Transformative roles of people and places: learning, experiencing, and regenerative action through social innovation (original) (raw)
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Exploring the transformative capacity of place-shaping practices
Sustainability Science
The eight papers in this Special Feature result from the EU funded SUSPLACE collaborative programme that aimed to explore the transformative capacity of sustainable place-shaping practices, and if and how these practices can support a sustainable, place-based development. The programme encompassed 15 research projects investigating a wide range of place-shaping practices embedded in specific settings. From a common framework on sustainable place shaping, each research project has developed its own theoretical and methodological approach. This editorial explains the overall approach to sustainable place-based development and more specifically the three analytical dimensions of transformative practices, that together propell sustainable place-shaping: re-appreciation, re-grounding and re-positioning. After an overview of the eight articles, the contribution to sustainability sciences is discussed. The research programme has provided insight into the transformative agency of practitioners and policymakers engaged in shaping sustainable places, as well as the transformative role of researchers.
2019
Based on a critical literature review, the article argues that transformative learning (TL) that fosters a shift in consciousness towards a more ecological approach is an inherently place-based phenomenon. In this article we build a place-based approach to TL based on a literature review. Our theoretical framework is grounded in three key themes which emerge from the literature: (re-) connection, (self-)compassion and creativity. (Re-)connection involves all processes that evoke an experience of the interconnected nature of all life. (Self-)compassion, acting to alleviate suffering or doing the least harm, naturally follows a sense of interconnection. Creativity is the materialisation of a sense of interconnection and compassion or the means through which these can be experienced. This theoretical framework can be used empirically to research the extent to which people involved in place-based sustainability initiatives develop an ecological consciousness. Empirical research can then be used to further develop and anchor this framework, and seek the kind of practices that can evoke experiences of connection, cultivate the human ability for compassion and give space for creative living.
Ecovillages as spaces of place-based transformative learning
2022
Chapter 1 Introduction 11 From personal revelation to an academic understanding of transformation Towards a research (quest)ion Outline of the thesis References chapter 1 Discussion Conclusion References chapter 5 Chapter 6 "We learned the language of the tree" Ecovillages as spaces of place-based transformative learning Introduction Methodology Results Discussion and Conclusion References chapter 6 Chapter 7 Research as product of, and portal to, self-transformation? 157 An auto-ethnographic account of my research with ecovillages Introduction Methodology & theoretical framework Results Discussion & Conclusion References chapter 7 Chapter 8 Discussion & Conclusion 181 Main findings Theoretical contributions Practical contributions Methodological reflections Conclusions Limitations, ethics, risks and avenues for future research Epilogue References chapter 8 Summary Acknowledgements About the author Training and supervision plan Annexes Appendix 1: Coding scheme Appendix 2: Interview guides Towards a research (quest)ion Turning inwards to go onwards: from personal revelation to an academic understanding of transformation In the autumn of 2015, I wrote a position paper to apply for an early-stage research position on 'Ecovillages and Sustainable Living' within the project 'Sustainable Place Shaping'. About two years before, I had started to immerse myself in books, therapy and meditation practices to learn about and experience the value of, amongst other things, (self)compassion. Apart from the benefits I experienced personally, I was intellectually triggered by the theories behind, and the 'promises' made about the cultivation of compassion and self-compassion though contemplative practices including meditation. Numerous studies indicated that compassion for oneself and others make individuals capable of seeing themselves more clearly and making needed changes (Neff, 2011). Compassion and self-compassion have furthermore been related to increased caring for oneself but also others (
Sustainability Science
Among scholars in sustainability science, there is an increasing recognition of the potential of place-based research in the context of transformative change towards sustainability. In this research, researchers may have a variety of roles; these are determined by the researcher’s engagement with the subject, the inherent theoretical, normative and methodological choices he or she makes, the researcher’s ambitions in contributing to change, and ethical issues. This article explores the varied roles of research fellows within the European Marie Curie ITN research program on sustainable place-shaping (SUSPLACE). By analysing 15 SUSPLACE projects and reflecting on the roles of researchers identified by Wittmayer and Schäpke (Sustain Sci 9(4):483–496, 2014) we describe how the fellows’ theoretical positionality, methods applied, and engagement in places led to different research roles. The methodology used for the paper is based on an interactive process, co-producing knowledge with Ear...
Sustainability Science
Sense of place and values are concepts that have been defined in a multiplicity of ways by a variety of disciplines and seldom approached in combination within studies of place-based sustainability. In recent years, the debate on sustainability, and particularly on sustainability transformation, has started to recognise the central importance of the “inner dimension” in achieving sustainable futures. This brings to the fore individual and cultural immaterial aspects, such as values and sense of place. The aim of this article is to explore the role of sense of place and place values in the context of sustainable place-shaping and propose a framework to operationalise them in research. Three central questions guided and structured our work: (a) how can place-shaping contribute to sustainability transformations? (b) what is the role of the inner dimension of transformation in processes of sustainable place-shaping? (c) how to include the inner dimension—specifically sense of place and ...
Revisiting the “Model of Place”: A Comparative Study of Placemaking and Sustainability
Urban Planning, 2019
The literature on sustainability policies and placemaking strategies reveals the inadequacy of both concepts to address current urban issues suggesting the need for new approaches. Sustainability researchers and policy makers are seeking an integrated approach to sustainability within which placemaking is a powerful tool in achieving sustainability goals. However, despite this rising awareness of place and its value, there is growing concern that the value of place and its urban meaning is declining. Placemaking appears to have changed from being an authentic everyday practice to a professional responsibility, and the understanding of the intangible character of place is mainly lost in the modern making of places. The emphasis of designers on physical design attributes assumes a fragile model of causality, underestimating the other necessary components for placemaking—behaviour and meaning. Comparing models of sustainability and place, this article suggests that there is need for a ...
Sustainability Science, 2020
In an earlier work, we suggested that connection, compassion and creativity could be used as key analytical dimensions of transformative place-based learning (Pisters et al. in Emot Sp Soc 34(8):100578, 2019). This analytical framework was created to study processes of place-based transformative learning which evoke shifts in our consciousness. This inner change might well be critical in the development of regenerative practices and places. This article aims to critically investigate the framework empirically using life-story interviews with people living in three different ecovillages. Ecovillages are so-called intentional communities which aim to develop sustainable, regenerative ways of living. Methodologically, the research is grounded in an ethnography and narrative inquiry. Following the empirical results, we will reflect on the merits and shortcomings of the analytical framework. The article concludes that the framework proved useful for its purpose if it includes a fourth dimension of 'transgression' and portraits the dimensions as continua.
Place-based Sustainability: Research and Design Extending Pathways for Ecological Stewardship
2022
Global challenges instigated by climate change and urbanisation are driving research seeking appropriate and effective strategies for social, economic, and environmental sustainability. While technical advancements are a major focus for sustainable development, there are important research avenues that explore the relationship of place and sustainability from a number of perspectives. Place-based sustainability research identifies activities and initiatives that need to be layered and integrated with technological advances, but also help drive them. This research can facilitate the well-considered steering of sustainable development and practices, the essence of stewardship of place. This volume of a wide range of research and design approaches by a diverse group of authors of various disciplines reveals new perspectives on the relationship of the culture of place and sustainability. The central narrative that emerges from the chapters of this book is the critical cultural relationship of people to their environment, both built and natural. The authors delve into this relationship and see new approaches to support our awareness and appreciation of the nature of our cities and countryside as an integral ecosystem, thereby having the potential to nurture social values and political will for increasing our sustainable practices and resilience. The authors extend to us pathways for stewardship of our cities and countryside that are essential if we are to contend with the serious challenges provoked by our changing climate and the continuing urbanisation of the world’s population. ISBN13: 978-1-5275-9081-6
Place Learning for Sustainable Futures
Vocational Learning: Transitions, Interrelationships, Partnerships and Sustainable Futures, Proceedings of the 13th Annual International Conference on Post-Compulsory Education and Training , 2005
This paper will develop some ideas about place learning for sustainable futures that have evolved out of two major research projects with indigenous communities over the past 10 years. Most models of involving indigenous knowledges in 'natural resource management' co-opt indigenous knowledges into a western scientific framework. These moves then fail to make a difference to seemingly inevitable processes of environmental degradation. The experience of working with indigenous communities on place-based research offers deep insights into how we learn about place for a sustainable future. By identifying a framework of principles and processes from indigenous place relationships throughout these projects, this paper will attempt to develop a set of understandings about how non-indigenous people can learn about place for a sustainable future. It will explore four propositions for such place learning: place learning is local and embodied but simultaneously has universal application, stories are a powerful means of learning about place, deep place learning inevitably brings into sharp focus the contested nature of place knowledge and practices in the contact zone (Pratt, 1992), and this place learning is peculiarly the province of adult and community education.