From a strongly inter-disciplinary perspective, four European research consortia met last 21st of November at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam to discuss the role of civil society in sustainability transitions. Representatives of the projects ARTS, TESS, GLAMURS and TRANSIT participated in a “pressure cooker”, an intensive one-day series of presentations, critical reflections and small-group discussions in which they reflected on the best ways to create synergies in European research, as well as on the best ways to understand and study sustainable initiatives and their role in Europe.

For further information, go to: www.drift.eur.nl/?p=9091
For downloading the proceedings/report, click here: www.people-environment-udc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Proceedings_Pressure_Cooker_Workshop.pdf

Last 19th of November, the First Workshop on “Co-production of knowledge for supporting transitions toward sustainable lifestyles and a green economy in Europe” was held in Brussels. We worked during a full day in an interactive session with 40 policy-makers, academics, and representatives of European institutions. Our Project Officer, Dr. Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero, gave an inspiring presentation on the challenges of co-producing knowledge for sustainable transitions in Europe. We were also delighted to welcome representatives of four General Directorates of the European Commission at our event: Environment; Transport and Mobility; Research and Innovation; and Enterprise and Industries. A summary of conclusions of this workshop will follow soon.

As scientists, we do not have the monopoly of knowledge. Knowledge is constantly being produced by citizens, organized in communities and social networks, as well as organizations in charge of defining policy and supporting the management of our common resources. Besides taking knowledge co-production seriously, GLAMURS is evaluating the context the project creates to understand how citizens, researchers, stakeholder organizations and policymakers come to know what it is they need to do to bring about individually, socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable living. This first European workshop was an important step into this direction, which provided a series of valuable insights for the research and practice of sustainable transitions.

 

Please, go to the European Commission website for further information (presentations, gallery, etc.):
http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/index.cfm?pg=events&eventcode=B707F5DD-9C9F-FA6E-C859EB28AEAF5AA5


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