scholarly journals Imagining socioecological transformation: An analysis of the Welsh Government’s policy innovations and orientations to the future

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Pigott

This article explores how the Welsh Government’s recent policy innovations in climate change and environmental sustainability can be read in terms of their imaginative capacity for transformation. The Welsh Government is one of only a few governments in the world to have a legal duty to sustainable development, which includes the pioneering Well-being of Future Generations Act (2015). The legislation has received international attention and praise from the United Nations but, as yet, the Welsh Government’s imaginaries of socioecological transformation have received little scrutiny regarding the kinds of ideas about the future and possibilities for change they set in motion. The article considers imaginaries as providing the very grounds of possibility for transformation, being comprised of stories and narratives about what kinds of futures are possible and desirable, intermingled with emotional-affective “atmospheres” that can promote or hinder people’s engagement with environmental issues. The article focuses on three aspects of the Welsh Government’s imaginaries related to socioecological transformation, namely; resilience and anticipatory discourse, linear time, and “conspiracies of optimism”. A number of tensions are drawn out that highlight how the Welsh Government’s seemingly progressive rhetoric risks being undermined by the conceptions of time and change it employs. Thus, the article contributes to wider critical analyses of how new politics and modes of governance of and for the (proposed) Anthropocene are taking shape.

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 864-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M Bexell ◽  
Jessica L Decker Sparks ◽  
Jacqueline Tejada ◽  
Andreas Rechkemmer

Recently, humans have negatively altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any other time in human history, contributing to gains in well-being and economic development for some, while threatening the security of most, particularly oppressed populations. We comprehensively reviewed recent social work literature (2010–2015) to examine gaps in environmental sustainability themes relevant to social work practice. Peer-reviewed manuscripts, dissertations/theses and white papers were examined. A total of 71 papers (less than 1% of social work literature) met inclusion criteria. Although our call is to protect human health and well-being, recent literature does not account for sustainability even with evidence that environmental issues directly impact clients, hindering practice efficacy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-76
Author(s):  
Nataly Carvalho Machado

Recognised as an ambitious step, the European Green Deal guides the application of European Union policies not only in the environmental field, but also in other areas that may directly or indirectly interfere with human health and environmental sustainability, with the aim of transforming climate challenges and environmental issues in applicable opportunities. With the COVID-19 crisis, major challenges have emerged and aggravated extant problems in the most varied societies. In the European Union’s context, the impact of the new pandemic stood out, especially at the beginning, showing different responses by the Member States, in a disorderly and isolated way between one border and another, which highlighted when it would be placed in practice. Member States´ solidarity and responsibility to work together towards an economic and social recovery plan is critical in order to keep European project alive. Therefore, in an attempt to reinforce the link between solidarity and responsibility among Member States, the European Union uses the Green Deal to respond to the crisis through a recovery that has common objectives around the sustainability and well-being of its citizens.


Author(s):  
Abbie J. Shipp

Temporal focus is the individual tendency to characteristically think more or less about the past, present, and future. Although originally rooted in early work from psychology, research on temporal focus has been steadily growing in a number of research areas, particularly since Zimbardo and Boyd’s (1999) influential article on the topic. This chapter will review temporal focus research from the past to the present, including how temporal focus has been conceptualized and measured, and which correlates and outcomes have been tested in terms of well-being and behavior. Based on this review, an agenda for research is created to direct temporal focus research in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 818-820
Author(s):  
Heidi Forbes Öste
Keyword(s):  

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Attila Buzási

Wine producers face several challenges regarding climate change, which will affect this industry both in the present and the future. Vulnerability assessments are at the forefront of current climate research, therefore, the present paper has two main aims. First, to assess two components of climate vulnerability regarding the Szekszárd wine region, Hungary; second, to collect and analyze adaptation farming techniques in terms of environmental sustainability aspects. Exposure analyses revealed that the study area will face several challenges regarding intensive drought periods in the future. Sensitivity indicators show the climate-related characteristics of the most popular grapevines and their relatively high level of susceptibility regarding changing climatic patterns. Since both external and intrinsic factors of vulnerability show deteriorating trends, the development of adaptation actions is needed. Adaptation interventions often provide unsustainable solutions or entail maladaptation issues, therefore, an environmental-focused sustainability assessment of collected interventions was performed to avoid long-term negative path dependencies. The applied evaluation methodology pointed out that nature-based adaptation actions are preferred in comparison to using additional machines or resource-intensive solutions. This study can fill the scientific gap by analyzing this wine region for the first time, via performing an ex-ante lock-in analysis of available and widely used adaptation interventions in the viticulture sector.


Author(s):  
Erin K. Chiou ◽  
Eric Holder ◽  
Igor Dolgov ◽  
Kaleb McDowell ◽  
Lance Menthe ◽  
...  

Global investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are on the rise, with the results to impact global economies, security, safety, and human well-being. The most heralded advances in this space are more often about the technologies that are capable of disrupting business-as-usual than they are about innovation that advances or supports a global workforce. The Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier is one of NSF’s 10 Big Ideas for research advancement. This panel discussion focuses on the barriers and opportunities for a future of human and AI/robot teaming, with people at the center of complex systems that provide social, ethical, and economic value.


Author(s):  
Artem S. Belousov ◽  
Anton Esipovich ◽  
Evgeny Kanakov ◽  
Ksenia V. Otopkova

Living in the time of the most heighten environmental issues, humanity should take care about the future. Green Chemistry provides a broad range of possibilities for researchers to design of...


2021 ◽  
pp. 103530462110147
Author(s):  
Mark Dean ◽  
Al Rainnie ◽  
Jim Stanford ◽  
Dan Nahum

This article critically analyses the opportunities for Australia to revitalise its strategically important manufacturing sector in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It considers Australia’s industry policy options on the basis of both advances in the theory of industrial policy and recent policy proposals in the Australian context. It draws on recent work from The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work examining the prospects for Australian manufacturing renewal in a post-COVID-19 economy, together with other recent work in political economy, economic geography and labour process theory critically evaluating the Fourth Industrial Revolution (i4.0) and its implications for the Australian economy. The aim of the article is to contribute to and further develop the debate about the future of government intervention in manufacturing and industry policy in Australia. Crucially, the argument links the future development of Australian manufacturing with a focus on renewable energy. JEL Codes: L50; L52; L78; O10; O13: O25; O44; P18; Q42


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