The concept of transformation in relation to climate and other global change is increasingly receiving attention. The concept provides important opportunities to help examine how rapid and fundamental change to address contemporary global challenges can be facilitated. This paper contributes to discussions about transformation by providing a social science, arts and humanities perspective to open up discussion and set out a research agenda about what it means to transform and the dimensions, limitations and possibilities for transformation. Key focal areas include: (1) change theories, (2) knowing whether transformation has occurred or is occurring; (3) knowledge production and use; (4), governance; (5) how dimensions of social justice inform transformation; (6) the limits of human nature; (7) the role of the utopian impulse; (8) working with the present to create new futures; and (9) human consciousness. In addition to presenting a set of research questions around these themes the paper highlights that much deeper engagement with complex social processes is required; that there are vast opportunities for social science, humanities and the arts to engage more directly with the climate challenge; that there is a need for a massive upscaling of efforts to understand and shape desired forms of change; and that, in addition to helping answer important questions about how to facilitate change, a key role of the social sciences, humanities and the arts in addressing climate change is to critique current societal patterns and to open up new thinking. Through such critique and by being more explicit about what is meant by transformation, greater opportunities will be provided for opening up a dialogue about change, possible futures and about what it means to reshape the way in which people live.
Low- and middle-income countries in Southeast and East Asia face a range of challenges related to the rapid pace of urbanisation in the region, the scale of pollution, climate change, loss of ecosystem services and associated difficulties for ecological restoration. Possible pathways towards a more sustainable future lie in the applications of nature-based solutions (NBS). However, there is relatively little literature on the application of NBS in the region, particularly Southeast Asia. In this paper we address this gap by assessing the socio-ecological challenges to the application of NBS in the region – one of the most globally biodiverse. We first provide an overview and background on NBS and its underpinnings in biodiversity and ecosystem services. We then present a typology describing five unique challenges for the application of NBS in the region: (1) Characteristics of urbanisation; (2) Biophysical environmental and climatic context; (3) Environmental risks and challenges for restoration; (4) Human nature relationships and conflicts; and (5) Policy and governance context. Exploiting the opportunities through South-South and North-South collaboration to address the challenges of NBS in Southeast and East Asia needs to be a priority for government, planners and academics.
ABSTRACT. Urban centers can provide important ecosystem services to society both through green spaces and river corridors. However, urbanization has impacted rivers, and as a consequence, there is increasing support for their sustainable management. The governance of urban river corridors reflects a trend toward stakeholder participation and partnership working in urban regeneration. The integration of ecological, social, and economic knowledge required for their sustainable management is achieved through networks of people and organizations that cross multiple sectors. However, little is known about the structure and function of such governance networks. We address this through a case study that explores the network structure of a multistakeholder collaboration tasked with developing a city-wide strategy for the sustainable management of urban river corridors in Sheffield, UK. We combine interpretive policy analysis and social network analysis to reveal the network structure and leadership characteristics of the group. We aim to explain why the group are having difficulty reaching a shared strategic vision for the river corridors and why they feel the group lacks representativeness. Our findings show that the network needs to become better connected to support an ongoing process of deliberation and negotiation for a shared vision. In addition, there is a limited diversity of stakeholders that will affect the legitimacy of the group and their ability to manage for a range of ecosystem services of benefit across society. We conclude that governance processes need to account for a diversity of actors that may change through time, and link regional and city networks to local interests.
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