategic needs for its future work programme. Submit by 30 September.
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TRANSFORMATIONS STORIES
Living Aulas: What connects 'undisciplinary' research on sustainability?
Almendra Cremaschi and Rebecca Shelton (PATHWAYS) report on the recent early-career summer school in Colombia
Sustainability worthy of our longing
Hannah Moersberger (Future Earth) and Dylan McGarry (PATHWAYS) report on the Seedbeds conference in South Africa
T-learning as Seedbed of Transformation
Heila Lotz-Sisitka (PATHWAYS) reports on the Seedbeds conference in South Africa
Investigación-acción y fortalecimiento de capacidades sobre la autonomía indígena como estrategia de gestión y control territorial
Mirna Inturias, Miguel Aragón y Iokiñe Rodriguez
Video series: Testimonies of resistance to environmental crimes
ACKNOWL-EJ is collecting a growing number of testimonies from Lebanon
For more updates, ideas and inspiration from the T2S community, see the websites of the ACKNOWL-EJ, PATHWAYS and T-LEARNING networks.
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WHAT WE'RE WRITING
Mapping phosphorus hotspots in Sydney’s organic wastes: a spatially explicit inventory to facilitate urban phosphorus recycling
Geneviève S. Metson, Dana Cordell, Brad Ridoutt, Steve Mohr (2018), Journal of Urban Ecology
This paper results from work initiated by the P-FUTURES team during the seed grant funding phase.
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Closing Pakistan's Yield Gaps Through Nutrient Recycling
Usman Akram, Geneviève S. Metson, Nils-Hassan Quttineh and Uno Wennergren (2018), Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
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Sustainability Science Special Feature (2018) The EJAtlas: Ecological Distribution Conflicts as Forces for Sustainability
Including
The Global Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas): ecological distribution conflicts as forces for sustainability
Leah Temper, Federico Demaria, Arnim Scheidel, Daniela Del Bene, Joan Martinez-Alier
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The indigenous climate justice of the Unist’ot’en resistance, Climate Justice and the Economy: Social mobilization, knowledge and the political (2018, Ed. Stefan Gaarsmand Jacobsen)
Sam Bliss, Leah Temper
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Examining new geographies of coal: Dissenting energyscapes in Colombia and Turkey
Andrea Cardoso, Ethemcan Turhan (2018), Applied Energy
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Energy infrastructure and the fate of the nation: Introduction to special issue
Gavin Bridge, Begüm Özkaynak and Ethemcan Turhan (2018), Energy Research and Social Science
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Review: Alternative futures: India unshackled (Eds. Ashish Kothari, J. Joy)
Iokiñe Rodríguez (2018), Ecología Política
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Explora (2018) Una Mirada al Soberbio Sur del Orinoco: Entendiendo las implicaciones del Arco Minero del Orinoco,
This open-access collection of short articles on the social and ecological implications of the Mining Arc (Arco Minero) Project in Venezuela features contributions from Iokiñe Rodriguez and Vladimir Aguilar-Castro
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Promoting agency for social-ecological transformation: a transformation-lab in the Xochimilco social-ecological system
Lakshmi Charli-Joseph, J. Mario Siqueiros-Garcia, Hallie Eakin, David Manuel-Navarrete and Rebecca Shelton (2018), Ecology & Society
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The spring 2018 edition of The Geographer - the newsletter of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society - has just been made available open-access. This edition focuses on the 'How and Why of Transformational Change', and features contributions from many members of the T2S community, including Steve Waddell, Ioan Fazey, Laura Pereira, Hallie Eakin, Million Belay, Dylan McGarry, Coleen Vogel, Heila Lotz-Sisitka and others.
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FUNDING AND OPPORTUNITIES
FORMAS (Sweden) invites researchers to apply for funding for a number of projects related to sustainability.
The Project Investigator must be based in Sweden:
Sustainable tourism and hospitality industry - apply by 21 August 2018.
Organic food production and consumption - apply by 23 August 2018
Perspectives on the Sustainable Development Goals - apply by 23 August 2018.
Genevieve Metson from the T2S community is working with one team looking at resource redistribution and recycling logistics in the food system from a transdisciplinary perspective (applying to the SDG call above), and may be looking for more potential consortium partners outside Sweden if the application is successful. Please contact genevieve.metson@liu.se if interested.
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The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research has released a call for proposals for SDG-related research. They are seeking collaborations between Dutch research organizations and researchers and practitioners from low and middle-income countries - apply by 4 September 2018.
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The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Postdam, Germany, is seeking applications for its 2019 Fellows programme. IASS conducts research with the goal of identifying, advancing, and guiding transformation processes towards sustainable societies. Its research practice is transdisciplinary, transformative, and co-creative. Every year about 30 Fellows from around the world join the institute for several months or longer. IASS offers Fellows the opportunity to develop their ideas within an international community of sustainability researchers at the Institute, as well as the wider Berlin-Brandenburg area. Applications for the following two topics are particularly sought for 2019: (1) Theories and methodologies of how to link transformation and transformative research and (2) Concepts and methodologies for collecting and measuring societal impact of transformation research.
Submit applications by 19 August 2018. Applications are not restricted to academia - applications from outside the scientific community are very welcome.
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STAY CONNECTED
World Social Science Forum 2018: Security and Equality for Sustainable Futures
25 – 28 September 2018
Fukuoka, Japan
The Forum will include several sessions relating to the T2S programme - join us there
5th Nordic Conference on Climate Change Adaptation
Norrköping, Sweden
23 – 5 October 2018
Registration open until 3 October
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Contributions to this newsletter are welcome at transformations@worldsocialscience.org.
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The Transformations to Sustainability Programme is coordinated by the ISC and funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
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