News

  • Gardening Like the Land Remembers: Native Plants and Urban Ecology

    Monday, September 08, 2025 | By

    Contributors: Mike Hallé and Liette Vasseur

    The following is the first in a series of blogs related to an ongoing Urban biodiversity project. 

    Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety of organisms in a given location. We often think of biodiversity when we visit natural parks, protected areas or conservation areas. However, it is possible to enhance biodiversity even at home. This series of blogs aims to encourage reflection, bring forward ideas and explain why we can all be part of this movement to bring back biodiversity in our cities. Urban biodiversity is important for many reasons and it certainly helps to bring colour and live to our lives.

    As climate shifts intensify and biodiversity continues to decline, cities across Canada are being called to rethink how we relate to the land beneath our feet. Native planting — once viewed as a rural or conservationist practice — is now emerging as a powerful tool for healing the urban landscape.

    Urban gardens are not just decorative — they are ecosystems. Planting native species supports local pollinators, improves soil health, and reduces reliance on chemical inputs. By choosing plants that are adapted to local conditions, urban gardeners can create vibrant, low-maintenance habitats that regenerate biodiversity right in their own yards and balconies.

    This blog series will explore how native plant gardening supports mental well-being, food resilience, and ecological restoration. We begin with ten simple ways to start gardening like the land remembers, rooted in principles of observation, reciprocity, and respect. From composting and layering plant structures to creating pollinator corridors and talking with neighbours, every action becomes part of a wider community of care.

    We also spotlight inspiring models like Land Care Niagara, where woodworking programs, native nurseries, and community partnerships are bringing people back into relationship with the land. Their work reminds us that biodiversity begins at home, and that even the smallest garden can be a sanctuary for life.

    This journey starts with a single step.
    Continue to monitor this webpage to discover the Ten Ways to Begin Gardening, Like the Land Remembers, and let the land guide you.

    Categories: Biodiversity in Urban Centres Blog

  • New International Cooperation: Network of UNESCO Chairs and partners for inclusive and Open Knowledge in Sustainable Food Systems

    Tuesday, August 05, 2025 | By

    The UNESCO Chair in Community Sustainability: From Local to Global has joined a new international network to advance cooperation and knowledge regarding sustainable food systems. The new network was recently announced by the Triptolemos Foundation.

    Read more from the official announcement:

    “The UNESCO Chair “Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development: Global Food production and Food Safety” of the Triptolemos Foundation and the UNED has promoted the initiative to establish the informal NETWORK of UNESCO Chairs and partners for Inclusive and Open Knowledge in Sustainable Food Systems, which already has 10 chairs representing 8 countries and 4 UNESCO regions.

    The NETWORK, coordinated by the Triptolomemos Foundation, aims to expand the concept of sustainable food systems in a global environment where education, science and culture play a key role in facing the great challenges facing society and the planet. The RED pivots on the 4 macro areas in which the Triptolemos Foundation defines the food system and its main objective is to constitute a forum for meeting, study, dialogue, debate, participation, collaboration and training between the areas inherent to the global sustainable food system and to contribute to its improvement and optimization.”

    Read the Triptolemos Foundation newsletter in English

    Read the Triptolemos Foundation newsletter in Spanish

    Categories: Activities & Events, Updates of the Chair

  • Nature-based Solutions and circular economy for North America

    Monday, August 04, 2025 | By

    Four people stand in front of a presentation screen on a stage during a forum.

    Photo Caption: UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: From Local to Global Liette Vasseur (second from left) discussed how nature-based solutions can build more sustainable economies at a trilateral global forum in Mexico City on Thursday, July 24. Also pictured are Luis Alain Zúñiga Hernández (left) of Ecopil, Mexico; Felicia Marcus (second from right), Visiting Fellow at Stanford University; and Gregg Bill (right) of Accounting for Nature.

    The Nature-based Solutions concept has become a buzz term in many spheres of society. It attracts industries, organizations and governments because of the possibility it presents to use nature are a way to address societal challenges such as food security, water quality, biodiversity loss, and climate change. It can also be connected to the concept of circular economy, when we consider the reduction of waste and exploitation of natural resources.

    On Thursday, 24 July 2025, in Mexico City, the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), organized a public forum, Building Sustainable Economies: Circular Models and Nature-based Solutions for a Resilient North America. The public forum was a hybrid (in-person and virtual) event. Liette Vasseur, UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: From Local to Global, was invited to speak on Nature-based Solutions in the first session of this public forum.

    Woman stands on a stage with three flags to her right.

    The JPAC is the public face of the CEC, which represents the parallel agreement of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The JPAC, through these types of consultations, prepares recommendations that are then submitted to the Council of the Ministers of the Environment of the three countries (Canada, USA, and Mexico). The Council meeting was held on the Friday, the day following the public forum.

    “Having been a member of the JPAC several years ago, I know the importance and the influence of this advisory committee to influence public policies in the three countries,” Vasseur said. “The fact that the JPAC was interested in these concepts of Nature-based Solutions and circular economy demonstrates the willingness of the countries to accelerate the transition to more resilience  and sustainable economies in North America.”

    To follow updates on the work of the CEC and the JPAC, visit their website here.

    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • Join us for an SDG Webinar and the Poetry Celebration!

    Monday, March 24, 2025 | By

    In my role as the Chair, I host a variety of different events to mobilize research, connect with stakeholders/partners and engage with the community.  There are two upcoming events that are open to all and free to attend.

    Celebration of the Annual Sustainability Poetry Contest 2025

    • Thursday, April 3 2025 at 6:30 p.m.; Mahtay Cafe in St. Catharines
      • The entire Brock University and Niagara community are welcome to celebrate International Poetry Day by listening to in-person readings of the poems submitted for this year’s Sustainability Poetry Contest (in either English or French). We also invite anyone interested in sharing their poetry to consider reading a poem aloud at the event.
      • The event is free to attend and light refreshments will be provided. For more information, visit the Brock University Experience BU page or the Sustainability Poetry Contest page of this website.

    Linking SDG 3 with SDG 13: Are we prepared? Online Webinar

    • Monday, March 31 2025 at 10:00 AM; Online
      • We invite you to learn about the challenges that vulnerable people face as a result of climate change, especially during extreme climate events, and what is/ can be done to improve their capacity to cope with these changes.
    • Moderator:
      Liette Vasseur, Professor and UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability, Brock University
    • Invited Panelists:
      Kathryn Bakos, Managing Director, Finance and Resilience, Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, University of Waterloo
      Sean Kidd, Division Chief of Psychology at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto
      Olivia Groff, Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator, St Catharines
    • For more information about the event, visit the Brock University Experience BU page and tune in live to the event here: https://shorturl.at/WyZQi
    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • Can Global Leaders Change the Approach to Sustainable Development?

    Friday, August 09, 2024 | By

    Agenda 2030 for sustainable global development was set by the United Nations in 2015. This happened after three years of deliberation among leaders from government, industry and society that began with the Rio+20 conference in 2012, UN (United Nations). The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets (UN 2015) are intended to achieve sustainable development by 2030. Recent progress reports show that many targets and goals are not being met due to the COVID-19 pandemic, violent conflict, climate change (UN 2022; 2023), and financial challenges including underinvestment, falling GDP, increasing investment risk, inflation, and massive debt burden (UN 2024). The UN states that “we cannot persist with a morally bankrupt financial system” which also presents developing countries with considerable barriers to achieving sustainable development goals (UN 2023).

    Major transformations in the relationships between developed and developing countries, and between humans and nature, are required to enable global society to achieve the UN’s SDGs. The goals represent a complicated array of ambitions that interact in complex ways. Some goals are complementary and can work in tandem to produce results, other goals are conflicting and require negotiation to find a workable compromise. The complex interactions between the SDGs were not recognized until a group of systems scientists analysed the relationship between some of the goals and targets and how they affected sustainable development in Sweden (Weitz, et al., 2018). These are not widely acknowledged, either, and meaningful transformation is unlikely to occur until they are. Factors such as uncertainty and risk, predictive limitations, siloed approaches, fragmentation, and short-term thinking contribute to this challenge.

    Addressing the relationship between the developed and underdeveloped world requires that both sides recognize the exploitative nature of the relationship itself. The origins of this relationship began with the “discovery” of the Americas and Asia in the 15th century by European explorers, funded by merchants seeking to expand their interests in trade, and still exists, in an ever increasingly exploitative nature, in the present day. This created the foundation for the way that globalization and industrialization developed, based on the exploitation of people and nature, and how each system continues to operate in the 21st century (Lewis & Maslin, 2018). The billions of dollars that flow south as development assistance and investment are insignificant compared to the trillions of dollars of economic benefit that flow north (Hickel, 2017). The basic requirements of food, water, health, and education necessary to reduce poverty cannot be provided if this inequality is maintained. There is no incentive for industrial societies to change this relationship.

    Climate change is arguably the most pressing global environmental problem, and it will affect food and water security, human and environmental health, and lead to flooding of low-lying islands and coastlines. The recent warming data from Copernicus shows that global temperatures from May 2023 to April 2024 were 1.6oC above the pre-industrial average (Copernicus 2024) and it seems likely that the world will be somewhere between 2 to 3o C warmer by 2100. Despite the rapid increase in global temperatures and impending massive economic impacts, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not meeting the targets necessary to stay under 2oC (UNEP 2023). As with the UNSDG’s, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) agreements are non-binding. The use of fossil fuels will continue to rise as countries compete to maintain economic growth on a shrinking resource base (Hagens, 2020). UNSDG 8 aims to “sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances”, which assumes that infinite economic growth is possible on a finite plant and conflicts with climate change and biodiversity goals.

    The current approach to sustainable development is not working and there is little indication of any change in approach by global leadership. The existing global governance structures are designed to maintain economic growth while attempting to treat symptoms such as biodiversity loss and climate change with technology and financial market solutions. The idea that the UNSDGs are complex and that the consequences of unbridled economic growth are systemic problems that cannot be treated effectively with simple economic and technological solutions is new. People are resistant to change and tend to think about short-term problems rather than take a long-term view to consider changes that accumulate over time. A systems perspective on sustainability issues recognizes that humans are part of nature and that living bioeconomic systems behave unpredictably. Managing unpredictability is difficult for decision-makers, influenced by 300 years of deterministic science, to believe that problems have simple causes and can be fixed with simple solutions. Political leaders think in terms of election cycles, and they are unlikely to change unless there is strong public pressure for them to do so. Global corporations may be aware of the social and ecological costs of their business, but these are not included in cost-benefit analysis and corporate decisions are influenced by market trends and the need to make a profit for shareholders.

    Changes to how people approach sustainability will come from innovators who recognize the environmental degradation caused by the current human-nature relationship and seek alternatives that deliver human well-being while working to restore the ability of nature to maintain a stable environment.

     

    References

    Copernicus 2024 Monthly Climate Bulletin for April. https://climate.copernicus.eu/april-2024-11th-consecutive-warmest-month-globally?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=li&utm_id=news-cb-2404

    Hagens, N. 2020. Economics for the future – Beyond the superorganism Ecological Economics 169 106520 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106520

    Hickel, J. The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions. W.W. Norton, New York.

    Lewis, S. and M. Maslin. 2018. The Human Planet: How we Created the Anthropocene. Yale University Press.

    United Nations 2012 The Future We Want: Outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/publications/733FutureWeWant.pdf

    United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development (A/RES/70/1). New York, NY: UN General Assembly. Retrieved from https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

    United Nations Environment Program 2023 Broken Record: Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again). Nairobi. https://doi.org/10.59117/20.500.11822/43922

    United Nations 2024 United Nations, Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development, Financing for Sustainable Development: Financing for Development at a Crossroads. Available from: https://developmentfinance.un.org/fsdr2024.

    Weitz, N., H.Carlsen, M. Nilsson, & K. Skånberg. 2018. Towards systemic and contextual priority setting for implementing the 2030 Agenda. Sustain Sci 13:531–548. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0470-0

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    Categories: Beyond Sustainability Blog

  • Diverse perspectives, common goals: insights from the Beyond Sustainability Project

    Friday, July 19, 2024 | By

    The Beyond Sustainability project launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, hindering important in-person interactions for the transdisciplinary nature of the research. Face-to-face communication, vital for knowledge mobilization, was not possible during this time. The project team was quick to pivot to a virtual setting, however, and were able to maintain the intended focus: to integrate radical transformation, systems thinking and transdisciplinary research to find common ground. 

    Sounds easy!

    It is already difficult enough to define terminologies in person and get a common understanding — the virtual meetings made it even more complicated. The varied viewpoints and working styles across disciplines proved to be both an enriching and challenging experience. Collaborating across multiple academic fields demanded time and patience in order to navigate the complexities arising from diverse perspectives. It became evident that individuals operate at different paces and levels of detail, illustrated even in tasks as seemingly straightforward as defining “sustainability”. 

    For example, the research team philosopher conceptualizes sustainability as the measure of a system’s capacity to withstand transformation. They propose that sustainability is achieved when these transformations do not significantly diminish the system’s complexity or its capacity for affective potentiality. They argue that a sustainable system thrives when the transformations it undergoes enhance its complexity or affective potentiality, thereby positively contributing to its constituent powers and relational capacity.

    Conversely, the research team biologist defines sustainability as the maintenance of the ecosystem, encompassing both human and socio-economic activities, in a manner that ensures the long-term protection and sustenance of all biotic and abiotic components of the planet. This perspective emphasizes the holistic preservation of ecological balance and biodiversity to safeguard the well-being of all life forms.

    In contrast, the research team engineer views sustainability as enabling people to live socially just lives within ecological limits. This simple perspective highlights the importance of achieving a balance between human and environmental needs. 

    Amidst these diverse perspectives, the research team encountered predictable hurdles often encountered in interdisciplinary collaboration. Researchers from different disciplines often possess different research strategies and methodologies, leading to potential misunderstandings and difficulties in appreciating the value of interdisciplinary perspectives. This challenge is particularly pronounced between the social and natural sciences. But by the end, however, all team members were able to find the common ground needed to produce highly collaborative blogs and reflection pieces. Students were also able to publish their work. 

    The project was intended to be of high risk, and this became more obvious with the pandemic. It was supposed to also lead to high reward. This might have been somewhat limited for the team itself, but the think tank at the end of the project brought new perspectives and possibilities. There is an idea of a second life but with a more focused direction. Approaches such as Nature-based Solutions (the weaving of Indigenous ways of knowing with other scientific approaches) are strongly related to systems thinking and reconnecting nature and humans. This approach leads to more concrete solutions and actions that can engage in the path for radical transformation. This remains high risk with great potential for high rewards. 

    Despite challenges, the project utilized digital platforms and solutions to broaden its reach globally. Empowering youth and fostering unconventional discourse, the project underscores the collective potential for impactful change, emphasizing the importance of collaboration in reshaping humanity’s relationship with the planet.

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    Categories: Beyond Sustainability Blog

  • Beyond sustainability: radical transformation through system thinking – a lesson in patience and adaptation

    Thursday, July 18, 2024 | By

    Liette Vasseur presents at an event in front of a group of seated attendees between bookcases

    The New Frontiers Exploration Grant was awarded to the Beyond Sustainability international project team on April 1, 2020 – two weeks after the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

    Imagine: A project consisting of an international transdisciplinary team established to research new ways of thinking about how humans interact with non-humans and the natural environment (and how to transform that relationship through system thinking in order to go beyond sustainability) without being able to interact in person or spend time directly in the field. Even worse, the project was also intended to include meaningful interactions with local people, involving youth, community members and other researchers, and between the research team itself. The implications are many, with the most notable being that “the human brain is the result of tens of thousands of years of evolution, while technology is rapidly evolving, the brain, is configured to manage interactions and communications with others face to face”.1

    Why does it matter whether communication between people is less effective when it’s done through technology as opposed to in person? In the context of the Beyond sustainability: radical transformation through system thinking research project, this disparity in communication methods is not merely a matter of preference; it carries profound implications, particularly regarding its collaborative ventures.

    Communication researchers tend to agree that all forms of digital and virtual communication can “replace” an in-person, face-to-face experience2. With face-to-face communication, however, is still considered to be the ‘the gold standard’3.  Face-to-face communication surpasses all other communications methods in its ability to inspire and mobilize people. Before a single word is spoken, it allows for the full conveyance of not just verbal content, but also the nuanced messages of tone, voice modulation, emotion and body language. Directly addressing individuals, making eye contact and delivering precise information serves as an effective means to underscore and reinforce key points.

    The first year of the project meant engaging only in a virtual way with very little interaction with the public. Meetings with the team became more complicated with schedule restrictions due to time zones and other obligations. It was also clear that activities on the computer, such as email., for example, caused distractions during virtual meetings. The virtual community cafes that the team hosted did not draw in a large crowd of people, especially at the beginning of the second year of the project. It seemed that people’s calendars were becoming overly saturated with virtual, screen-based events that were used as a medium to talk to and learn from others. 

    Videoconferencing can also hamper creativity4. It limits cognitive concentration because participant focus is often concentrated on verbal content and all that is happening on the screen, and in the backgrounds, rather than on the key nuances of communication (body language, tone, emotion, etc3,4).

    The Beyond Sustainability project was initially meant to engage the broader public through activities such as proactive camps, conversation circles, community cafés and artistic events. The pandemic brought new risks to public health involved with in person interaction that were not predetermined during the preparation of the project. Best efforts were made, however, to engage with the public virtually through a host of on-line events that were held. 

    To ensure participation and co-creation of knowledge with youth, community members, private sector, governmental officials and Indigenous partners, the Beyond Sustainability project established a Clubhouse meeting room. Clubhouse is an audio-based social media app that allows people from around the world to engage in live conversations. The Beyond Sustainability Team ran weekly conversations on a specific topic each week from August 2021 until April 2023. It had a huge advantage: the team reached over 500 people worldwide, in countries that would not have been reached in any other way. In this regard, it was very successful with higher impact than what would have been achieved by remaining solely at the local level. 

    Empowering the next generation of researchers was an important goal of the Beyond Sustainability project.  The formation of the Young Professionals in research Exploration Group served as a testament to this commitment, providing a platform for students to dive deeper into discussions on radical transformations and the future of sustainability. The work of the group culminated in an artistic event in the third year of the project: Transforming Environmental Awareness with Artistic Interventions: a showcase of video art, fiber art, and a live performance. The event offered an alternative way to build environmental awareness through sustainability discourse rethinking and showcased the out-of-the-box thinking required to transform our currently unsustainable social-ecological systems.  

    The project drew to a close in the form of a Think Tank, where a group of “system thinking” researchers (three from the original project team and three new thinkers) met in person at Brock University to chart a new course of moving beyond sustainability. The work of the Think Tank was motivated by the alarming reality that society has surpassed the boundaries of the traditional “sustainability” model, symbolized by the three-legged stool. This model has been made obsolete by an economic system driven by profit and power, disregarding the well-being of both humanity and the planet. The Think Tank research team understands that as society navigates this chaotic phase, it presents opportunities to instigate paradigm shifts and enact transformative change, paving the way towards a future that is secure and equitable for all. 

    The timing of a global pandemic, which led to a worldwide surge in outdoor activities, coinciding with the work of the Beyond Sustainability research team as they embarked on a journey to redefine humanity’s relationship with the environment was indeed interesting. Did it change the relationship between nature and humans? That’s difficult to know. What we do know is changing mindsets and bringing more awareness can create a new path for humans and the planet. Alone, nobody can change the world, but small groups of people working together can change part of it. Over time, these small changes can create radical transformation, and the world is forever changed, for the better.

    1. Schwartz, L., Levy, J., Endevelt-Shapira, Y., Djalovski, A., Hayut, O., Dumas, G., & Feldman, R. (2022). Technologically-assisted communication attenuates inter-brain synchrony. doi:10.1101/2022.06.06.494185
    2. Walther, J. B. Theories of computer-mediated communication and interpersonal relations. In Sage Handbook of Interpersonal Communication (eds. Knapp, M. L. & Daly, J. A.) (Sage, 2011).
    3. Stieger, S., Lewetz, D., & Willinger, D. (2023). Face-to-face more important than digital communication for mental health during the pandemic. Scientific Reports, 13(1). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-34957-4#ref-CR11 
    4. Brucks, M. S., & Levav, J. (2022). Virtual communication curbs creative idea generation. Nature, 605(7908), 108-112. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04643-y

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    Categories: Beyond Sustainability Blog, Uncategorised

  • Beyond Sustainability: Engaging communities for transformative action

    Monday, May 27, 2024 | By

    Beyond sustainability panelists stand in a row after an even

    As part of the Beyond Sustainability research project, invited speakers and the public focused on sharing perspectives on effecting meaningful change at an event on January 25, 2024. Invited panelists included, from left: Patrick Robson, Christopher Warren, Derek Davy, Abiola Oke, Liette Vasseur.

    By: Liette Vasseur and Jocelyn Baker

    As the Beyond Sustainability project neared completion, the project team continued to engage the public through impactful events. On January 25, 2024, a small panel of individuals, committed to going beyond the standard of conventional sustainability, gathered to share their perspectives on effecting meaningful change. The event aimed to highlight tangible actions that can motivate society to move beyond sustainability and actively seek innovative and transformative approaches that challenge existing boundaries and push the concept of sustainability to new levels.

    Among the invitees were Liette Vasseur, UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: From Local to Global; Christopher Warren from Sustainability Leadership (Hamilton); Abiola Oke, a graduate of Niagara College’s Beekeeping Program; and Derek Davy, CEO of Econse Water Technologies. Facilitating the event was Patrick Robson, Professor of Environmental Studies at Niagara College. Each panelist discussed their own approaches to advancing sustainability, highlighting the need for transformative thinking and action.

    The event also provided a platform for public participation, inviting attendees to share their insights and ideas. Responses to questions such as “What does sustainability mean to you?” brought forward interesting perspectives, like the idea of ecosystem maintenance, long-term conservation, and conscientious decision-making. Notable responses included the “the ability to maintain an ecosystem”; “the practice and the methodology that allow the conservation of the environment and people in the long term”; “to enjoy the fruits of the tree without destroying it for future generations”; “being aware of how your actions directly and indirectly impact the environment while taking steps to gradually make better decisions when it comes to said impact”; “keeping the long-term benefit for something of value”; “conscientious communities where no one is left behind and growth is dependent on what the earth can provide”; and, “taking care of the earth so it will continue to take care of my children”.

    When getting further into the idea of “beyond sustainability,” participants stressed the necessity for societal paradigm shifts, behavioral changes, and holistic viewpoints.

    Responses included:

    • “A change in how societies operate and make their decisions. It moves further beyond the three pillars of sustainability. In simple terms, it is changing the mindset.”
    • “A behavioural change of people. Shifts in the way people consume, a decrease in waste, and a raised awareness of the effects that individual decisions have on the environment and society.”
    • “Hopeful imagining that we can reframe sustainability away from the idea of sacrifice”
    • “Going beyond the concept we know about sustainability which is meeting our need now while meeting the needs of future generations (economics, society, environment). It means considering the world systems as a whole and world issues as complex and interconnected”
    • “A holistic viewpoint of life in all aspects, both on an individual and grand scale.”

    The discussions encouraged attendees to reconsider their personal views and daily actions. Many expressed a newfound awareness of the interconnections between their behaviours and environmental impacts. Some found it surprisingly possible to reduce their carbon footprints through minor lifestyle adjustments, while others remained skeptical, concerned about inaction, particularly among large corporations.

    Despite varying viewpoints, common ground was seen in a commitment to promoting sustainability beyond its conventional boundaries. As one participant summarized, every small change contributes to a larger transformation. This sentiment resonated throughout the event, reinforcing the need for radical action in the face of global crises.

    The panelists’ contributions further defined pathways to achieving beyond sustainability.  Oke, for example, outlined her vision of equalizing environmental, societal, and economic considerations advocating for individual carbon footprint reduction as an important step.  Davy shared his insights into combating water pollution through innovative on-site treatment technologies, emphasizing the importance of community engagement in addressing environmental challenges. Warren encouraged participants to consider scale and geography when looking at options, recognizing that the solution should not cause more harm than the problem itself.

    The Beyond Sustainability event provided an opportunity to discuss strategies for moving to new ways of thinking about sustainability that are more ambitious and progressive than what is commonly accepted or practiced. The action-oriented approach showcased practical solutions challenging attendees to think beyond the status quo and commit to meaningful change. This collective reframing, although on a small scale, is especially important amidst the urgency imposed by accelerated planetary changes.

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    Categories: Beyond Sustainability Blog

  • Do you listen when we perform our Eco-Anxiety?

    Monday, September 18, 2023 | By

    Contributor: Soji Cole, Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD program at Brock University, Ontario Canada.

    The title of this reflection appears as a question because the issues around anthropogenic activities call for constant questioning. There have been multifarious and complex interventions from climatologists, and there is a broad spectrum of ongoing campaigns from scientists, artists, humanists, spiritualists and even religionists; all in the bid to trigger changes in human activities to minimize the effect of the climate crisis. The results have not been very impressive, and so, questioning the conditions and activities around the issue of sustaining the global ecosystem and preventing it from further destruction must be an ongoing debate. In the introduction to the book, Eco-Anxiety and Pandemic Distress: Psychological Perspectives on Resilience and Interconnectedness (2023), Douglas Vakoch and Sam Mickey argue that; “Past researchers have proposed varied definitions for eco-anxiety— for example, “a chronic fear of environmental doom” (Clayton et al., 2017, p. 68) and “the generalized sense that the ecological foundations of existence are in the process of collapse” (Albrecht, 2012, p. 250)” (p. 2). Taking cues from these definitions, eco-anxiety is the consequence of a general fear, arising from an imagined human future without the support of non-human natural eco-system that could sustain that future. This premonition is sustained by the overwhelming negative impacts of humans on the non-human natural ecosystem.

    Over the last couple of years, I have made contributions to the subject of sustainability and the global ecosystem. My special focus has been to explore how drama and theatre performance can generate impactful meaning in the global understanding of the human ecosystem as well as how to mitigate further climate disasters. This is important as it is increasingly apparent that the arts and the humanities can fill some gaps left by science and technology in enhancing actions toward a sustainable earth.

    I contributed as a co-author to a climate change essay which appeared in a published book of essays entitled Theatre Pedagogy in the Era of Climate Crisis, edited by Conrad Alexandrowicz and David Fancy, in 2021. The book was published in the Routledge Educational Series. My intention (with the co-author) in the essay was to bring to global awareness how Nigerians and Africans are using drama to respond to the climate crisis. In the last days of October, and the first few days of November in 2022, I was part of a collective (a theatre ensemble) production, initiated and led by David Fancy (drama professor at Brock University), and hosted by the Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock University. The stage production, titled AnthropoScene, was supported by the “Beyond Sustainability—Radical Transformation Through Systems Thinking” project. My position combined as an actor, a learner, as well as an advocate of sustainability on the platform of the Young Professional (in research) Exploration Group (YPEG), an offshoot of the “Beyond Sustainability Project”. Over several weeks of rehearsals and drawing multiple perspectives (most of which focused on the issues of climate crisis and sustainability), the stage performance eventually ran for four days in a theatre packed full of curious audience. A round-table discussion program was organized on an alternate day, by the “Beyond Sustainability—Radical Transformation Through Systems Thinking” project to discuss the stage performance and the connection to issues on sustainability and climate crisis. In May 2023, I was one of the YPEG artists/scholars that made artistic presentations in the “Transforming environment awareness with Artistic Interventions” event.  The artistic presentation was hosted and funded by the “Beyond Sustainability Project”, and it was presented to the public at the Niagara Artists Center, in the city of St. Catharines. The intervention followed series of brainstorming between three artists—who are PhD students in the Interdisciplinary Humanities program of Brock University, and who are also members of the YPEG. Over several months, we planned, researched, and eventually concluded that we might be able to generate a multifaceted form of spectacle if we focused on each participant’s specific area of artistic strength. Naturally, I stuck to drama. I drafted a script and titled it: “Are we really aware?” In the public presentation, I played a solo character who was listening to the voice of a more powerful and invisible character. The subject of the conversation was simply how the climate crisis could be curtailed by the intervention of the most important persons—you and me!

    Against the backdrops of all these interventions, the problematics of three constant questions are prevalent: 1) whether through science or arts, what kind of audience do we have when we discuss issues of climate crisis? For this question, an argument could be raised that the medium or strategy ought to be more important first of all than the audience to whom the message is targeted. This argument leads to a more generative conversation, but my concern has always been that, in the age of technological multi-tasking, knowing the kind of audience you intend to appeal to is the first most important thing than the strategy or medium of such appeal. 2) Can arts offer a serious intervention in a subject such as the climate crisis, which is predominantly science encumbered? This is not a new question. This question has spanned several decades of critical assessments of human knowledge, with constant claims of epistemic segregation of other knowledge routes by the discipline of science. 3) Do you listen when we perform our Eco-Anxiety? This question is the most important one to me. Apart from being an artist who utilizes drama as a tool, I keep a mental refrain that the crux of drama is entertainment, and as such, it provides one of the most liberal means of education and discerning of information. So, if drama can provide veritable sources of education for climate crisis intervention, why are we not listening? Why are there still dangerous trends of anthropogenic activities around us? Why are there still conscious wastages of natural resources? Why is there prevalence of conspicuous consumption around us? Why?

    Let me quickly negotiate the three main questions posted above.

    Question 1: Whether as scientists, humanists, or artists, it may be important to ask what kind of audience we deal with when we discuss climate crisis and sustainability. Working through drama reflection in an earlier paper, I (as a co-author) suggest that there are usually three categories of audiences in the framework of climate change awareness; (1) “The informed and the concerned” (“Anthropogenic Anxiety…” p. 108). This set of audience considers appraisal of gaps in climate knowledge and anthropogenic activities and are inspired to further think and take necessary actions for change. Progress towards mitigating climate crisis is slow because this kind of audience is scanty. (2) “The informed and unconcerned” (p. 108). This category of audience has awareness of the inimical consequences of anthropogenic activities, yet they do not show concern or efforts to join the crusade against the impending disaster. Their belief is that; “…such occurrences are bound to happen anyway and there is nothing that can be done about it” (p. 109). (3)  “The absolute ignorants” (p. 109). This set of audience do not even believe that human actions could cause a tip in the natural order of the environment. Ignorance is sometimes placed on the pedestal of spirituality. “For this category of people, any such disaster only happens if a certain divine force is angry with the desires of humans” (p. 109). In my participation in the drama projects of “AnthropoScene” and “Are we really aware”, I have had to constantly think of how devised dramatic strategies can connect with each strand of audience among the three different types listed above.

    Question 2: Can arts (drama) offer serious intervention in such subject as the climate crisis, which is predominantly science encumbered? It is important to start out a response to this question by asserting that conflicting modes of knowledge production should not constitute a disregard for strategies and methods with which different disciplines generate knowledge. Arts (drama) have methodological strategies and insights that have potential to fill the gaps left by science. For example, the power of narrative can only be fully extracted through methodologies inherent in the humanities and arts. Narrative is important in the consciousness of the public in times of global stress (as we witnessed during covid), and during our eco-anxious times. Artistic intervention such as drama, in the subject of climate crisis, will serve to complement and contribute to efforts in the campaign towards eco-justice and sustainability. It produces audio-visual perspectives that enhance the scientific narrative of human crises. In reference to pandemics, Priscilla Wald (2008) takes account of the importance of the intervention of arts in producing fictional narratives to promote public understanding. She reflects that, “[f]ictional accounts of outbreaks did more than reflect and convey the lessons of science; they also supplied some of the most common points of reference, which influence social transformation and diseases emergence in their own right” (p. 31). In essence, the beauty of arts (drama) is that it plays both synergistic and complementary roles with other disciplines—including science. Such intervention promotes interdisciplinarity, and the advantage is such that approaches and knowledge from different disciplines might not only shed new light on a problem, but it will also give allowances for a more comprehensive understanding of the problem.

    Question 3: Do you listen when we perform our Eco-Anxiety? For me, this question continues to be generative on the issue of climate crisis. It subsumes so many other questions: Why is the world recording slow progress in the battle against climate crisis? What is happening with all the information on the climate crisis that we have access to? What are the limitations between this information and the taking of meaningful actions that are suggested and often requested, in the information? Despite evidence that there is progress in controlling emissions, why does global warming still exceed the expected range? Why are concrete actions taken so far on the climate crisis not making as much of a substantive impact as hoped? Even when scientific findings on the subject of climate crisis are transformed into arts (film, drama, literature etc.), to enhance a more liberal means of information perception, why is the world still witnessing snail-paced progress? There is no one way to respond to all these questions. Maybe we need to slow down the fear of urgency that we associate with the climate crisis so that people can “listen” better. Perhaps we need to deploy more strategies instead of calling for more urgency in the politics of transformation towards sustainability. Maybe it’s okay to consider the argument of Håvard Haarstad, Jakob Grandin, Kristin Kjærås and Eleanor Johnson? They suggest that;

    Perhaps haste is precisely what we do not need. When in haste, we make more mistakes, we overlook things, we get tunnel vision. Instead, is there a case for what we call a ‘slow politics of urgency’? Rather than rushing and speeding up, maybe the sustainable future is better served by us challenging the dominant framings through which we understand time and change in society. Transformation to meet the climate challenge requires multiple temporalities of change, speeding up certain types of change processes but also slowing things down (pp. 1-2).

    Maybe it is time to understand that resolutions to the climate crisis will not be characterized only by scientific mixtures, data, and epidemiological models, but also by processing the economical, communicative, cultural, and cognitive conditions around which the problems manifest. Perhaps it is time to truly consider the meaningful impacts that disciplines in the arts and humanities can have in the climate crisis resolution. I have been part of this journey, and I call myself a witness, to boldly assert that, it is time to pay good attention to drama and theatre in this journey of sustainability and restoration of our world. “It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, and to feel that climate change is too big to solve. But we already have the answers, now it’s a question of making them happen” (Green Peace-https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/climate-change/solutions-climate-change/).

    Works cited

    Cole, S. and G. Asoloko. “Anthropogenic anxiety and the pedagogy of climate crisis in Wake Up Everyone”. Theatre Pedagogy in the Era of Climate Crisis. (Conrad Alexandrowicz and David Fancy (Eds.) Routledge, 2021. pp. 102-114, ISBN:  978-0-367-54154-4

    Haarstad, H., J. Grandin, K. Kjærås and E. Johnson. “Why the haste? Introduction to the slow politics of climate urgency”. Haste: The slow politics of climate urgency, (Håvard Haarstad, et al. eds.). UCL Press, 2023.

    Green Peace-https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/climate-change/solutions-climate-change/

    Vakoch, D. and S. Mickey. Eco-Anxiety and Pandemic Distress: Psychological Perspectives on Resilience and Interconnectedness. Oxford University Press, 2023.

    Wald, Priscilla. Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative. Duke University Press, 2008.

    Categories: Beyond Sustainability Blog

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