Transformational Communities: A Programmatic Ambivalence as a Learning Path for the Cognitive Planet

Seixas, Paulo Castro; Lobner, Nadine

doi:10.5539/jsd.v11n6p152

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…However, a number of cases continue to focus on economic impacts and general urban planning strategies in terms of infrastructure, land use identification, and transit [38][39][40]. Therefore, this study is a contribution to understand the socio-environmental dimension of urban modification, proposing that transformational plans (between bottom-up and top-down/scale up governance) are needed everywhere [41]. We will look at the issue of urban compactivity through the lens of authority management for social inclusion/exclusion dynamics as a crosscut of social experiences through specific decision-making dynamics, such as participatory democracy, the governance between authorities and other public and private stakeholders, territorial politics, and the need of municipality cooperation and associations.…”

Section: Urban Transformation Trends Towards Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We propose that participatory democracy and shared decision-making (between bottom-up and top-down) (Figure 3) can strongly contribute to create sustainable and socio-economic solutions on a large scale, enabling a balanced, reciprocal, and communal path towards our future for establishing intrinsic change on the micro, meso, and macro level [41]. Even though, this issue of new approaches for governance strategies raises further quests, such as the one of borders, of spaces, of areas and of regions.…”

Section: Governing Urban Spaces For the Articulation Of Solutions At ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Transformational plans are urged to be incorporated everywhere, and a negotiation of new (transformational) methodologies has to be implemented, as all communities and stake holders are responsible to engage with active learning entities for establishing transformation at large [41]. We propose that the framework of the SDGs should be localized, meaning that a shift has to be carried out within territorial politics so that a new roadmap can be advanced (e.g., a monitoring of the SDGs at a subnational level, guided through appropriate counselors and bottom-up actors).…”

Section: Conclusion and Further Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urban Compactivity Models: Screening City Trends for the Urgency of Social and Environmental Sustainability

et al. 2021

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Urban compactivity models are increasing around the globe, and sustainability has become the new buzzword. In recent decades, the focus of ecological responsibility has been shifted to the world’s cities, as they are the source of excessive consumption, major waste production, social inequalities, and global imbalances of economic wealth. This literature review is a contribution to the exploration of compactivity models that urgently aim at more sustainable forms of urban land-use, habitation, and transportation and considers: (i) compact cities; (ii) the 15-minute city; (iii) eco-villages/urban villages; (iv) transit oriented development; and (v) transit-corridor-livability. In the second section, we will address the debate on the need for governing authorities and the interdependence between micro-, meso- and macro dynamics for the implementation of transformational plans on a longue-durée. The work will be concluded with the presentation of a set of questions for exploring the need for a priority shift in political decision-making, the role of leadership articulation, and socio-economic inequity under the umbrella of environmental public anthropology.

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Section: Urban Transformation Trends Towards Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Governing Urban Spaces For the Articulation Of Solutions At ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclusion and Further Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urban Compactivity Models: Screening City Trends for the Urgency of Social and Environmental Sustainability

et al. 2021

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“…As a result, we have witnessed the progressive transfer of political power to transnational and subnational levels, favoring new forms of cooperation which transformed and restructured political processes and practices (Dryzek, 1997) , 2015). This first 'global policy of the Anthropocene' (Seixas, 2014) seems to have a 'programmatic ambivalence' (Seixas and Lobner, 2018): an extensive one, composed of 17 objectives and 169 associated goals, oriented towards institutional transformation (top down); and a minimalist, composed of five thematic axes, the "5 P's" (People; Planet, Prosperity; Peace; and Partnerships) for experimentation and local adaptation (bottom up), highlighting the centrality of governance towards an integrated approach to sustainable development.…”

Section: Sustainable Development: Misconceptions and Misunderstandingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Development and Ecological Modernization: Boundary Discourses between “Strong” and “Weak” Approaches

Dias¹,

Seixas²,

Lobner³

2020

JSD

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The concepts of “sustainable development” and “ecological modernization” are todays’ main discourses of action on the global environmental crisis. However, the quest of priorities interpretation within concepts is raised: there is a path dependence of the hegemonic worldview of techno-economic progress that was supposed to be overcome. The objective of this text is to analyse how this dependence influenced the evolution of such concepts and their operational proposals. Methodologically, the research is based on a literature review on discourses of these concepts. A typology of “strong” and “weak” discourses highlights the possibilities of “business as usual” in its operational interpretation as well as the ways to overcome it. The results show that the confrontation between them lead to a conceptual evolution of sustainable development and ecological modernization that merges into a common agenda: the governance of ambivalence between economic and social progress and environmental frontiers. The text concludes by proposing the existence of a discursive game between “survival” and “tranquillity”. This highlights an essential tension between environmental mitigation and institutional change that has accompanied the political agenda in the past 50 years. The resulting reflexive governance as a choice implies a broad participation in decision-making processes so that environmental trade-offs are collectively discussed, and responsibilities are shared. Notwithstanding, the article claims that this essential tension further implies questioning if governance may not also be a new discourse of appeasement and political unaccountability.

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“…The Thomas Theorem, "if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences" (Merton 1968: 473), enable believing into our capability of change. However, no individual or government or even scientists and science per se are able to save the world: we will need a new generation thinking in sustainable and ecumenial ways, which is an urgent call to our schools, universities and research centers in order to become transformational learning communities of practices (Seixas, Lobner 2018;Seixas, Lobner 2020) for achieving a qualitative change in the next 25 years. This, we argue, is possibly our last chance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an Ecumenial or a Catastrophic City A Design, Ecumene and Humanitarian Discussion

Seixas¹,

Lobner²

2022

Glocalism

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This paper is an attempt to explore the interplay of humanity and science to respond to novel globalization processes in the face of the 21st century. The human situation is presented through two schisms: the human-nature and the socio-cultural. Sustainability and ecumene studies are proposed as the new aggregated science fields aiming at solutions for the 21st century. Ecumene studies respond to the need to create a planetary intellectual infrastructure (a planetary brain) that “thinks” in an ecumenial way (beyond border conviviality) for a global transformation and reconciliation of human differences in/for a cosmopolitan perspective. Ecumenic, humanitarian and design movements/studies are considered the main areas of ecumene studies as an inter- and transdisciplinary field, with the city (in all its forms) as its core platform. The city as a human extension and dissipative system reveals a duality since its origin, coming to a peak of conviviality as it will comprise two third of humanity by 2050. This peak will either lead to higher forms of organization (anastrophe), or to collapse (catastrophe). The paper presents the “ecumenial city” or Ecumenopolis (city of Human Rights) as a anastrophic future projection and a call for everyone, emphasizing both a destiny and small actions for activating transformation and reconfiguration in times of approaching the peak.

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Transformational Communities: A Programmatic Ambivalence as a Learning Path for the Cognitive Planet

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

Urban Compactivity Models: Screening City Trends for the Urgency of Social and Environmental Sustainability

Urban Compactivity Models: Screening City Trends for the Urgency of Social and Environmental Sustainability

Sustainable Development and Ecological Modernization: Boundary Discourses between “Strong” and “Weak” Approaches

Towards an Ecumenial or a Catastrophic City A Design, Ecumene and Humanitarian Discussion

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