Experimentierfelder für nachhaltige Lebensweisen: Forschungsstrategien einer Soziologie als Möglichkeitswissenschaft

"Obwohl seit mehr als 20 Jahren bekannt ist, dass die derzeitige abendländische Lebensweise ökologisch nicht nachhaltig und sozial nicht gerecht ist, scheint sie sich mit der Globalisierung mehr denn je auszubreiten. Die Ursachen dafür sind längst nicht vollständig erkannt und zahlreiche - wohl aber zu wenige - Forschungsvorhaben beschäftigen sich mit deren Analyse. Noch weniger wird allerdings am anderen Ende der Frage, wie denn eine 'nachhaltigere', besser abgestimmte Lebensweise aussehen könnte, geforscht. Die Gefahr sich idealistischer Utopien oder normativer Diskurse zu bedienen und damit eher ideologisch und politisch zu argumentieren als wissenschaftlich zu forschen, scheint groß. Nach Bruno Latour ist aber auch die Trennung in wissenschaftlich erforschte Tatsachen und normativ begründete Werte politisch-epistemologisch konstruiert. Der Beitrag möchte für die Suche nach nachhaltigen Lebensweisen einen soziologischen Forschungsansatz entwerfen und diskutieren, der der Trennung in Tatsachen und Werten vorgängige Entstehungsprozesse von Lebensweisen und sozialen Ordnungsstrukturen beforscht. Jenseits der Analyse bestehender Sozialstrukturen - aber darauf aufbauend - wird mit einer induktiv-empirischen Forschungsmethodik des Experimentierens nach in der Wirklichkeit liegenden Möglichkeiten für die Gestaltung sozialer Organisationsstrukturen für nachhaltige Lebensweisen gefragt. Nachhaltige Entwicklung ist von der Grundidee seiner sozialen Dimension her ein Konzept, das Möglichkeiten langfristig zu erhalten und zu erweitern anstrebt. Mit Hilfe von ausgewählten Fallbeispielen aus dem Spektrum intentionaler Gemeinschaftsprojekte, die erproben 'nachhaltige' Lebensweisen experimentell umzusetzen, wird versucht eine Forschungsstrategie eines soziologischen Transformationsexperiments in Richtung zukunftsfähiger Lebensweisen zu entwerfen." (Autorenreferat

Bildet Gemeinschaften - oder geht unter!:Eine Untersuchung selbstverwalteter, subsistenter Gemeinschaftsprojekte und Ökodörfer in Deutschland – Modelle für eine zukunftsfähige Lebensweise?

Nach theoretischen Vorüberlegungen, was nachhaltige Lebensweise ausmacht, lag der Fokus auf Selbstversorgung und Selbstverwaltung unter Verwendung des Subsistenzansatzes und systemtheoretischer Betrachtungsweise. Daraus abgeleitete Kriterien führten im empirischen Teil zu Intentionalen Gemeinschaften, die nachhaltige Lebensweisen erproben. Erstens wurden mittels eines Auswahlverfahrens mit quantitativen Daten aus dem „Eurotopia“ zwei Projekte ausgewählt: das Ökodorf Sieben Linden und die Kommune Niederkaufungen. Zweitens wurden deren Selbstversorgung und Entscheidungsstrukturen mit teilnehmender Beobachtung, Feldforschung und Interviews erforscht. Im Fazit werden die gemeinschaftlichen Praktiken und die gesellschaftliche Wirkung der Projekte reflektiert. Die Spannung zwischen Ideal und Umsetzung zeigte die Projekte weniger als Prototypen, sondern als Experimente, die ein innovatives Feld für nachhaltige Lebensweise kreieren

Soziale Innovationen für eine zukunftsfähige Lebensweise:Gemeinschaften und Ökodörfer als experimentierende Lernfelder für sozial-ökologische Nachhaltigkeit

Auf der Suche nach Lösungen für die soziale, ökologische und ökonomische Krise, explorierte die Autorin sozialökologische Ansätze und die Bedeutung der sozialen Dimension der Nachhaltigkeit. Wie entstehen sozial und ökologisch nachhaltige Organisationsstrukturen? Aus Nachhaltigkeitsansätzen wurde ein „Prinzipienkatalog“ zusammengestellt anhand dessen sieben sozialökologische Gemeinschaften und Ökodörfer ausgewählt und mittels je mehrwöchigen teilnehmenden Beobachtungsbesuchen beforscht wurden. Die Umsetzung ihrer Visionen wurde exploriert und ihre Praktiken auf innovative Methoden sozial-ökologisch nachhaltiger Lebensweise ausgewertet. Ergebnis ist eine Zusammenhangsanalyse der Methoden zum Aufbau und Erhalt zukunftsfähiger Sozialwesen: eine werteorientierte Basis, Methoden effektiver Entscheidungsfindungsprozesse, Pflege gemeinschaftlicher Nachbarschaft und Basis nachhaltiger Wirtschaftsmethoden – ein Methodenset zur Anregungen für die Praxis auch in anderen gesellschaftlichen Kontexten.Has modernity killed “community”? What is the social dimension of sustainability and why is community relevant for it? After discussing sociological theories and Communitarian efforts the author generates criteria of sustainable living from contemporary research. For empirical study worthwhile communities were selected according to the criteria. Do intentional communities offer realistic solutions to the ecological, social and economic crises? Do they realize their ambitious visions? In participant observation during several week-long visits in seven intentional communities (mainly in Germany) the cases were specified as “living laboratories” of communal and ecological living. The most innovative methods in sustainable living combining individual freedom and communal cooperation were identified and described in the areas of membership governance, decision making, and communication to show transferrable methods to other communities and groups

Slow Food Movement: Case Study Report

Theme [ssh.2013.3.2-1] [Social Innovation- Empowering People, changing societies] Project Full Title: “Transformative Social Innovation Theory project”[Abstract] This report presents the results of a case study developed on the Slow Food movement within the EU-FP7 funded TRANSIT Proyect. Slow Food is a International association founded to counter the rise of fast food and fast life. Slow Food demands a shift of paradigm towards a new food system, based on the defense of biodiversity, respect for local cultures and community empowerment. Slow Food envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy quality food produced in a sustainable and fair way.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 61316

Translocal empowerment in transformative social innovation networks

[Abstract] This paper contributes to public and academic discussions on empowerment and social innovation by conceptualizing the mechanisms of empowerment from a social psychology perspective, and empirically exploring how people are empowered through both local and transnational linkages, i.e. translocal networks. Section 2 conceptualizes empowerment as the process through which actors gain the capacity to mobilize resources to achieve a goal, building on different power theories in relation to social change, combined with self-determination theory and intrinsic motivation research. Based on that conceptualization, empirical questions are formulated to be asked about cases under study. Section 3 then provides an empirical analysis of translocal networks that work with social innovation both at the global and local level. A total of five networks are analyzed: FEBEA, DESIS, the Global Ecovillage Network, Impact Hub and Slow Food. The embedded cases-study approach allows an exploration of how people are empowered through the transnational networking while also zooming in on the dynamics in local initiatives. In the final section, conceptual and empirical insights are synthesized into a characterization of the mechanisms of translocal empowerment, and challenges for future research are formulated

Facilitating low-carbon living? A comparison of intervention measures in different community-based initiatives

The challenge of facilitating a shift towards sustainable housing, food and mobility has been taken up by diverse community-based initiatives ranging from ‘top-down’ approaches in low-carbon municipalities to ‘bottom-up’ approaches in intentional communities. This paper compares intervention measures of these two types, focusing on their potential of re-configuring daily housing, food and mobility practices. Taking up critics on dominant intervention framings of diffusing low-carbon technical innovations and changing individual behaviour, we draw on social practice theory for the empirical analysis of four case studies. Framing interventions in relation to re-configuring daily practices, the paper reveals differences and weaknesses of current low-carbon measures of community-based initiatives in Germany and Austria. Low-carbon municipalities mainly focus on introducing technologies and offering additional infrastructure and information to promote low-carbon practices. They avoid interfering into residents’ daily lives and do not restrict carbon-intensive practices. In contrast, intentional communities base their interventions on the collective creation of shared visions, decisions and rules and thus provide social and material structures, which foster everyday low-carbon practices and discourage carbon-intensive ones. The paper discusses the relevance of organisational and governance structures for implementing different types of low-carbon measures and points to opportunities for broadening current policy strategies

Investigating patterns of local climate governance: How low-carbon municipalities and intentional communities intervene in social practices

The local level has gained prominence in climate policy and governance in recent years as it is increasingly perceived as a privileged arena for policy experimentation and social and institutional innovation. However, the success of local climate governance in industrialized countries has been limited. One reason may be that local communities focus too much on strategies of technology-oriented ecological modernization and individual behavior change and too little on strategies that target unsustainable social practices and their embeddedness in complex socioeconomic patterns. In this paper we assess and compare the strategies of "low-carbon municipalities" (top-down initiatives) and those of "intentional communities" (bottom-up initiatives). We were interested to determine to what extent and in which ways each community type intervenes in social practices to curb carbon emissions and to explore the scope for further and deeper interventions on the local level. Using an analytical framework based on social practice theory we identify characteristic patterns of intervention for each community type. We find that low-carbon municipalities face difficulties in transforming carbon-intensive social practices. While offering some additional low-carbon choices, their ability to reduce carbon-intensive practices is very limited. Their focus on efficiency and individual choice shows little transformative potential. Intentional communities, by contrast, have more institutional and organizational options to intervene in the web of social practices. Finally, we explore to what extent low-carbon municipalities can learn from intentional communities and propose strategies of hybridization for policy innovation to combine the strengths of both models

Investigating patterns of local climate governance: how low-carbon municipalities and intentional communities intervene into social practices

The local level has gained prominence in climate policy and governance in recent years as it is increasingly perceived as privileged arena for policy experimentation and social and institutional innovation. Yet, the success of local climate governance in industrialised countries has been limited so far. One reason may be that local communities focus too much on strategies of technology-oriented ecological modernisation (EM) and individual behaviour change and too little on strategies that target unsustainable social practices and their embeddedness in complex patterns of practices. In this paper we assess and compare the strategies of ‘low-carbon municipalities’ (top-down initiatives) and those of ‘intentional communities’ (bottom-up initiatives). We are interested to find out to what extent and in which ways each community type intervenes in social practices to curb carbon emissions and to explore the scope for further and deeper interventions on the local level. Employing an analytical framework based on social practice theory we identify characteristic patterns of intervention for each community type. We find that low-carbon municipalities face tenacious difficulties in transforming carbon-intensive social practices. While offering some additional low-carbon choices, their ability to reduce carbon-intensive practices is very limited. Their focus on efficiency and individual choice shows little transformative potential. Intentional communities, by contrast, have more institutional and organisational options to intervene into the web of social practices. Finally, we explore to what extent low-carbon municipalities can learn from intentional communities and propose strategies of hybridisation for policy innovation to combine the strengths of both models

TRANSIT Deliverable 2.3. Cross-cutting theme: Social Learning

Theme [ssh.2013.3.2-1][Social Innovation- Empowering People, changing societies]Project Full Title: “Transformative Social Innovation Theory project”[Abstract] The object of the present deliverable is the integration of the main outcomes of empirical research and integration activities developed within the TRANSIT project on the cross-cutting theme of “social learning” as well as the distilling of main insights for the development of “practical briefs and tools”. Deliverable 2.3 reports on the outcomes of these activities, and consists of the following sections: 1. Working paper: " The role of social learning in transformative social innovations" 2. Synthesis of the third integration workshop: Motivations, relations and transformations. The role of social learning in individual and collective agency for social innovation 3. Social Learning with PEERs: Practitioner Engagement for Empowering Reflections 4. Insights on Social Learning for Transformative Social Innovation Practice (input for practice brief and practice tool.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 61316

Inner transformation to sustainability as a deep leverage point: fostering new avenues for change through dialogue and reflection

This article provides a rationale for inner transformation as a key and hitherto underresearched dimension of sustainability transformations. Inner transformation relates to various aspects of human existence and interactions such as consciousness, mindsets, values, worldviews, beliefs, spirituality and human-nature connectedness. The article draws on Meadows\u27 leverage points approach, as places to intervene in a system, to reveal the relevance of inner transformation for system change towards sustainability. Based on insights from a series of dialogue and reflection workshops and a literature review, this article provides three important contributions to sustainability transformations research: first, it increases our conceptual understanding of inner transformation and its relevance for sustainability; second, it outlines concrete elements of the inner transformation-sustainability nexus in relation to leverage points; and third, it presents practical examples illustrating how to work with leverage points for supporting inner transformation. In sum, the paper develops a systematized and structured approach to understanding inner transformation, including the identification of deep, i.e., highly influential, leverage points. In addition, it critically discusses the often contentious and divergent perspectives on inner transformation and shows related practical challenges. Finally, current developments in inner transformation research as well as further research needs are identified