This document discusses pathways to sustainability from the perspective of the STEPS Centre. It notes the complexity of coupled social-ecological systems and the need to consider multiple narratives and pathways. The pathways approach seeks to understand how governance shapes which narratives dominate and become locked in, excluding alternatives. It advocates opening up discussions to recognize diverse values and goals and consider strategies beyond stability and control. The conference aims to discuss contesting and governing sustainability, framing and narratives, dynamics and transitions, and grounding concepts in diverse issues and contexts to inform Rio Plus 20 and beyond.
Melissa Leach: Pathways to Sustainability: Environmental social science and ...STEPS Centre
From NESS 2011 (The 10th Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference), June 2011.
Video at http://stockholmresilience.org/seminarandevents/otherseminars/ness2011/videoarchive.4.1f74f76413071d337c380005790.html
Saurabh Arora - The advantages of uncertainty - toward new principles for coo...STEPS Centre
Workshop on climate change and uncertainty from below and above, Delhi. http://steps-centre.org/2016/blog/climate-change-and-uncertainty-from-above-and-below/
In December 2016, The Rockefeller Foundation’s African Regional Office hosted the Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Convening in Nairobi, Kenya. Over 150 delegates and 40 speakers participated, sharing insights, examples, and engaging in debate and discussion on why and how ‘resilience’ can enhance Africa’s ongoing development.
Melissa Leach: Dynamic Sustainabilities: Taking complexity and uncertainty se...STEPS Centre
1. The document discusses the challenges of development in complex dynamic systems where there is uncertainty and many interacting social, ecological, technical, and political elements.
2. It argues that traditional technical or managerial solutions premised on stability and control often fail because they do not account for complexity, dynamism, and uncertainty.
3. The document proposes taking a dynamic systems approach that incorporates concepts from complexity science, resilience thinking, and sustainability science to understand different pathways and framings in development challenges over time.
Mitigation Of What And By What PresentationfinalLn Perch
This document summarizes and critiques current global efforts to address climate change through mitigation and adaptation policies and financing. It finds that approaches have focused more on large-scale actions and economic transfers between countries than micro-level impacts and social dimensions of climate change. Efforts have also prioritized mitigation over adaptation and favored large projects over small-scale and community-based approaches. As a result, the most vulnerable populations have had limited inclusion in policy frameworks and access to climate financing. The document calls for a more socially inclusive and people-centered conceptual framework to achieve a reasonable balance of equity in the global response to climate change.
Melissa Leach: Pathways to Sustainability: Environmental social science and ...STEPS Centre
From NESS 2011 (The 10th Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference), June 2011.
Video at http://stockholmresilience.org/seminarandevents/otherseminars/ness2011/videoarchive.4.1f74f76413071d337c380005790.html
Saurabh Arora - The advantages of uncertainty - toward new principles for coo...STEPS Centre
Workshop on climate change and uncertainty from below and above, Delhi. http://steps-centre.org/2016/blog/climate-change-and-uncertainty-from-above-and-below/
In December 2016, The Rockefeller Foundation’s African Regional Office hosted the Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Convening in Nairobi, Kenya. Over 150 delegates and 40 speakers participated, sharing insights, examples, and engaging in debate and discussion on why and how ‘resilience’ can enhance Africa’s ongoing development.
Melissa Leach: Dynamic Sustainabilities: Taking complexity and uncertainty se...STEPS Centre
1. The document discusses the challenges of development in complex dynamic systems where there is uncertainty and many interacting social, ecological, technical, and political elements.
2. It argues that traditional technical or managerial solutions premised on stability and control often fail because they do not account for complexity, dynamism, and uncertainty.
3. The document proposes taking a dynamic systems approach that incorporates concepts from complexity science, resilience thinking, and sustainability science to understand different pathways and framings in development challenges over time.
Mitigation Of What And By What PresentationfinalLn Perch
This document summarizes and critiques current global efforts to address climate change through mitigation and adaptation policies and financing. It finds that approaches have focused more on large-scale actions and economic transfers between countries than micro-level impacts and social dimensions of climate change. Efforts have also prioritized mitigation over adaptation and favored large projects over small-scale and community-based approaches. As a result, the most vulnerable populations have had limited inclusion in policy frameworks and access to climate financing. The document calls for a more socially inclusive and people-centered conceptual framework to achieve a reasonable balance of equity in the global response to climate change.
This document provides an overview of an article about Integral Sustainable Development, which aims to provide a comprehensive framework for sustainable development efforts. The article explains that current approaches to sustainable development are fragmented and do not adequately address the complex, interconnected social, environmental and economic challenges faced. Integral Sustainable Development introduces a framework that maps these challenges from an inclusive perspective, considering interior psychological and cultural dynamics as well as exterior behavioral and systemic factors, to help optimize sustainable development initiatives. Part 1 of the article outlines this framework and its advantages over other approaches.
Lecture 2. Adaptive governance and bridging organisations Victor Galaz
This document discusses adaptive governance and the role of bridging organizations at different scales. It provides three case studies:
1) Kristianstads Vattenrike in Sweden restored wetlands and habitats through a bridging organization that connected local actors and networks with regional, national, and international levels of governance.
2) The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority rezoned the Great Barrier Reef, increasing protected areas through bridging state and local actors and balancing ecosystem services.
3) The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources reduced illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean by bridging national governments and non-state actors to collaboratively manage fisheries.
This document summarizes research on transformations for sustainability. It discusses the concepts of adaptability and transformability in social-ecological systems, and frameworks for understanding and navigating transformations across multiple scales from macro to micro. Case studies are presented on transformations in water management and coastal resource governance. Key aspects of preparing for transformation include identifying thresholds, networks, and overcoming barriers. Navigating transitions involves using windows of opportunity, maintaining flexibility, and fostering cross-scale interactions. Building resilience in new systems requires creating incentives for stewardship and mobilizing networks.
Ways Forward in Efforts to Ameliorate Climate Change EffectsSIANI
This study was presented during the conference “Production and Carbon Dynamics in Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Systems in Africa” held in September, 2010.
Just as cities are hubs for innovations and investments that expand opportunities, they are also living laboratories forced to confront challenges of increasing complexity. What, and who, makes a city resilient—and not just livable in the short-term—has become an increasingly critical question, one we set out to answer in late 2012 with our partners at Arup through the creation of a City Resilience Index.
6th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2016 Integrative Risk Management - Towards Resilient Cities. 28 August - 01 September 2016 in Davos, Switzerland
The private sector is a logical player to help coordinate
and calibrate resilience-building actions. In the course of their commercial activities, companies may interact with a wide range of city departments—from law-enforcement agencies to public utilities—and therefore have the potential to act as broker, involving a broad range of government players in urban resilience discussions.
From institutions to governance, Part 2Victor Galaz
This document discusses the relationship between good governance and protecting vital ecosystems. It defines good governance according to the World Bank's indicators and examines how governance matters for outcomes like forest cover change and biodiversity. It then explores various "misfits" like temporal, spatial, thresholds, and cascading dynamics misfits that can occur between social and ecological systems. The document considers whether adaptive governance may help address these challenges and differences between governance, institutions, adaptive management, and adaptive co-management.
Christian Aid has developed a Resilience Framework to help empower marginalized communities manage risks and improve well-being. The framework is based on principles of community-led processes, power and inclusion, accountability, and do no harm. It recognizes that communities face various interconnected risks at different levels. The framework guides programs to support communities in identifying risks, taking action, and accessing resources to build sustainable resilience through interventions that address issues like power relations, agriculture, markets, health, and conflict.
Sustainable Development, relationships, norms, values, and hierarchies, Gradual change, Reduction of natural resources
Food, water and energy shortages, Loss of biodiversity
The pressure of accelerating urbanization and population growth, Climate change and natural disasters
This document provides an overview of the development of a Resilience in a Changing Climate Framework. It describes an analytical approach to understanding resilience that considers drivers of change, people's assets, and disaster risk management strategies. It also discusses concepts of resilience, including defining resilience as a system's capacity to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, learn from, and recover from shocks and stresses. The framework aims to help development practitioners and policymakers design interventions that promote resilience to climate change impacts. It is being developed through an iterative process informed by literature reviews on topics like disaster risk management, climate adaptation, and social protection programs.
The document introduces the City Resilience Framework created by Arup International Development for The Rockefeller Foundation. It defines city resilience as the capacity of cities to function and allow people, especially the poor and vulnerable, to survive and thrive despite stresses or shocks. The framework was developed to provide a common understanding of urban resilience and how it can be achieved in a measurable way to inform planning and investments. It seeks to move beyond risk assessments of specific hazards to consider a city's ability to withstand a wide range of potential disruptions.
Culture plays an important role in sustainable development through various aspects. Different cultures have beliefs, practices, and knowledge that shape how people interact with nature and use environmental resources. Traditional ecological knowledge passed down over generations has often led to sustainable management of lands and resources. Cultural values, norms, and institutions also influence sustainability by governing resource use and access. For a sustainable future, it is important to understand and appreciate the diverse relationships between cultures and nature.
The document introduces the concept of "One Resilience", which aims to promote optimal health and wellbeing through the integrated resilience of various security systems like health, food/water, energy, social, environmental, and disaster systems. It argues that emerging pandemic threats and disasters require holistic collaborative efforts beyond just the health sector. One Resilience would involve strategic integration of these interdependent systems to better address common problems through strengthened cross-system dependencies and synergies. Key proposed actions include elaborating the One Resilience framework, instituting measures to reduce pandemic/disaster risks and impacts through whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches, strategically changing mindsets to eliminate sectoral silos, and
An independent review of disaster science would reveal spinning wheels in unproductive debates over terminology, fear of losing legitimacy through interdisciplinary work, and a failure to learn basics. Researchers focus too much on unrealistic models and unconnected empirical data, reinventing the wheel and prioritizing technology over social issues. The review calls for addressing root causes of risk, taking a realistic objective view, quality control, making disaster risk reduction about people, and consensus on basic literature, premises, and key issues.
This presentation gathers the results from Sitra's study on scientific support for sustainable development practices, written by Mr Roope Kaaronen in October 2016.
Fostering Urban Resilience Through Innovative Transdisciplinary Partnerships ...Global Risk Forum GRFDavos
6th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2016 Integrative Risk Management - Towards Resilient Cities. 28 August - 01 September 2016 in Davos, Switzerland
Sustainability, characteristics and scientific rootsNuno Quental
This document summarizes the key scientific approaches and principles underlying the concept of sustainability. It identifies three relevant scientific approaches - ecological economics, sustainability transition, and sustainability science. By analyzing these approaches, the document derives four common sustainability principles: 1) acknowledging biophysical limits to economic scale, 2) focusing on societal welfare and development, 3) understanding systems have minimum needs for viability, and 4) recognizing system complexity. It then examines the scientific roots of each principle and discusses how understandings have progressed from static views of limits and impacts to more dynamic, integrated visions.
Developmental psychology refers to changes throughout the lifespan from conception to death. This document discusses several key aspects of lifespan development including:
1. Physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development occurs in stages from infancy to adulthood. Infancy is focused on physical growth and adjusting to the outside world, while early childhood sees gains in independence and social skills.
2. Each stage of development has characteristics like physical changes or social expectations that influence how people grow. Hazards like illness or poor parenting can also impact development.
3. Researchers study development through longitudinal, cross-sectional and other methods. Factors like biology, environment, culture and the lifecycle shape a person's unique development. Proper stimulation
Presentation given by Lyla Mehta at World Water Week in Stockholm on August 21 2009, based STEPS Centre's projects. For more information see: http://www.steps-centre.org/index.html
This document provides an overview of an article about Integral Sustainable Development, which aims to provide a comprehensive framework for sustainable development efforts. The article explains that current approaches to sustainable development are fragmented and do not adequately address the complex, interconnected social, environmental and economic challenges faced. Integral Sustainable Development introduces a framework that maps these challenges from an inclusive perspective, considering interior psychological and cultural dynamics as well as exterior behavioral and systemic factors, to help optimize sustainable development initiatives. Part 1 of the article outlines this framework and its advantages over other approaches.
Lecture 2. Adaptive governance and bridging organisations Victor Galaz
This document discusses adaptive governance and the role of bridging organizations at different scales. It provides three case studies:
1) Kristianstads Vattenrike in Sweden restored wetlands and habitats through a bridging organization that connected local actors and networks with regional, national, and international levels of governance.
2) The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority rezoned the Great Barrier Reef, increasing protected areas through bridging state and local actors and balancing ecosystem services.
3) The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources reduced illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean by bridging national governments and non-state actors to collaboratively manage fisheries.
This document summarizes research on transformations for sustainability. It discusses the concepts of adaptability and transformability in social-ecological systems, and frameworks for understanding and navigating transformations across multiple scales from macro to micro. Case studies are presented on transformations in water management and coastal resource governance. Key aspects of preparing for transformation include identifying thresholds, networks, and overcoming barriers. Navigating transitions involves using windows of opportunity, maintaining flexibility, and fostering cross-scale interactions. Building resilience in new systems requires creating incentives for stewardship and mobilizing networks.
Ways Forward in Efforts to Ameliorate Climate Change EffectsSIANI
This study was presented during the conference “Production and Carbon Dynamics in Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Systems in Africa” held in September, 2010.
Just as cities are hubs for innovations and investments that expand opportunities, they are also living laboratories forced to confront challenges of increasing complexity. What, and who, makes a city resilient—and not just livable in the short-term—has become an increasingly critical question, one we set out to answer in late 2012 with our partners at Arup through the creation of a City Resilience Index.
6th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2016 Integrative Risk Management - Towards Resilient Cities. 28 August - 01 September 2016 in Davos, Switzerland
The private sector is a logical player to help coordinate
and calibrate resilience-building actions. In the course of their commercial activities, companies may interact with a wide range of city departments—from law-enforcement agencies to public utilities—and therefore have the potential to act as broker, involving a broad range of government players in urban resilience discussions.
From institutions to governance, Part 2Victor Galaz
This document discusses the relationship between good governance and protecting vital ecosystems. It defines good governance according to the World Bank's indicators and examines how governance matters for outcomes like forest cover change and biodiversity. It then explores various "misfits" like temporal, spatial, thresholds, and cascading dynamics misfits that can occur between social and ecological systems. The document considers whether adaptive governance may help address these challenges and differences between governance, institutions, adaptive management, and adaptive co-management.
Christian Aid has developed a Resilience Framework to help empower marginalized communities manage risks and improve well-being. The framework is based on principles of community-led processes, power and inclusion, accountability, and do no harm. It recognizes that communities face various interconnected risks at different levels. The framework guides programs to support communities in identifying risks, taking action, and accessing resources to build sustainable resilience through interventions that address issues like power relations, agriculture, markets, health, and conflict.
Sustainable Development, relationships, norms, values, and hierarchies, Gradual change, Reduction of natural resources
Food, water and energy shortages, Loss of biodiversity
The pressure of accelerating urbanization and population growth, Climate change and natural disasters
This document provides an overview of the development of a Resilience in a Changing Climate Framework. It describes an analytical approach to understanding resilience that considers drivers of change, people's assets, and disaster risk management strategies. It also discusses concepts of resilience, including defining resilience as a system's capacity to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, learn from, and recover from shocks and stresses. The framework aims to help development practitioners and policymakers design interventions that promote resilience to climate change impacts. It is being developed through an iterative process informed by literature reviews on topics like disaster risk management, climate adaptation, and social protection programs.
The document introduces the City Resilience Framework created by Arup International Development for The Rockefeller Foundation. It defines city resilience as the capacity of cities to function and allow people, especially the poor and vulnerable, to survive and thrive despite stresses or shocks. The framework was developed to provide a common understanding of urban resilience and how it can be achieved in a measurable way to inform planning and investments. It seeks to move beyond risk assessments of specific hazards to consider a city's ability to withstand a wide range of potential disruptions.
Culture plays an important role in sustainable development through various aspects. Different cultures have beliefs, practices, and knowledge that shape how people interact with nature and use environmental resources. Traditional ecological knowledge passed down over generations has often led to sustainable management of lands and resources. Cultural values, norms, and institutions also influence sustainability by governing resource use and access. For a sustainable future, it is important to understand and appreciate the diverse relationships between cultures and nature.
The document introduces the concept of "One Resilience", which aims to promote optimal health and wellbeing through the integrated resilience of various security systems like health, food/water, energy, social, environmental, and disaster systems. It argues that emerging pandemic threats and disasters require holistic collaborative efforts beyond just the health sector. One Resilience would involve strategic integration of these interdependent systems to better address common problems through strengthened cross-system dependencies and synergies. Key proposed actions include elaborating the One Resilience framework, instituting measures to reduce pandemic/disaster risks and impacts through whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches, strategically changing mindsets to eliminate sectoral silos, and
An independent review of disaster science would reveal spinning wheels in unproductive debates over terminology, fear of losing legitimacy through interdisciplinary work, and a failure to learn basics. Researchers focus too much on unrealistic models and unconnected empirical data, reinventing the wheel and prioritizing technology over social issues. The review calls for addressing root causes of risk, taking a realistic objective view, quality control, making disaster risk reduction about people, and consensus on basic literature, premises, and key issues.
This presentation gathers the results from Sitra's study on scientific support for sustainable development practices, written by Mr Roope Kaaronen in October 2016.
Fostering Urban Resilience Through Innovative Transdisciplinary Partnerships ...Global Risk Forum GRFDavos
6th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2016 Integrative Risk Management - Towards Resilient Cities. 28 August - 01 September 2016 in Davos, Switzerland
Sustainability, characteristics and scientific rootsNuno Quental
This document summarizes the key scientific approaches and principles underlying the concept of sustainability. It identifies three relevant scientific approaches - ecological economics, sustainability transition, and sustainability science. By analyzing these approaches, the document derives four common sustainability principles: 1) acknowledging biophysical limits to economic scale, 2) focusing on societal welfare and development, 3) understanding systems have minimum needs for viability, and 4) recognizing system complexity. It then examines the scientific roots of each principle and discusses how understandings have progressed from static views of limits and impacts to more dynamic, integrated visions.
Developmental psychology refers to changes throughout the lifespan from conception to death. This document discusses several key aspects of lifespan development including:
1. Physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development occurs in stages from infancy to adulthood. Infancy is focused on physical growth and adjusting to the outside world, while early childhood sees gains in independence and social skills.
2. Each stage of development has characteristics like physical changes or social expectations that influence how people grow. Hazards like illness or poor parenting can also impact development.
3. Researchers study development through longitudinal, cross-sectional and other methods. Factors like biology, environment, culture and the lifecycle shape a person's unique development. Proper stimulation
Presentation given by Lyla Mehta at World Water Week in Stockholm on August 21 2009, based STEPS Centre's projects. For more information see: http://www.steps-centre.org/index.html
The document summarizes a presentation about understanding social systems transitions and transition management strategies. It discusses analyzing complex social systems, transition dynamics involving fundamental shifts across multiple levels over time, and a transition management approach to influence transitions through visioning, experimentation, and multi-actor governance.
The document discusses transitions towards sustainable development. It notes that persistent problems like climate change require fundamental changes to societal systems, structures, cultures and practices (transitions). Transition management is presented as an approach to facilitate such transitions through long-term envisioning, multi-actor collaboration, experimentation and focusing on learning and innovation. Examples of transition processes in waste management, energy and other domains are provided.
This document discusses the core design criteria for sustainable and resilient cities, including sustainability, resilience, liveability, adaptability, and being smart. It advocates for a systems approach and methodology for engineering cities that involves mapping interdependent urban systems, developing alternative solutions, assessing impacts, and conducting futures analysis to create interventions that can adapt to future changes. The document also lists several UK research facilities and programs focused on infrastructure and urban systems.
The document analyzes water governance in coupled social-ecological systems in Namibia. It discusses how the social-ecological system in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin has traditionally had a strong coupling between diverse livelihoods and variable natural conditions. However, political and economic changes are causing the system to transition. The concepts of resilience and governance in social-ecological systems are introduced, focusing on maintaining key functions and adapting to change through options and alternatives. Governance structures that foster resilience acknowledge uncertainty, include different knowledge types, and allow for locally developed solutions through polycentric and multilayered structures.
Presented by Kinde Getnet, Nancy Johnson, Jemimah Njuki, Don Peden and Katherine Snyder at the Nile Basin Development Challenge Science and Reflection Workshop, Addis Ababa, 4-6 May 2011.
Melissa Leach - Imagining and negotiating pathways in an age of anxiety and i...STEPS Centre
Talk by Melissa Leach, STEPS Director, at the conference ‘Modelling Futures: Understanding risk and uncertainty’ on 28-30 September.
http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/1133
This document discusses frameworks for enabling ecodesign and life-cycle thinking among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to address challenges of climate change and resource depletion. It examines how national innovation systems and policy can increase SME adoption of ecodesign. Previous interventions like grants and information diffusion had limited long-term impact. The study will refine a capacity building framework exploring internal and external contexts of ecodesign intervention for SMEs and build models to evaluate such policies.
The document discusses frameworks for governing transitions to low-carbon systems. It addresses the challenges of simplifying complex transformations and tensions between objectifying and reflexive approaches. It also examines multi-level perspectives on transitions and the role of social science in low carbon governance.
Governing Low Carbon Transitions Presentation given by Adrian Smith at the BSA Climate Change Study Group Conference on 17 January 2011 at the British Library Conference Centre, London, UK.
1. Sustainable development requires transitions to more sustainable systems that incorporate processes of societal, ecological, economic, cultural and technological evolution over the long term.
2. Governance for sustainability transitions should allow societies to self-organize towards sustainability through deliberate and reflexive strategies that promote innovation while securing long-term sustainability values.
3. An operational framework for transition governance includes strategic visioning, experimental tactics at the subsystem level, monitoring and evaluation, and science-policy co-production to guide transitions.
Opening speech at the launch of www.buildingmelbourne.com, an initiative to accelerate the transition of Melbourne into the most liveable and sustainable city.
Community perspectives on sustainability and resilience within a social ecolo...Alex Webb
Thesis defense presenting results from social science research project examining community knowledge and perspectives related to coupled human and natural systems or social-ecological systems dynamics in St. Thomas, USVI.
2016.02.25 from constitutionalized environmental rights to contested sustaina...NUI Galway
Dr Su-Ming Khoo, Political Science & Sociology presented this seminar entitled From Constitutionalized Environmental Rights to Contested Sustainable Development and Beyond as part of the 2016 Whitaker Ideas Forum series of seminars representing the Environment, Development, and Sustainability Research Cluster on 25th February 2016.
Systems Thinking in Practice - an Open University showcasedtr4open
Presentation details the Open University's Systems Thinking in Practice Masters programme along with examples of practice from STiP Alumni as showcased at the UK Public Sector Show April 2013.
This document outlines a variety of methods that can be used to scope issues broadly, focus on particularities in depth, and link relations and perspectives across contexts. It provides a repertoire of methods that can help appreciate alternative pathways, including interpretive, interactive, and group deliberative styles as well as techniques like critical literature reviews, in-depth case studies, discourse analysis, and participatory approaches.
Coloniality in Transformation: decolonising methods for activist scholarship ...STEPS Centre
Presentation by Andy Stirling to 2021 Transformations to Sustainability conference session on '‘Philosophical Underpinnings’ in decolonizing research methods for transformation towards sustainability', 17th June 2021
Opening up the politics of justification in maths for policy: power and uncer...STEPS Centre
Presentation by Andy Stirling to conference of INET in collaboration with OECD on ‘Forecasting the Future for Sustainable Development: approaches to modelling and the science of prediction’. 16th June 2021
Discussion: The Future of the World is Mobile - Giorgia GiovannettiSTEPS Centre
By Giorgia Giovannetti, University of Firenze and Robert Schuman Centre, EUI. Given at EUI on 10 April 2019.
https://steps-centre.org/event/the-future-of-the-world-is-mobile-what-can-we-learn-from-pastoralists/
Interfacing pastoral movements and modern mobilitiesSTEPS Centre
By Michele Nori, PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty, Resilience) project. Given at EUI on 10 April 2019.
https://steps-centre.org/event/the-future-of-the-world-is-mobile-what-can-we-learn-from-pastoralists/
Reconceiving migration through the study of pastoral mobilitySTEPS Centre
By Natasha Maru, PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty, Resilience) project. Given at EUI on 10 April 2019.
https://steps-centre.org/event/the-future-of-the-world-is-mobile-what-can-we-learn-from-pastoralists/
Bringing moral economy into the study of land deals: reflections from MadagascarSTEPS Centre
19 March 2019, Institute of Development Studies
Seminar organised by the Resource Politics and Rural Futures Clusters, in association with the STEPS Centre’s PASTRES project
Speaker: Mathilde Gingembre
https://steps-centre.org/event/steps-seminar-mathilde-gingembre-bringing-moral-economy-into-the-study-of-land-deals-reflections-from-madagascar/
Agency and social-ecological system (SES) pathways: the Transformation Lab in...STEPS Centre
Presentation by J. Mario Siqueiros, February 2019, at a STEPS Seminar at the Institute of Development Studies.
More information: https://steps-centre.org/project/pathways-network/
From controlled transition to caring transformations - StirlingSTEPS Centre
This document discusses the differences between "controlling transitions" and "caring transformations" when addressing issues like climate change. It argues that ideas of control are part of the problem and that controlled transition does not equal real transformation. Caring for transformation instead of control could mean culturing transformation through myriad grassroots actions that challenge power and are driven by solidarity, values and hope rather than singular theories and top-down control. True transformation is shaped by unruly diversity rather than imposed order and expertise.
Systems, change and growth - Huff and BrockSTEPS Centre
Presentation from week 1 of the System Change HIVE that outlines big ideas about the environment and some criticisms of capitalism.
http://systemchangehive.org/
STEPS Annual Lecture 2017: Achim Steiner - Doomed to fail or bound to succeed...STEPS Centre
Achim Steiner, incoming UNDP director, gave the STEPS Annual lecture at the University of Sussex on 15 May 2017. Find out more: https://steps-centre.org/event/steps-annual-lecture-achim-steiner/
Andy Stirling - nexus methods (RGS 2016)STEPS Centre
This document discusses the concept of "nexus thinking" across multiple domains and topics. It makes several key points:
1) Nexus thinking spans across different silos and considers connections between domains like food, water, energy, climate, and development.
2) Framing of nexus issues applies at every level and transcends place, space, and scale. Different framings lead to different understandings and potential solutions.
3) Nexus thinking recognizes the entanglement of objective conditions and subjective actors, and highlights the role of power and politics in knowledge production.
Andy Stirling - STEPS Centre 'Pathways Methods'STEPS Centre
The document outlines the STEPS Centre 'Pathways Methods' for helping appreciate alternative pathways. It summarizes the methods as follows:
1. The methods aim to catalyze more open political space by broadening out discussions beyond incumbent 'pro-innovation' views and opening up consideration of marginalized interests and alternative pathways.
2. The methodology involves engaging actors, exploring narratives, characterizing dynamics, and revealing strategies through a repertoire of participatory and deliberative methods.
3. A case study applying these methods in Kenya found surprising optimism for alternative crops but farmer preference for local maize varieties, showing how the methods can surface plural perspectives on pathways.
This document provides an overview of a presentation given by Andy Stirling on 'Nexus Methods' at the ESRC Methods Festival. It discusses the complex and interconnected nature of issues related to the food-water-energy nexus. It notes that while there are many quantitative and qualitative methods that can be applied to nexus issues, they all involve subjective framings and no single method can capture the full complexity. The presentation advocates a reflexive approach that acknowledges the conditional nature of knowledge and assessment in this domain.
Suresh Rohilla - Climate change and sanitation, water resourcesSTEPS Centre
Workshop on climate change and uncertainty from below and above, Delhi. http://steps-centre.org/2016/blog/climate-change-and-uncertainty-from-above-and-below/
Suraje Dessai - Uncertainty from above and encounters in the middleSTEPS Centre
Workshop on climate change and uncertainty from below and above, Delhi. http://steps-centre.org/2016/blog/climate-change-and-uncertainty-from-above-and-below/
Sumetee Pahwa Gajjar - Uncertainty from withinSTEPS Centre
Workshop on climate change and uncertainty from below and above, Delhi. http://steps-centre.org/2016/blog/climate-change-and-uncertainty-from-above-and-below/
Shibaji Bose - Voices from below - a Photo Voice exploration in Indian sundar...STEPS Centre
Workshop on climate change and uncertainty from below and above, Delhi. http://steps-centre.org/2016/blog/climate-change-and-uncertainty-from-above-and-below/
Shibaji Bose - Voices from below - a Photo Voice exploration in Indian sundar...
Melissa leach
1. Pathways to Sustainability:Agendas for a new politics of environment, development and social justice ESRC STEPS Centre Conference September 23-24 2010
2. Pathways to Sustainability:The STEPS Centre’s Approach Melissa Leach Pathways to Sustainability Conference September 23 2010
3. Environmental challenges Rapid environmental change Complex dynamics Interlocked crises and ‘perfect storms’? (Beddington 2009) Scientific, policy and public concern – and politicisation ‘A new climate for society’ (and social science)? (Jasanoff 2010)
4. In a (more) unequal world Social, economic and political change – mobility and interconnection (at least for some), instabilities New complexion to core development challenges Poverty, inequity, (in)justice Shifting geographies of power and privilege, emergent social hierarchies Shifting governance landscapes
5. How might pathways to sustainability – that link environmental integrity with social justice – be conceptualised and built – in a complex, dynamic world?
6. A timely moment? UNCED 1992 a landmark for environmental policy and politics (Convention processes, Agenda 21) – and environmental social science ‘Rio Plus 20 Earth Summit’ – social science ideas, concepts, agendas, engagements? ‘green economy’, ‘institutional framework for sustainable development’
7. Presentation The STEPS Centre’s ‘pathways approach’ Themes for the conference Unresolved tensions, areas for discussion
8. Contradictions Growing recognition of complexity and dynamism – intercoupled social, ecological, technological systems; non-linear, cross-scale dynamics; uncertainties Growing recognition of diverse knowledges and ways of knowing, values, perspectives, priorities Growing search for technical-managerial solutions premised on a far more static, consensual view of the world – solvable problems, achievable stability, controllable risks ……A mismatch - cycles of ‘failure’ as dynamics undermine assumptions of stability; emerging backlashes from nature, politics; mires of disagreement; those who are already vulnerable and marginal often lose out
9. Sustainability A contested term with a history From 1712 forestry usage to wider currency in the 1980s Linking of environmental questions to mainstream issues of economy and development: ‘Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland 1987) Vibrant, committed debate at and around Rio 1992: economics and political science, broad and narrow, strong and weak, top-down and community-defined…. Technical meanings co-constructed with different visions for how sustainability should be achieved Through 1990s, growth in planning approaches, frameworks, measurement indicators, audit systems, evaluation protocols – managerialism and bureaucratisation Discrediting of ‘sustainability’? (empty rhetoric, failure of managerialism, conservatism, inadequacy of institutional and policy machinery) Yet sustainability is the ‘keyword’ for Rio plus 20 amidst complex environment-development challenges – more of the same?
10. Towards a normative, politicised perspective on sustainability Beyond generalised, colloquial notions (maintenance of system properties in a general sense) Beyond broad and static normative connotations of Brundtland – focused on notions of (poor people’s) ‘needs’ and environmental ‘limits’ To address specified qualities of human wellbeing, social equity and environmental integrity – as they relate to dynamic environments Normative concern with those properties that assist reductions in poverty and social injustice – as defined by/for particular people, contexts and settings Multiple, contested sustainabilities to be defined and deliberated for particular issues and groups E.g. African seed systems amidst climate-change related drought – sustainability in relation to national food security? Livelihoods of dryland farmers? Women’s or men’s crop varieties and control? Sustainability as a discursive resource to facilitate argument and action about diverse pathways to different futures
11. A systems perspective environment System: Social, institutional, ecological and technological elements interacting In dynamic ways ‘system’
17. - Notions of relevant experienceFramings: Different ways of understanding or representing a system and its relevant environment
18. Narratives Framings often become part of narratives – underlying storylines Produced by people and institutions Beginning – a system, framed Imaginary - futures desired or feared (what ideas, possibilities, values, goals?) Middle – a set of envisaged actions Construction of publics – who will act, who will change their behaviour, respond End – catastrophe averted, outcome achieved, ‘sustainability’ enhanced
20. Narrative examples Energy and climate: ‘The challenges of dealing with climate change and energy security can only be dealt with through large scale, centralized systems like carbon capture and new nuclear build’ ‘Appropriate reductions in carbon emissions are achievable by small scale, distributed innovations in technology, institutions and user behaviour, such as in smart grids, efficient use and micro-generation’. Food (e.g. East Africa): ‘Growing food deficits require massive boosts to agricultural productivity – modern plant breeding and genetic engineering can deliver solutions which need to be rolled out at scale’ ‘Food insecurities are diverse and shaped by ecological, market, social and institutional contexts, requiring socio-technical solutions in which farmer knowledge and local innovations have central roles to play’
21. Water (e.g. dryland India): ‘Major water scarcities are developing and undermining economic development; therefore the construction of large dams and investment in the infrastructure for water delivery must take place’ ‘Water scarcities are often human induced by the greed and mismanagement of elites; for farmers and pastoralists maintaining livelihoods amidst uncertainties must be central, and can draw on local knowledge and historically-embedded practices’
22. Strategies and dynamics style of action control respond shock (transient disruption) STABILITY RESILIENCE temporality of change stress (enduring shift) DURABILITY ROBUSTNESS
23. Dealing with water resources in dryland India: Strategies and dynamics style of action control respond shock (transient disruption) STABILITY RESILIENCE Adaptive responses and interventions geared to floods and droughts (e.g. crop mixes, mobility, water harvesting) ; local knowledge, culturally-embedded practices Control of short-term supply variability through dams, pumps and pipes temporality of change Response to long-term shifts in water supply and use (e.g. changes in land use, agricultural practices, livelihoods); variegated, flexible institutional and engineering arrangements Engineering solutions geared to long-term shifts in rainfall and hydrology (e.g. margins, reduced water levels) stress (enduring shift) DURABILITY ROBUSTNESS
24. style of action control respond STABILITY RESILIENCE STABILITY RESILIENCE temporality of change SUSTAINABILITY stress (enduring shift) DURABILITY ROBUSTNESS DURABILITY ROBUSTNESS
25. Pathways For any issue, we might identify an array of narratives For each narrative, we might ask: Who are the actors? How is the system and goals for change framed? Which dynamic properties and strategies for dealing with them are prioritised? Some narratives justify and become interlocked with powerful pathways – particular directions in which systems change over time Alternative narratives, hidden narratives, exclusions…. Constructing pathways to sustainability requires recognition and deliberation amongst multiple narratives and possible pathways
26. Governance Narratives and pathways co-constructed with governance Intersections of power, politics and institutions, including power-knowledge Shape which come to dominate, and which remain marginalised Often leads to ‘lock-in’ to particular powerful narrative and associated pathway, to the exclusion of others
27. Governance and pathways to sustainability From government to networked, multi-levelled governance Participatory governance Governance in practice Politics of nature and technology Political cultures and contexts Politics of knowledge Governmentalities (environmentalities) Important to understand how ‘lock-in’ happens… and how it might be averted
28. The politics of ‘closing down’ Towards singular narratives and pathways Towards stability-focused interventions style of action control response shock (transient disruption) STABILITY RESILIENCE POWER DYNAMICS temporality of change stress (enduring shift) DURABILITY ROBUSTNESS
29. Governance pressures towards stability-focused interventions Incumbent institutions tend to favour strategies which preserve the status quo – and uphold political interests Deeply rooted ideas about equilibrium Institutionalisation of routine responses Financial and economic backing Professional, disciplinary and cognitive pressures Media and popular knowledge Disciplining and transformation of subjectivities
30. From closing down to opening up Meeting sustainability challenges will require: Moving beyond singular views of ‘the problem’ and ‘progress’, to recognise multiple possible goals and values and their contestation; Moving beyond stability/control to embrace strategies that respond to ongoing change, with respect to sustaining the flows and benefits valued by particular groups Challenge dominant narratives/pathways; highlight alternatives
31. Climate change, drought and maize in Kenya Understanding and challenging ‘lock in’ to the dominant pathway – breeding and commercialization of drought-tolerant maize, geared to ‘resilience in the seed’, towards farm and national food security goals Opening up to alternative pathways – especially for ‘low potential’ areas (e.g. Sakai), geared to resilience of farming livelihoods
32. Multiple pathways – in and out of maize Local maize varieties predominate and are highly valued Important but under-recognised role of seed selectors In future – some farmers want drought tolerant maize varieties But many farmers are trying to move out of maize and into other crops – dryland staples and horticultural crops
33. Multiple pathways –in and out of maize Low Maize High Maize 1 – Alternative dryland staples for subsistence 3 – local improvement of local maize Low- External Input High- External Input 2 – Alternative dryland staples for market 5 – Assisted seed multiplication of maize 4 – Assisted seed multiplication of alternative dryland staples 6 – Individual high-value crop commercialization 8 – Commercial delivery of new DT maize varieties 7 – Group-based high-value crop commercialization 9 – Public delivery of new DT maize varieties
34. Towards a politics for sustainability Governance approaches: Deliberative, Reflexive Designs – roles for new appraisal tools and methods Political engagement – influencing policy processes and effecting policy change; citizen mobilisation, network and alliance-building shaping information and communication flows in a multi-media knowledge landscape Reflexive research engagements in which we take our positionality seriously May involve antagonistic confrontation and challenge as well as consensus-building
36. Conference themes and areas for discussion Contesting and governing sustainabilities: multi-level, deliberative, adaptive, and movement-based approaches – and beyond Framing and narratives: ensuring practical connections with questions of justice, material political economy and ecology Dynamics and sustainability: navigating complexities, transitions and transformations,natural science engagements Addressing ‘big picture’ environmental concerns and analysis without doing violence to the richness and diversity of people’s experiences Grounding concepts and approaches in diverse issues and contexts: Climate change, water, agriculture, forests, fisheries, urban and peri-urban environments
37. Towards Rio Plus 20 – and beyond Emerging themes Research-policy roundtable What kinds of knowledge can today’s environmental social science contribute? What specific processes and opportunities might we engage with?