A perspective on radical transformations to sustainability: resistances, movements and alternatives

A transformation to sustainability calls for radical and systemic societal shifts. Yet what this entails in practice and who the agents of this radical transformation are require further elaboration. This article recenters the role of environmental justice movements in transformations, arguing that the systemic, multi-dimensional and intersectional approach inherent in EJ activism is uniquely placed to contribute to the realization of equitable sustainable futures. Based on a perspective of conflict as productive, and a “conflict transformation” approach that can address the root issues of ecological conflicts and promote the emergence of alternatives, we lay out a conceptual framework for understanding transformations through a power analysis that aims to confront and subvert hegemonic power relations; that is, multi-dimensional and intersectional; balancing ecological concerns with social, economic, cultural and democratic spheres; and is multi-scalar, and mindful of impacts across place and space. Such a framework can help analyze and recognize the contribution of grassroots EJ movements to societal transformations to sustainability and support and aid radical transformation processes. While transitions literature tends to focus on artifacts and technologies, we suggest that a resistance-centred perspective focuses on the creation of new subjectivities, power relations, values and institutions. This recenters the agency of those who are engaged in the creation and recuperation of ecological and new ways of being in the world in the needed transformation

The supply chain of violence

Every year, more people are killed defending the environment than are soldiers from the United Kingdom and Australia on overseas deployments in war zones combined. During the last 15 years, the number of both deaths of environmental defenders, and the countries where they occur, have increased. Recorded deaths have increased from two per week to four per week over this period. These deaths are primarily related to conflict over natural resources, across a range of sectors. Of 683 total deaths, >230 were related to mining and agribusiness between 2014 and 2017. We find that rule of law and corruption indices are closely linked to patterns of killings. Using spatial data, we investigate the drivers of these conflicts and violence and seek to identify who may be most at risk and why. We argue that businesses, investors and national governments at both ends of the chain of violence need to be more accountable

Ecological distribution conflicts as forces for sustainability : an overview and conceptual framework

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Centre: ICTA Digital object identifier for the 'European Research Council' (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000781) Digital object identifier for 'Horizon 2020' (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007601).Can ecological distribution conflicts turn into forces for sustainability? This overview paper addresses in a systematic conceptual manner the question of why, through whom, how, and when conflicts over the use of the environment may take an active role in shaping transitions toward sustainability. It presents a conceptual framework that schematically maps out the linkages between (a) patterns of (unsustainable) social metabolism, (b) the emergence of ecological distribution conflicts, (c) the rise of environmental justice movements, and (d) their potential contributions for sustainability transitions. The ways how these four processes can influence each other are multi-faceted and often not a foretold story. Yet, ecological distribution conflicts can have an important role for sustainability, because they relentlessly bring to light conflicting values over the environment as well as unsustainable resource uses affecting people and the planet. Environmental justice movements, born out of such conflicts, become key actors in politicizing such unsustainable resource uses, but moreover, they take sometimes also radical actions to stop them. By drawing on creative forms of mobilizations and diverse repertoires of action to effectively reduce unsustainabilities, they can turn from 'victims' of environmental injustices into 'warriors' for sustainability. But when will improvements in sustainability be lasting? By looking at the overall dynamics between the four processes, we aim to foster a more systematic understanding of the dynamics and roles of ecological distribution conflicts within sustainability processes

Ecological distribution conflicts and the vocabulary of environmental justice

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552There is a fundamental clash between economy and the environment due to the growing social metabolism of industrial economies. Energy cannot be recycled. Therefore, the energy from the fossil fuels is used only once, and new supplies of coal, oil, and gas must be obtained from the "commodity extraction frontiers". Similarly, materials are recycled only in part, and therefore, even an economy that would not grow would need fresh supplies of iron ore, bauxite, copper, and paper pulp. The industrial economy is entropic. Meanwhile, permanent "funds" such as aquifers, forests, and fisheries are overexploited, the fertility of the soil is jeopardized and biodiversity is depleted. Thus, the changing social metabolism of industrial economies (including waste disposal such as the excessive production of carbon dioxide) gives rise to growing numbers of ecological distribution conflicts that sometimes overlap with other social conflicts on class, ethnicity or indigenous identity, gender, caste, or territorial rights. The term Ecological Distribution Conflicts (EDC) was coined to describe social conflicts born from the unfair access to natural resources and the unjust burdens of pollution. Such conflicts give birth to movements of resistance, to the point that we can speak already of a global movement for Environmental Justice

The Global Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas): ecological distribution conflicts as forces for sustainability

Altres ajuts: International Social Science Council for the ACKnowl-EJ project (TKN150317115354)Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-055

Organ donation by Maastricht-III pediatric patients: Recommendations of the Groupe Francophone de Réanimation et Urgences Pédiatriques (GFRUP) and Association des Anesthésistes Réanimateurs Pédiatriques d'Expression Française (ADARPEF) Part I: Ethical considerations and family care

International audienceThe French Transplant Health Authority (Agence de la Biomédecine) has broadened its organ- and tissue-donation criteria to include pediatric patients whose death is defined by circulatory criteria and after the planned withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies (WLST) (Maastricht category III). A panel of pediatric experts convened to translate data in the international literature into recommendations for organ and tissue donation in this patient subgroup. The panel estimated that, among children aged 5 years or over with severe irreversible neurological injury (due to primary neurological injury or post-anoxic brain injury) and no progression to brain death, the number of potential donors, although small, deserves attention. The experts emphasized the importance of adhering strictly to the collegial procedure for deciding to withdraw life support. Once this decision is made, the available data should be used to evaluate whether the patient might be a potential donor, before suggesting organ donation to the parents. This suggestion should be reserved for parents who have unequivocally manifested their acceptance of WLST. The discussion with the parents should include both the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) team under the responsibility of a senior physician and the hospital organ- and tissue-procurement team. All recommendations about family care during the end of life of a child in the PICU must be followed. The course and potential challenges of organ donation in Maastricht-III pediatric patients must be anticipated. The panel of experts recommended strict compliance with French recommendations (by the Groupe Francophone de Réanimation et Urgences Pédiatriques) about WLST and providing deep and continuous sedation until circulatory arrest. The experts identified the PICU as the best place to implement life-support discontinuation and emphasized the importance of returning the body to the PICU after organ donation. French law prohibits the transfer of these patients from one hospital to another. A description of the expert-panel recommendations regarding the organization and techniques appropriate for children who die after controlled circulatory arrest (Maastricht III) is published simultaneously in the current issue of this journal.

Organ donation by Maastricht-III pediatric patients: Recommendations of the Groupe Francophone de Réanimation et Urgences Pédiatriques (GFRUP) and Association des Anesthésistes Réanimateurs Pédiatriques d'Expression Française (ADARPEF). Part II: Specific organizational and technical considerations.

International audienceA panel of pediatric experts met to develop recommendations on the technical requirements specific to pediatric controlled donation after planned withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies (Maastricht category III). The panel recommends following the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies protocol usually applied in each unit, which may or may not include immediate extubation. The organ retrieval process should be halted if death does not occur within 3 h of life-support discontinuation. Circulatory arrest is defined as loss of pulsatile arterial pressure and should be followed by a 5-min no-touch observation period. Death is declared based on a list of clinical criteria assessed by two senior physicians. The no-flow time should be no longer than 30, 45, and 90 min for the liver, kidneys, and lungs, respectively. At present, the panel does not recommend pediatric heart donation after death by circulatory arrest. The mean arterial pressure cutoff that defines the start of the functional warm ischemia (FWI) phase is 45 mmHg in patients older than 5 years and/or weighing more than 20 kg. The panel recommends normothermic regional perfusion in these patients. The FWI phase should not exceed 30 and 45 min for retrieving the pancreas and liver, respectively. There is no time limit to the FWI phase for the lungs and kidneys. The panel recommends routine sharing of experience with Maastricht-III donation among all healthcare institutions involved in order to ensure optimal outcome assessment and continuous discussion on the potential difficulties, notably those related to the management of normothermic regional perfusion in small children