| 1. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
-
Anatomy of a 21st-century project: A critical analysis
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories. - Göteborg : Chalmers University of Technology and Mistra Urban Futures. - 9789198416633 - 9789198416633 ; , s. 205-236
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this analytical chapter we focus on human factors to shed light on what a 21st-century project might look like from within. Adopting a non-essentialist perspective to project-making, we at the same time acknowledge that the notion of human nature is blurred, dynamic, changeable, heterogeneous, and internally riven. The human condition, hence, always dictates what ontological position a project adopts regarding its subject matter, execution and end results. In this respect, with this book we commit to an open-ended normativity: normative by reluctantly accepting the bias of the project formulas as we have defined their ability to shape the contemporary world, but open-ended with regard to a constant awareness that all knowledge is constructed, fluid and flawed, and that the insights here presented are only some of many possible interpretations. That said, we do not believe that plurality of opinion is intrinsically useful for creating ‘good projects’ – we believe it is an overused statement (cf. de Botton 2019) – but plurality of opinion is possibly the only way to unravel how a project operates and what keeps it afloat, including its silent triumphs and hidden pathologies. Since values and value systems can differ even within very small entities, to truly understand the inner workings of a project requires covering all its nooks and crannies. This methodological approach – autoethnography – is represented in the vast empirical section of this book – top to bottom and side to side, the results of which are discussed in the ensuing nine subsections. When things are whipped up into a sustainability frenzy with a flurry of divergent messages, it is easy to lose track of goal and purpose. For change to happen, we must dare to open a can of worms and find each other in the disenchantment of our broken world. The battle against unsustainability is a war of attrition: words against deeds – and both are enclosed in projects.
|
|
| 2. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
-
Anatomy of a 21st-century project: A quick autopsy
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold storie. - Göteborg : Chalmers University of Technology. - 9789198416633 - 9789198416633 ; , s. 1-12
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We all are accustomed to projects. Projects are everywhere, and everything is basically a project. We have learnt how to deal with projects, for better or worse. Some of us love them, some of us are fed up with them. But projects are here to stay. Projects are far from a new invention, what has changed is the fine-tuning. It has changed to the point that projects of today are virtually unrecognisable from those from days of yore. All projects of today ‘must’ be green. They must have social relevance. They must be innovative, and must leave footprints (not ecological, hopefully). Projects of today are ideally transdisciplinary; wearing blinkers is a thing of the past. Inclusive projects, bottom-up projects, future-minded projects… who would even challenge that? Projects are no longer targeted, planned, structured endeavours; that description no longer suffices. To be able to do projects today, we are trained in project management, project leadership, spreadsheets, GANT charts, swimlanes, Kanban, Scrum, Waterfall, sprints, deliverables, bandwidths, roadblocks, backlogs, agile methodologies and the like. Have you noticed a pattern yet? On the other hand, projects of today are full of pitfalls. Lack of resources, scope creep, poor project handling, unrealistic deadlines, lack of interest from stakeholders or simply not paying attention to warning signs are just some of the most oft-cited reasons why projects fail. With this book, we want to halt this chthonic gallop, and just pause for a while. We want to open the lid to the black box of project-making and let it stay aslant for the time it takes to read this book, so we can peek into what goes on – on the inside.
|
|
| 3. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
-
Making two worlds meet
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories. - Göteborg : Chalmers University of Technology and Mistra Urban Futures. - 9789198416633 - 9789198416633 ; , s. 175-179
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter focuses on the personal experiences of collaborations based on academic–practitioner interactions, which are not always as straightforward as presented in commonplace transdisciplinary theory. By using autoethnographic methodology, this chapter provides some of the most important insights from past and ongoing work from a major sustainability project that uses the ‘Research Forum’ (RF) as a new a means of co-production of transdisciplinary knowledge. The reflections center on the most common modes of interaction observed between academics to practitioners, but also on the pros and cons of everyday work in a overtly transdisciplinary context. The findings reveal that transdisciplinarity is neither a business deal nor a display of unconditional democracy. It is a tricky form of collaboration that takes time, energy and trust to understand, and this level of maturity may be difficult to obtain using the commonplace project format.
|
|
| 4. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
-
The spatial dimension of project-making
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories. - Göteborg : Chalmers University of Technology and Mistra Urban Futures. - 9789198416633 - 9789198416633 ; , s. 44-53
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the spatial dimension of project-making is important because projects are almost always restricted to a spatial focus – they are being spatialised. There are spatial projects referring to the geographical scale of the project, such as global, local or regional projects. There are spatial projects referring to hierarchies of political entities, such as state, county or municipal projects. There are spatial projects referring to the character and quality of the area of deployment, such as rural, urban or nature projects. There are spatial projects referring to the relations between the involved actors, such as national, international or supranational projects. Finally, there are spatial projects referring to specific administrative or functional units, such as Gothenburg, the City Park, Main Street, Lake Victoria or the Amazon. The question, hence, is less whether projects are spatialised, but why and how. A long history of spatial analyses in scholarly literature reveals the problematic nature of thinking about societal projects in terms of spatial demarcations. Spatial thinking before problem thinking could be described as a form of apophenic or pareidolic perspectivism conditioned by the prevalent culture of spatial planning, which may or may not impair sound diagnosis and intervention. In this chapter, I approach the phenomenon of spatial thinking in the context of project-making from several perspectives, each with its own set of assumptions and hidden problems. The purpose of such an approach is to raise awareness about the complicated role space plays in project-making upon our decisions, actions, and the consequences of those actions.
|
|
| 5. |
- Ingelhag, Karin, et al.
(författare)
-
The future of sustainability projects: Flights of fancy or a threnody to a lost age?
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories. - Göteborg : Chalmers University of Technology and Mistra Urban Futures. - 9789198416633 - 9789198416633 ; , s. 236-238
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Just like a living organism, also the project has an anatomy, a life span and a purpose. A project has its given actors, given timeframe and phases, and a given goal. Towards the project’s completion, all these factors must intertwine perfectly, otherwise the project’s success will be challenged. Uncovering how these intricacies are held in place has been the epistemological foundation of this book. However, rather than relying on formal project descriptions, reports and evaluations, we chose a different way, autoethnography. By exploring the implicit knowledge that emerges during the process of running a complex 21st-century sustainability project, we wanted to better understand what makes it tick, halt or change its course. Taking cue from the various project actors’ personal reflections on their own role within the project has helped illuminate a complex transdisciplinary co-creation process from the perspective of the individual. We conclude that if we truly want to attain sustainability transitions, then the organisation, the methods and the modes of thinking utilised in projects must differ from the traditional ones. But reaching a breakpoint for behavioural change must be rooted in interactions where the participating individuals and organisations have a common understanding of the complex challenges that are entailed in running a sustainability project in the 21st century.
|
|
| 6. |
-
Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories
- 2020
-
Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- What does a sustainability project look like in the 21st century? Not the glossy version, but the naked truth? Tired of manicured, over-theorised accounts of the ‘musts’ and ‘shoulds’ of sustainability transitions, we got to the bottom of things; actually, to the very bottom of the project hierarchy: the individual. Our point of departure is that projects are nothing but temporarily interconnected people. This means that if we don’t know what people do and what they think about their work, we will never be able to create a deeper understanding of the project, its rationale and future impact. Making use of the autoethnographic method, this book provides critical insights into what it’s like being part of a 21st-century project. Building on unfiltered first-hand contributions from 73 authors representing the five organs of a project’s anatomy – the brain (theoreticians), the skeleton (leaders), the limbs (strategists), the heart (local stakeholders) and the lungs (researchers) – the book covers all the important aspects of contemporary project-making: (1) projectification as a societal phenomenon; (2) sustainability as the main project buzzword; (3) transdisciplinarity as a hot working method; (4) economy as the invisible project propeller; (5) space as the contextual project qualifier; (6) gender and integration as the obstinate orphans of project-making; (7) trends as the villains of thoughtless project mimicry; (8) politics as the “necessary evil” of projects; and (9) knowledge production as the cornerstone of all project work. The book ends with an extensive critical analysis of what makes a project tick and how to avoid project failure. We infer that talking about project outcomes and impacts is just that… talking. What makes a difference is what can be done to the project in itself. Three important virtues – the ABC of project-making – emanate from this book’s 40 chapters: building good relationships (Affinity), having the guts to make a change (Bravery), and showing willingness to learn (Curiosity). These are the basis for the successful execution of future sustainability projects, where complexity, unpredictability and desperation will become a staple force to recon with. The original contribution of this book is to shed light on the silent triumphs and hidden pathologies of everyday project-making in an effort to elevate individual knowledge to a level of authority for solving the wicked – yet project-infused – problems of our time.
|
|
| 7. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
-
Maculate reflexivity: Are universities losing the plot?
- 2020
-
Ingår i: 7th Education Culture Society Conference, University of Wrocław and Foundation Pro Scientia Publica, 11–13 September 2020, Wrocław, Poland. - Wrocław. Poland : University of Wrocław and Foundation Pro Scientia Publica.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Universities, as Western cultural institutions, can look back on a long development spanning several centuries. In terms of cultural significance, this puts them into the same league as the church, the state or major banks, to mention but a few. In our modern world of increased globalization and digitalization, universities are tasked with educating an ever-growing number of students. Inadvertently, this also leads to an inflation of the value of academic degrees, let alone to mention the actual quality of the skills that are being taught to students. This presentation looks into the emergent discourse around research impact that is increasingly used to justify the raison d'être of modern universities. Departing primarily from research conducted within the UK, we contend that reducing the role of the university to that of mere accreditation and skills acquisition for its students, in combination with a push for beneficial research impacts for its teachers/researchers is detrimental to the respect for the university as an institution. Not only are universities running the risk of underappreciating what they do, but they are also fueling a greater division of society in which the citizenry is trained to use highly sophisticated conceptual tools without being provided the complex understanding needed to wield it competently. Within our analysis, we employ the concept of maculate reflexivity to explain why such a dynamic is occurring. We understand maculate reflexivity as the presence of reflexivity in the pursuit around extrinsic motivations reinforced by society in relation to contemporary social and environmental goals. However, this happens without due self-examination of what such conduct will mean in the long run as the external value hierarchy of society rewards it in terms of student numbers, research funds, and prestige. Inadvertently, such development ossifies contemporary values in the long term. We argue that the society-wide increase of polarization and populism is fueled by such a dynamic, and will increase unless the universities actively acknowledge and embrace their role as shapers and stewards of Western culture.
|
|
| 8. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
-
Maculate reflexivity: Are universities losing the plot?
- 2020
-
Ingår i: 7th Education Culture Society Conference, University of Wrocław and Foundation Pro Scientia Publica, 11–13 September 2020, Wrocław, Poland. - Wrocław. Poland : University of Wrocław and Foundation Pro Scientia Publica.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Universities, as Western cultural institutions, can look back on a long development spanning several centuries. In terms of cultural significance, this puts them into the same league as the church, the state or major banks, to mention but a few. In our modern world of increased globalization and digitalization, universities are tasked with educating an ever-growing number of students. Inadvertently, this also leads to an inflation of the value of academic degrees, let alone to mention the actual quality of the skills that are being taught to students. This presentation looks into the emergent discourse around research impact that is increasingly used to justify the raison d'être of modern universities. Departing primarily from research conducted within the UK, we contend that reducing the role of the university to that of mere accreditation and skills acquisition for its students, in combination with a push for beneficial research impacts for its teachers/researchers is detrimental to the respect for the university as an institution. Not only are universities running the risk of underappreciating what they do, but they are also fueling a greater division of society in which the citizenry is trained to use highly sophisticated conceptual tools without being provided the complex understanding needed to wield it competently. Within our analysis, we employ the concept of maculate reflexivity to explain why such a dynamic is occurring. We understand maculate reflexivity as the presence of reflexivity in the pursuit around extrinsic motivations reinforced by society in relation to contemporary social and environmental goals. However, this happens without due self-examination of what such conduct will mean in the long run as the external value hierarchy of society rewards it in terms of student numbers, research funds, and prestige. Inadvertently, such development ossifies contemporary values in the long term. We argue that the society-wide increase of polarization and populism is fueled by such a dynamic, and will increase unless the universities actively acknowledge and embrace their role as shapers and stewards of Western culture.
|
|
| 9. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
-
The language of sustainable tourism as a proxy indicator of research quality
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 13:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable tourism (ST) has recently become the mainstream of the tourism industry and, accordingly, has influenced contemporary tourism research. However, ST is not just theories about indications and contraindications of global travel, but also a specific language that needs mastering to take sustainability work forward. In other words, what research receives recognition depends on the proficiency in how the articulation in research proposals and within assessment under the heading of “research impact”. The aim of this paper is to investigate how tourism research gains recognition within research evaluation, by investigating the national research appraisal in the United Kingdom (Research Excellence Framework). By using content analysis, we disentangle the rhetorical choices and narrative constructions within researchers’ impact claims. Our findings suggest that researchers adopt a rhetorical style that implies causality and promotes good outcomes facilitating ST. However, the structure of the assessment format enforces an articulation of sustainable research impact without stating the methodological limitations of that such claim. Therefore, the rhetorical choices of ST researchers merely represent a proxy indicator of the claimed impact. We conclude that the lack of rigor in accounting for the impact of ST research may inadvertently restrict attaining ST.
|
|
| 10. |
- Dragan, Weronika, et al.
(författare)
-
Between history, politics and economy: The problematic heritage of former border railway stations in Poland
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. - 0029-9138. ; 161, s. 229-250
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper deals with the issue of former border railway stations (FBRSs) in Poland in the context of their problematic heritage. Since the creation of those borders coincided with the development of the railway network in the 19th century, the FBRSs, now deprived of their past function, remain scattered throughout the landscape as confusing components of a troubled history in an even more confusing contemporaneity. This article assiduously analyses the FBRSs in their capacity as offensive hallmarks vested in inoffensive elements of technical culture, often with high aesthetic value. This is done by departing from a number of analytical lenses: unwanted history, competitive heritage, utility vs. economy, politics and money, and the 'here and now' policy. These competing perspectives reveal the intricacy of heritagisation, especially in times of greater ease of obtaining monetary funds aimed at revitalisation: what to revitalise, why and how?
|
|
