A Global Voice for Survival: An Ecosystemic Approach for the Environment and the Quality of Life

Pilon, André Francisco (2016): A Global Voice for Survival: An Ecosystemic Approach for the Environment and the Quality of Life.

Abstract

In view of the overwhelming pressures on the global environment and the need to disrupt the systems that drive them, an ecosystemic theoretical and practical framework is posited for the evaluation and planning of public policies, research and teaching programmes, encompassing four dimensions of being-in-the-world (intimate, interactive, social and biophysical), as they combine, as donors and recipients, to induce the events (deficits/assets), cope with consequences (desired/undesired) and contribute for change (potential outputs). The focus should not be on the “bubbles” of the surface (consequences, fragmented issues), but on the configurations deep inside the boiling pot where the problems emerge. New paradigms of development, growth, power, wealth, work and freedom, embedded at institutional level, include heterogeneous attributes, behaviours and interactions and the dynamics of the systems (institutions, populations, political, economic, cultural and ecological background). Instead of dealing with the bubbles (segmented, reduced issues) and trying to solve isolated and localized problems without addressing the general phenomenon, the proposal emphasizes the definition of the problems deep inside the “boiling pot”, where the problems emerge, encompassing the current “world-system” with its boundaries, structures, techno-economic paradigms, support groups, rules of legitimation, and coherence. In the socio-cultural learning niches, heuristic-hermeneutic experiences generate awareness, interpretation and understanding beyond established stereotypes, both from a thematic (“what”) and an epistemic point of view (“how”).

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: education, culture, politics, economics, ethics, environment, ecosystems
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I0 - General > I00 - General; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I25 - Education and Economic Development; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I28 - Government Policy; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I29 - Other; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O2 - Development Planning and Policy > O21 - Planning Models ; Planning Policy; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q2 - Renewable Resources and Conservation; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q2 - Renewable Resources and Conservation > Q28 - Government Policy; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q51 - Valuation of Environmental Effects; 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; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q57 - Ecological Economics: Ecosystem Services ; Biodiversity Conservation ; Bioeconomics ; Industrial Ecology; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q58 - Government Policy

References

Ackoff, R. L. Differences That Make a Difference: An annotated glossary of distinctions important in management. Triarchy Press, Axminster, 2010.

Albrecht, G.A., The Age of Solastalgia. August 7, 2012 [on line]: https://theconversation.com/the-age-of-solastalgia-8337

Albrecht, G.A., Exiting the Anthropocene and Entering the Symbiocene, Minding Nature, 2 (9): 2016. [on line]: http://www.humansandnature.org/exiting-the-anthropocene-and-entering-the-symbiocene

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

Ashley, P. A. and Crowther, D. Territories of Social Responsibility. Opening the Research and Policy Agenda, Gower Publ., Surrey, 2012.

Atkinson, J-A et al., A modelling tool for policy analysis to support the design of efficient and effective policy responses for complex public health problems, Implementation Science, 2015, 10: 26 [on line]: http://www.implementationscience.com/content/10/1/26

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. Parliament Committee on Environmental Audit. United Kingdom, 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

Brown, P. G. and Garver, G Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, 2009.

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

Chermayeff, S. & Tzonis, A. Shape of Community, Realization of Human Potential. Middlesex, Penguim Books, 1971.

Coleman, J. The Asymmetric Society, New York, Syracuse University Press, 1985.

Collins, R. and Makowsky, M. The Discovery of Society, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2009.

Crompton, T., SLRG/CES Seminar, University of Surrey, WWF-UK. 2013 [on line]: http://www.sustainablelifestyles.ac.uk/event/green-consumerism

Davies, J. S., Why network governance won’t stop climate change, INOGOV/Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research [online]: http://www.inogov.eu/blog-why-network-governance-wont-stop-climate-change/

Dietz, T., The Art of Influence, Nature, 479, 176: 2011,

Douglas, M. Natural symbols: explorations in cosmology, Routledge, New York, 1996.

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.

Etzioni, A., Toward a New Socio-Economic Paradigm, Socio-Economic Review, 1, (1) 105-118: 2003. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2157130

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.

Finkielkraut, A., La défaite de la pensée, Paris, Gallimard, 1987.

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

Foster, J. B. and Clark, B. The Planetary Emergency, Monthly Review, 07 (64), 2012 [on line]: http://monthlyreview.org/2012/12/01/the-planetary-emergency

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

Frantzeskaki, N. and Loorbach, D. A transition research perspective on governance for sustainability, In: European Research on Sustainable Development, 2009. [online]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226482740_A_Transition_Research_Perspective_on_Governance_for_Sustainability

Frecheville, N., What’s missing from the data revolution? People, 2015 [posted on line]: http://post2015.org/2014/02/06/whats-missing-from-the-data-revolution-people/

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

Gehl, J. and Gemzøe, L. Public Spaces and Public Life, Danish Architectural Press, Copenhagen, 1996.

Gerbner, G., The Cultural Arms of the Corporate Establishment: Reflections on the Work of Herb Schiller, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1 (45): 186 – 190: 2001.

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

Hanneman, R. A. and Riddle, M. Introduction to Social Network Methods. University of California, Riverside, 2005. [online]: http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~hanneman/nettext/

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, OECD, Paris, 2008 [online]: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/12/41308608.pdf

Huppes, G. Eco-efficiency: From focused technical tools to reflective sustainability analysis. Ecological Economics, 68 (6), 2009: 1572-1574.

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

Irwin, R. ‘After Neoliberalism’: Environmental Education to Education for Sustainability, Conference Presentation, Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, 2007 [on line]: http://www.academia.edu/3123057/After_Neoliberalism_Environmental_Education_to_Education_for_Sustainability

Isenhour, C. Building Sustainable Societies: Exploring Sustainability Policy and Practice in the Age of High Consumption, Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Kentucky, 2010 [on line]: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=gradschool_diss

Jones, N. A. et al. Mental Models: An Interdisciplinary Synthesis of Theory and Methods, Ecology and Society, (16) 1; 46, 2011 [online]: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art46/

Kahan, D.M. et al. The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks. Nature Clim. Change, 2, 732–735, 2012.

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

Klinke, A. & Renn, O. Precautionary principle and discursive strategies: classifying and managing risks, Journal of Risk Research, 2, (4) 2001: 159-173.

Klintman, M. Citizen-Consumers and Evolution: Reducing Environmental Harm through our Social Motivation, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

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

Kull, K. On Semiosis, Umwelt, and Semiosphere. Semiotica, 3/4 (120), 1998: 299-310 [on line]: http://www.zbi.ee/~kalevi/jesphohp.htm

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

Loorbach, D., To Transition! Governance Panarchy in the New Transformation, 2014 [online]: http://www.drift.eur.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/To_Transition-Loorbach-2014.pdf

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.

McMichael, A. J., Globalization, Climate Change, and Human Health, N. Engl. J. Med. 2013; 368: 1335-1343 [online] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1109341?af=R&rss=currentIssue&&utm_source=buffer&buffer_share=5e4c5&

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., A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation, Organization Science, Vol. 5, No.1, 1994.

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.

Paehlke, R. C. Democracy's Dilemma: Environment, Social Equity, and the Global Economy, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2004.

Pilon, A. F. The Bubbles or the Boiling Pot? An Ecosystemic Approach to Culture, Environment and Quality of Life. Environmental Geology, 57 (2) 2009. [online]: http://www.springerlink.com/content/w6l306m214813077

Pilon, A. F. Living Better in a Better World: Development and Sustainability in the Ecosystemic Model of Culture. OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2 (4): 25-36, 2010 [on line]: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1713371

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

Rees, W. E., Toward a Sustainable World Economy. Institute for New Economic Thinking Annual Conference, Bretton Woods, 8-11 April, 2011 [on line]: http://whatcom.wsu.edu/carbonmasters/documents/TowardSustainableWorldEconomy.pdf

Richmond, B. The ‘‘Thinking’’ in Systems Thinking: Seven Essential Skills. Waltham, MA: Pegasus Communications, 2000.

Robbins, P. Political Ecology: a Critical Introduction. Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

Robèrt, K.H. (1991). "Educating A Nation: The Natural Step."In Context 28:10.

Rotmans, J. and Loorbach, D. Complexity and Transition Management, Journal of Industrial Ecology (13) 2: 184-196, 2009.

Rabkin, J., A review of: The global environment and world politics, 2nd ed. by Elizabeth DeSombre, The Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development (2008) 1(2).

Sassen, S. Cities are at the center of our environmental future, S.A.P.I.E.N.S, (2) 3, 2010, [online]: http://sapiens.revues.org/index948.html

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

Schwandt, T. et al., Realising the SDGs by reflecting on the way(s) we reason, plan and act: the importance of evaluative thinking. International Institute for Environment and Development, IIED Briefing, 2016 [online]: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/17380IIED.pdf

Shove, E., Pantzar, M. & Watson, M. The Dynamics of Social Practice: Everyday life and how it changes, London: Sage, 2012.

Smith. A. and Raven, R. What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability. Research Policy 41 (2012) 1025–1036 [online]: https://grassrootsinnovations.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/smith-and-raven-2012-what-is-protective-space1.pdf

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 Systems 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

Sterling, S. ‘Mission impossible’ - or ‘never ending story’? CREE seminar University of Bath, 2009 [on line]: http://www.bath.ac.uk/cree/seminars/BathSterlingJuly09.ppt

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

Söderbaum, P., Economics, ideological orientation and democracy for sustainable development. World Economics Association Books, 2016 [online]: www.worldeconomicsassociation.org

Sullivan, S. The Natural Capital Myth, The Public Political Ecology Lab, University of Arizona, working paper, 2013 [on line]: http://ppel.arizona.edu/blog/2013/03/15/natural-capital-myth

Sustainability Transitions Research Network, , 2010 [on line]: http://www.transitionsnetwork.org/files/STRN_research_agenda_20_August_2010(2).pdf

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

Takashi, M. Diversity, Trans-disciplinarity and Sustainability Science Education. The 2nd International Conference on Sustainability Science – ICSS, Rome, 2010 [on line]: http://icss2010.net/download/documents/24-JUNE/Sessione-5_Sustainability-science-education/3_T-Mino.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

Trainer, F.E., The Transition: To a Sustainable and Just World, Envirobook, Sussex Inlet, 2010.

Unmüßig, B., Monetizing Nature: Taking Precaution on a Slippery Slope, Great Transition Network, 2014 [on line]: http://greattransition.org/publication/monetizing-nature-taking-precaution-on-a-slippery-slope

Unece Education for sustainable development: a holistic approach to envisioning change and thereby achieving transformation, Education for Sustainable Development, 2013 [on line]: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/esd/8thMeetSC/ece.cep.ac.13.2013.4e.pdf

Unesco-Eolss Joint Committee, Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, 2008 [on line]: http://www.eolss.net/

United Nations University, Website on Sustainable Development Governance, 2010: http://www.ias.unu.edu/sub_page.aspx?catID=155&ddlID=17

Virilio, P. and Turner, C. The Information Bomb, Verso, 2005.

Volpato, G. L., Ciencia: da filosofia à publicação, Cultura Acadêmica, São Paulo, 2013.

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

Wilcox, L. S. Onions and bubbles: models of the social determinants of health. Prev Chronic Dis 2007; 4 (4) [on line]: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/oct/07_0126.htm

Winston, M. and Edelbach, R., Society, Ethics, and Technology, Wadsworth-Cengage Learning, Boston, 2014.

Yang, M., Introduction, Int.l Conference on Architecture and Cities for the 21st Century Valencia, 1998. [on line]: 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.