THE TRANSFORMATIONS TO SUSTAINABILITY NEWSLETTER
TRANSFORMATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
Nearly three and a half years after their launch, in December 2015, the three Transformative Knowledge Networks (TKNs) finally wrapped up their work in March/April 2019. They have been exciting and fruitful years, and this final newsletter focuses on sharing findings, new initiatives and forthcoming publications emerging from the projects.
We are particularly pleased to highlight the online course led by early-career researcher Thomas Macintyre, and we hope that recent interactions between PhD students from across the network and wider T2S community at the STEPS Summer School will help inspire new collaborations.
Although this cohort of projects has reached its formal end, we will continue to disseminate news related to research on transformations to sustainability, through the newsletter connected to the new cohort of T2S projects and through our website and social media. We hope to stay in touch with all of our contributors and readership.
Finally, a reminder that we are looking for authors interested in contributing to an ongoing series of review papers on social transformations in collaboration with the journal Current Opinion on Environmental Sustainability. The reviews will be collected in a virtual special issue of the journal, with the aim of making up-to-date knowledge on social transformations to sustainability more visible and accessible to wider research communities.
The Transformations to Sustainability Team
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Seeds for the future from PATHWAYS network
The STEPS Summer School took place in mid-May, welcoming PhD students associated with the T-LEARNING and ACKNOWL-EJ networks and with the Belmont Forum-NORFACE T2S programme projects.
Bioleft, the open source seeds project led by the PATHWAYS network at STEPS America Latina, has been selected to receive a grant from The Conservation, Food & Health Foundation. The funding is provided to support a pilot of the collaborative seed breeding initiative that was developed as part of the PATHWAYS network. The project will test a set of technical and legal tools and associated social practices, learn from them and improve them, by beginning the process of collaborative improvement of maize, festuca and tomato varieties in three breeder/farmer networks in Argentina. You can also hear more about some of the PATHWAYS network work in a recent lecture by Ian Scoones, on 'The SDGs: A new politics of transformation?' - watch the video here.
Finally, PATHWAYS network co-ordinator Adrian Ely has been speaking about science technology and innovation for the SDGs at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and at the Eu-SPRI (European Forum for Studies of Policies for Research and Innovation) conference - an introduction to his talk 'Science, Technology and Innovation in the 2030 Agenda – Towards a Co-ordinated Approach in Turbulent Times' is shared here.
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ACKNOWL-EJ finalising outputs
The ACKNOWL-EJ network recently held its final meeting at Bogacizi University in Istanbul, where the group discussed their theory of transformation, lessons on co-production and the final results of the case studies and EJAtlas developments. A public event organized on the sidelines of the meeting — 'From the Ground Up: Environmental Struggles and Transformations to Sustainability' — aimed to investigate how academics and activists can learn and produce knowledge toward a just transformation to sustainability from the ground up.
The network is currently finalizing two publications: a book that presents the Theory of Transformation that has resulted from the last 3 years of collaborative work, drawing on the case studies developed in Turkey, Bolivia, India, Belgium, Lebanon, Canada and Argentina and discusses the co-production challenges and lessons gained; and a report on Environmental Justice (EJ) struggles in Arab Countries (edited by Rania Masri, Leah Temper and Mariana Walter, in English and Arabic) based on the EJAtlas. The report is an interdisciplinary volume that includes contributions from engaged researchers and activists working in the region. Long and short cases addressing diverse EJ struggles are developed, as well as two featured maps on Palestine and Agriculture-related EJ struggles.
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Online course puts storytelling at the heart of transformations
'Transformative Narratives towards Regenerative Action' began on 15 May. This online course emerged from the T-LEARNING project. It is run by Thomas Macintyre, a member of the Colombian T-LEARNING team, in partnership with the Action Research plus (AR+) community, Wageningen University, and the SDG Transformations Forum.
As a part of the Learning Futures co-lab series, the course supports flourishing futures for all towards the aim of a learning society. Storytelling becomes a practice that emphasizes reflexivity, i.e. the ability to become aware of unconscious thinking and behaviours so as to become aware of available choices and to encourage more engagement with relevant stakeholders in pursuit of regenerative outcomes. The Learning Futures co-lab will end on July 10 - find out more on the background here.
Finally, as part of seeking innovative ways of sharing what has emerged from the T-LEARNING network, the team has started a tiny library of short, clear and accessible ideas relating to change work in the context of our planetary crisis. These include “collective praxis” a "dictionary of disruption”, “engaging with power” and a vision of the “pluriversity”. Find eight of the books downloadable on the T-Learning resources page.
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TRANSFORMATIONS STORIES
Holding practice-based training on dead level contour construction: bridging knowledge, positive attitude and practical skills development
M. Mukute & K. Mukute from the Zimbabwe T-learning case study report on practice-based training for water harvesting. These training programmes are run by farmers for farmers, nurturing a culture of self-organization, sharing skills and resisting dependency, which through this process has been identified as a challenge. This a final stage of the T-learning case study of co-engaged learning with farmers.
Why politics matters for transformations to sustainability
Nathan Oxley
'Ordinary' Turkish women in extraordinary resistance against thermal power
Ashish Kothari reflects on the ACKNOWL-EJ network's field trip to visit an extraordinary resistance against thermal power.
Vikalp Sangam: a search for alternatives in India…and globally
Pallav Das and Ashish Kothari
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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KNOWLEDGE BRIEF
A knowledge brief published by the Transformations to Sustainability programme assesses the role of social justice as a principle justifying a dramatic decarbonization trajectory.
Knowledge briefs synthesize findings from recent research papers on transformations into an accessible format, with the aim of opening up the latest transformations research to a wider audience. The brief is based on the article by Patterson et. al. Political feasibility of 1.5ºC societal transformation: the role of social justice, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Vol. 31, pp. 1–9.
Download 'The political challenge of achieving transformations to 1.5ºC – the role of social justice'.
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WHAT WE'RE READING
Collaboration: From groan zone to growth zone
Carrie Kappel, 2019, Integration and Implementation Insights
Recommended by Sarah Moore, who says: "I appreciated this neatly written post about navigating the messy middle – the ‘groan zone’ – of a collaborative decision-making process, when energy and interest are at risk of dissipating, but which can be a critical moment for creativity and innovation to emerge."
Transforming Transformative Education Through Ontologies of Relationality
Elizabeth A. Lange, 2019, Journal of Transformative Education
Recommended by the T-Learning team, who say: "This paper addresses a range of tensions within transformative learning theories and brings them into conversation with what Karen Barad’s theories offer. It addresses this particularly in the context of sustainability challenges and presents a useful reading, merging educational debates and learning towards sustainability."
Ten things to know about how to influence policy with research
Helen Tilley, Louise Shaxson, John Young, and Louise Ball, 2019, Integration and Implementation Insights
GAIA Toolkits for Transdisciplinarity
#SUSPLACE 2019: Engaging people: vulnerability and self-reflection
Anke de Vrieze reflects on the SUSPLACE final conference which took place in May in Tampere, Finland. Catch up on all the outputs from SUSPLACE here.
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WHAT WE'RE WRITING
Pluriverse. A Post-Development Dictionary
Ashish Kothari, Ariel Salleh, Arturo Escobar, Federico Demaria and Alberto Acosta (Eds) (2019)
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Can Pay-As-You-Go, Digitally Enabled Business Models Support Sustainability Transformations in Developing Countries? Outstanding Questions and a Theoretical Basis for Future Research
David Ockwell, Joanes Atela, Kennedy Mbeva, Victoria Chengo, Rob Byrne, Rachael Durrant, Victoria Kasprowicz and Adrian Ely (2019), Sustainability
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The Stinking Ontology of Sh#t in the Water: Higher Education Public Pedagogy and “Existance”?
Heila Lotz-Sisitka (2019), Sustainability: The Journal of Record
An armed defence force becomes the solution to raw sewage flowing into a major water system in South Africa’s economic hub. Launching from this messy reality the article makes poignant points about how we avoid the dark and messy as we talk polite ‘techno-policy’ speakabout solutions.. It is a rigorous, poetic and emotionally engaged must-read!
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(Toward) Sound Research Practice: Podcast-Building as Modelling Relational Sensibilities at the Water-Climate Change Nexus in Cape Town
Sarah Van Borek, Anna James (2019), The International Journal of New Media, Technology and the Arts
The Day One podcast initiative, led by Sarah Van Borek and Anna James, has published a paper on their praxis involved in using the genre of podcast to communicate in the context of an urban water crisis. Occupied with the intersection of the podcast genre and critical public dialogue, the paper concludes with some tensions relating to communicating climate change concerns in a multilingual and polarised city of the Global South.
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Micro-solutions to global problems: understanding social processes to eradicate energy poverty and build climate-resilient livelihoods
J David Tàbara, Takeshi Takama, Manisha Mishra Lauren Hermanus, Sean Khaya Andrew, Pacia Diaz, Gina Ziervogel, Louis Lemkow (2019), Climatic Change
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T-Labs for Alternative Food Systems in the Western Cape
Carolyn Cramer, 2019
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Identifying Ecological Distribution Conflicts Around the Inter-regional Flow of Energy in Turkey: A Mapping Exercise
Cem İskender Aydın (2019), Frontiers in Energy Research
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"Of (not) being neighbors: cities, citizens and climate change in an age of migrations
Ethemcan Turhan, Marco Armiero (2019), Mobilities
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"Transforming Socio-Natures in Turkey: Landscapes, State and Environmental Movements"
Ethemcan Turhan, Begum Özkaynak and Cem İskender Aydın (2019) in: Transforming Socio-Natures in Turkey Routledge Environmental Humanities series (Eds Onur Inal, Ethemcan Turhan).
This book chapter in a forthcoming edited volume focuses on the Aliağa anti-coal movement as part of their Acknowl-EJ case study.
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La transformación de conflictos socio-ambientales. Un marco conceptual para la acción
Rodriguez, I., M. Inturias, J. Robledo, C. Sarti, R. Borel.
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Lomerio: autonomía indígena de base territorial como fuerza de transformación de conflictos socioambientales
Inturias, M, I. Rodriguez, M. Aragon, Em Masay, A. Peña (2019)
In: Bolivia. Desafíos socioambientales en las tierras bajas (Inturias, M., K. von Strosch, H. Balderomar and I. Rodriguez (Eds), 2019). Full text available online.
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Reimagining Wellbeing: Villages in Korchi taluka, India, resisting mining and open spaces for self-governance,
Pathak, N, Bajpai S, and Shende M.(2018), World Rainforest Movement
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Women come out of the woods: collectivisation in rural Maharashtra.
Bajpai S., The Hindu, 11 March 2019
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Weaving transformations
Ashish Kothari, The Ecologist, 18 April 2019.
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FUNDING AND OPPORTUNITIES
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) invites concept notes from potential partners (research councils, universities, and international or regional organizations engaged in strengthening research in the humanities in low-income countries. Please share the announcement with relevant partners.
The T2S team are looking for authors interested in addressing an aspect or aspects of social transformation in relation to ‘frameworks and models to capture social-ecological interactions – resilience and complexity’, to fit into a special issue of the journal Current Opinion on Environmental Sustainability on that topic. The special issue is due for publication in August 2020, with a paper deadline of December 2019. The paper or papers would also form part of a virtual special issue of COSUST on the ‘State of knowledge on social transformation’. A possible angle for a paper could be ‘trade-offs and conflicts in integrative approaches to management of social-ecological systems for sustainability’, but other ideas are welcome. Please contact Sarah Moore at transformations@council.science for more information about either of the two special issues or to make a proposal.
Paper submissions are invited for the 'Handbook of Climate Change Management: Research, Leadership, Transformation', to be published in 2020 as part of Springer Nature's Climate Change Management Series. Abstracts should be submitted by 31 July 2019.
IPBES is currently calling for nominations of experts to a number of IPBES Task Forces on cross-cutting topics such as scenarios and models, and on indigenous and local knowledge. The ISC is a nominating organization, so please get in touch if you are seeking a nomination. The deadline for nomination is 24 June 2019.
Do you know of cities tackling climate change mitigation and social justice at the same time? The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is seeking potential case studies for its project Cities in Transition—Urban Struggles for Just Transition(s), run by the Just Transition Research Collaborative (JTRC). You can help by answering just three brief questions in their ongoing survey. The case studies will be a major part of a research report which will be presented to decision makers and activists at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 25 in Santiago de Chile in December 2019.
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STAY CONNECTED
Webinar Roundtable on Strategies for Transformations: Resistance & Alternatives
10:45-12:15 EDT, 25 June 2019
Connect online here
This webinar will be hosted live from the 2019 International Sustainability Transitions Conference in Ottawa. Jen Gobby and Leah Temper will be in the room with conference participants and Kanahus Manuel and Jaydene Lavallie will be connecting in through zoom. The discussion will focus on how Alternatives and Resistance strategies can work together to create powerful forces for radical systems change in Canada. Jen says: "We will ask: how can the resistance work we do can be done in ways that help build and grow alternatives? How can we build the alternatives in ways that can help us resist extractivism and environmental injustice in Canada?"
Environmental Justice Conference 2019: Transformative Connections
2-4 July 2019
Norwich, UK
Leah Temper will present results of the ACKnowl-EJ project in a plenary session on the topic of how the environmental justice movement is transforming the world.
The Monsoon Academy – Planning for Climate Resilience in Urban Areas
Goa, India
20-23 August 2019
Find out more
International Transdisciplinary Conference 2019 'Joining Forces for Change'
Gothenburg, Sweden
10-13 September
Early-bird registration closes 30 June
Global Transitions Conference 2019
Beijing, China
14-16 October 2019
Early-bird registration closes 21 August
Transformations 2019
Santiago, Chile
16-18 October 2019
Early-bird registration closes 9 July
Urgent Transformations and Earth System Governance: Towards Sustainability and Justice
Oaxaca, Mexico
6-8 November 2019
Registration now open
CLIMATE2020 - 7th Online Climate Change Conference
23-30 April 2020
This free conference organized by the Research and Transfer Centre 'Sustainability and Climate Change Management' (FTZ-NK) of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences will take place entirely online - register now and submit abstracts by 31 August
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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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