Living better in a better world: an ecosystemic approach to governance, environment and quality of life

Pilon, André Francisco (2010): Living better in a better world: an ecosystemic approach to governance, environment and quality of life.

Abstract

Problems of difficult settlement or solution cannot be solved by segmented academic formats, market-place interests or mass-media headlines; they demand a critical appraisal of current patterns of production and consumption, governance and policies, environmental and cultural linkages, civic engagement, and democratic participation. Beyond the creation of choices and the development of capacities and motivations, education, environment, health and quality of life must be embedded into and promoted by the cultural, social, political and economical institutions, which are more critical than individual motives and morals. The proposal is oriented at creating a new framework for problem solving in society and to build a new ethical paradigm able to face the current socio and environmental crisis, changing the dominant perspective of powerful political economic actors, in view of new paradigms of growth, power, wealth, work and freedom. Instead of dealing with “taken for granted issues” (the apparent “bubbles” in the surface), problems are detected and worked with deep inside the “boiling pot”, considering the dynamic and complex configurations intertwining, as donors and recipients, four dimensions of being-in-the-world: intimate (subject’s cognitive and affective processes), interactive (groups’ mutual support and values), social (political, economical and cultural systems) and biophysical (biological endowment, natural and man-made environments). The process of change must take into account the singularity of each dimension and their mutual support, as they combine to induce the events (deficits and assets), cope with consequences (desired or undesired) and contribute for change (diagnosis and prognosis). Development projects are oriented to enhance the connections and seal the ruptures between the different dimensions, fostering their mutual support and dynamic equilibrium. A framework for planning, implementation and evaluation of public policies, as well of research and teaching programmes, is proposed, in view of the development an ecosystemic model of culture.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Ecosystems; Education; Environment; Culture; Public Policies
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy ; Regulation ; Public Health; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q56 - Environment and Development ; Environment and Trade ; Sustainability ; Environmental Accounts and Accounting ; Environmental Equity ; Population Growth; H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H75 - State and Local Government: Health ; Education ; Welfare ; Public Pensions; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I21 - Analysis of Education; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O2 - Development Planning and Policy > O21 - Planning Models ; Planning Policy

References

American Anthropological Association, Bringing the Past into the Present. 104th Annual Meeting, Washington DC, 2005.

Baiocchi, G. The Citizens of Porto Alegre. Boston Review, March/April 2005. [online]: http://bostonreview.net/BR31.2/baiocchi.html

Beck, U. Cosmopolitan Vision, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2007.

Bedford, T. Select Committee on Environmental Audit Memorandum. United Kingdom Parliament, 2002 [online]: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmenvaud/472/3022702.htm

Binswanger, L. Being-in-the-World: Selected Papers of Ludwig Binswanger. Condor Books, London, 1963.

Bookchin, M. The Ecology of Freedom. Knopf, New York, 1982.

Bookchin, M. Limits of the City Black Rose Books, Montreal, 1996.

Boostrom, R. Teaching by the Numbers, in Burbules, N. C. and Hansen, D. T. Teaching and its Predicaments. Westview Press, Boulder, 1997: 45-64.

Bown, L. What do we Mean by Development? Development Education Centre [Birmingham] and Educating and Acting for a Better World [Ireland], 2007 [online]: http://www.developmenteducation.ie/files/resources/What.pdf

Buell, F. From Apocalypse to Way of Life: Environmental Crisis in the American Century; Routledge, 2003.

Drengson, A. The Practice of Technology: Exploring Technology, Ecophilosophy, and Spiritual Disciplines for Vital Links. Suny, Albany, 1995.

Elohim, J. L. The Performance of the World System. A Critical Viewpoint in Parra-Luna, F. The Performance of Social Systems: Perspectives and Problems. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2000.

Ewald, F. Le retour du malin genie. Ésquisse d’une philosophie de la précaution. In Godard, O. and Long, M. Le principe de précaution dans la conduite des affaires humaines. Association NSS-Dialogues. Editions Quae, 1997.

Fortuin, K. P. J. et al. The European Workshop: a course aimed at educating students to cross boundaries. Engineering Education in Sustainable Development (EESD) Conference, Graz, 2008 [online]: http://www.esa.wur.nl/NR/rdonlyres/B2FA6130-462D-43BF-8D67-B797439AA538/70366/030908_paper_Fortuin_Bush_Henriksen.pdf

Flyvbjerg, B. et al. Megaprojects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Frantzeskaki, N. and Loorbach, D. A transition research perspective on governance for sustainability Sustainable Development: A Challenge for European Research, Conference, Brussels, 2009. [on line]: http://ec.europa.eu/research/sd/conference/2009/papers/9/derk_loorbach_and_niki_frantzeskaki__transition_research.pdf#view=fit&pagemode=none

Gadamer, H. G. Philosophical hermeneutics. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1977.

Giddens, A. The Global Third Way Debate.: Polity Press, Cambridge, 2001.

Hannigan, J A Environmental sociology, a social constructionist perspective. Routledge, London, New York, 1995.

Harvey, D. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Harvey, D. Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a Theory of Uneven Geographical Development. Verso, 2006. Held, D. Global Covenant: The Social Democratic Alternative to the Washington Consensus. Cambridge: Polity, 2004.

Hugonnier, B. Education For Sustainable Development In OECD Countries: Opportunities and Challenges. Workshop on Education for Sustainable Education, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, 2008 [online]: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/12/41308608.pdf

Huppes, G. Why growth? Causes, welfare fallacies and how to repair them. Decroissance Economique pour la Soutenabilité Ecologique et l'Equité Sociale, Paris, 2008 [conference abstract online]: http://events.itsudparis.eu/degrowthconference/themes/6Panel%20on%20macrosocioeconomics/Change%20of%20economic%20institutions%20Oslo/Huppes%20G%20Degrowth%20Paris%20april%202008%20abstract.pdf

Irish Aid Development Education: an Introduction. Irish Foreign Office Publication, 2007 [online]: http://www.irishaid.gov.ie/Uploads/Irish%20Aid%20and%20Development%20Education.pdf

Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 280-287, 1996.

Krol, G.-J. Environmental problems, morals and incentives in modern societies. Institute of Economic Education, University of Münster, 2005 [online]: http://www.wiwi.uni-muenster.de/ioeb/downloads/forschen/Krol/EnvironmentalProblems.pdf

Labonte, R. 2004. Social inclusion/exclusion: dancing the dialectic. Health Promotion International, 19 (1): 115-121.

Layzer, J. A. The Environmental Case: Translating Values into Policy. Sustaining Cities: Environment, Economic Development, and Empowerment Conference. MIT Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2008 [on line]: http://mitworld.mit.edu/stream/572/

Lefebvre, H. The Urban Revolution, University of Minnesota Press, 2003.

Lind, G., The meaning and measurement of moral judgement competence revisited - A dual-aspect model. In: D. Fasko & W. Willis, Eds. Contemporary Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives on Moral Development and Education. Hampton Press, Cresskill, 2003.

Lindberg, C. The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. UNECE High-Level Meeting of Environment and Education Ministries, Vilnius, 2005. [online]: http://www.unece.org/env/esd/HLM.intervent/UNESCO.Carl.doc

March, J. G. and. Olsen, J. P. Rediscovering institutions: the organizational basis of politics, Free Press, 1989.

Mason, M. The Governance of Transnational Environmental Harm: Addressing New Modes of Accountability/Responsibility. Global Environmental Politics (8) 3: 8-24, 2008.

Massumi, B. A User’s Guide to Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Deviations from Deleuze and Guattari. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2003.

Max-Neef. M. A. Human Scale Development: Conception, Application and Further Reflections, New York, Apex Press, 1991.

Meisel, N. Governance Culture and Development: A different Perspective on Corporate Governance, OECD Development Centre Study, Paris, 2004.

Nelson, R. R. Evolutionary Theories of Cultural Change: An Empirical Perspective. Columbia University, 2005 [online]: http://etss.net/files/Nelson_Cultural_Change.pdf

Nonaka, I. and Konno, N. The concept of "Ba’: Building Foundation for Knowledge Creation. California Management Review (40) 3, 1998.

North, D., Institutions, institutional change and economic performance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990.

O’ Sullivan, P. E. Environment science and environment philosophy. The Int’l J. of Environment Studies, 28; 257-267, 1987.

Orhan, O. Three Modes of Environmental Justice in World Politics. The annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Aug 27, 2003 [online]: http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p62643_index.html

Orr, D. Earth in Mind, Island Press, 1994.

Pilon, A. F. Experience and Learning in the Ecosystemic Model of Culture: A Critical Approach to Education, Culture and the Environmental Crisis. Posted on The Communication Initiative Network 2003 [online]: http://www.comminit.com/files/ExperienceandLearningintheEcosystemicModelofCulture.pdf

Pilon, A. F. The Bubbles or the Boiling Pot? An Ecosystemic Approach to Culture, Environment and Quality of Life. Environmental Geology, 2008. [online]: http://www.springerlink.com/content/w6l306m214813077

Plumwood, V. The Ecological Crisis of Reason. Routledge, New York and London, 2002.

Scheffer, M. et al., Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems. Nature, 413: 591-596, 2001.

Soskolne, C.L. Ethical, Social, and Legal Issues Surrounding Studies of Susceptible Populations and Individuals. Environmental Health Perspectives, 145 supplement 4, 1977.

Sterling, S. Whole Sistems Thinking as a Basis for Paradigm Change in Education: Explorations in the Context of Sustainability. Doctoral Thesis, University of Bath, 2003. [online]: http://www.bath.ac.uk/cree/sterling/sterlingtitle.pdf

Sociology of Culture Conference, Culture and the Making of Worlds, Università Bocconi, 2010 [on line]: http://www.esaculturebocconi2010.org/the-conference/the-theme.html

Tilbury, D. et al. A National Review of Environmental Education and its Contribution to Sustainability in Australia:School Education - Key Findings. Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage and Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability, Canberra, 2005 [online]: http://www.aries.mq.edu.au/pdf/Volume2_brochure.pdf

Throsby, D. Linking Cultural and Ecological Sustainability. The International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations, (8), 1: 15-20, 2008.

Trainer, F.E. Where are we, where do we want to be, how do we get there?: The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy .(6), 2, 2000 [on line]: http://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/dn/vol6/trainer_where.htm

Trainer, F.E. Natural Capitalism Cannot Overcome Resource Limit Minnesotans For Sustainability, 2001 [on line]: http://www.mnforsustain.org/trainer_fe_simon_lovins_critique.htm

UNESCO-EOLSS Joint Committee, Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, 2008 {on line]: http://www.eolss.net/ Virilio, P. and Turner, C. The Information Bomb. Verso, 2005.

Wallerstein, I. The Modern World-System, New York, Academic Press, 1974.

White H., Figural Realism. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1999.

Whitton, H. Teaching ethics in highly corrupt societies: Concerns and opportunities. Anti-Corruption Resource Centre. 2009 [on line]: http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/?3345=teaching-ethics-in-highly-corrupt-societies

Yang, M: Introduction to the Conference. International Conference on Architecture and Cities for the 21st Century, Valencia, 1998. [online]: http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/activities/documents/activity-489-1.pdf

Znaniecki, F. Ludzie terazniejsi a cywilizacja przyszlosci (The People of Today and the Civilization of Tomorrow), Ksiaznica Atlas, Lwow, Poland, 1935.