Averting a global ecological collapse Contemporary societies and their economies must undergo a transformation to sustainability without further delay if we are to avoid an unprecedented ecological and socio-political disaster. To achieve such a transformation, principles consistent with sustainable ecosystems and social systems need to be identified and applied systematically across all sectors. What are […]
There is little contention that the world is undergoing significant change at the planetary scale, primarily induced by human activity: think of climate change, ocean acidification and coral bleaching, plastic pollution, increasing biodiversity loss, to name but a few. Scientists have termed this era the Anthropocene, where human actions are the main drivers of global […]
Some weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in the Transformations Conference in Dundee, Scotland. The focus was on diverse transformations contributing to more sustainable socio-ecological systems. Diversity, multiplicity, heterogeneity. A diversity of actors, territories, pathways and so on. These key elements for transformation were continually addressed and given value during the conference. But […]
This post originally appeared on the T-learning website. Stay alive or survive? “One-point-five-to-stay-alive” or more like “one-point-five-we–might-survive.” This lyrical chant comes from Kumi Naidoo, the former Director of Greenpeace. It is a soundbite from his keynote address at the Transformations 2017 conference in Dundee, Scotland this past month (September), which I was fortunate to attend […]
Roughly one-third of all food produced for human consumption each year – around 1.3 billion tonnes – is lost or wasted, and most of this is due to poor distribution networks, according to a recent report for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). On a per-capita basis, there is far more wastage in Europe […]
Gender inequality continues to be one of the major obstacles for human development worldwide. Women around the world continue to suffer the impacts of gender inequality in areas such as health, education and the labour market, despite their constant fight for progress. The Gender Inequality Index (GII) gives an illustration of how gender inequality is […]
Efforts to nurture more sustainable, just futures are happening all around us, albeit in the context of a rapidly changing and highly unequal world that is on the brink of irrevocably dismantling the ecological foundations that sustain human life. The researchers and partner organizations in the Transformations to Sustainability Programme are learning from and accompanying […]
A new online map uncovers plans to build a massive web of gas infrastructure in Europe, and the mounting resistance and conflicts resulting from its development, showing sites of resistance in Europe and around the world in places where Europe-destined gas is being exploited and exported. The map, which was developed by Observatori del Deute […]
‘There is no planet B!’ ‘Frack off—leave our land alone.’ ‘I’m not a protestor, I’m a protector.’ These signs, held up at a rally in 2015 in northern Canada, could have been taken from any of dozens, or even hundreds, of protests around the world over the past decade. Hydraulic fracturing, known colloquially as ‘fracking’, […]
By Neema Pathak, Iokiñe Rodriguez, Meenal Tatpati and Mirna Inturias. Across the world, resistance movements are playing a key role in shaping the future of the planet by confronting destructive development practices and bringing forth their own narratives of alternative ways of being, which focus on the wellbeing of humans and non-humans rather than ‘growth and […]