| 1. |
- Benson, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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Illuminating practitioner challenges in energy transitions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Heliyon. - : Elsevier. - 2405-8440. ; 9:12, s. e22624-e22624
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable development (SD) is a concept that can be used to address complex challenges, including energy transitions. SD offers diverse strategies that provide useful direction in navigating tensions, trade-offs and synergies in energy transitions. The purpose of this research was to identify the challenges that energy practitioners are faced with in energy transitions and explore potential solutions. To achieve this purpose, we identified and explored the challenges faced by energy practitioners in Canada. Specifically, we conducted a survey of 34 energy practitioners from across Canada, as well as in-depth interviews with the Energy Futures Lab design team (which is a civil society initiative actively working on the energy transition in Canada).We identified the following challenges faced by energy practitioners in Canada: there is no simple, single solution for energy transitions; energy transitions have potentially conflicting considerations; energy systems have potentially conflicting goals; energy practitioners have different levels of trust and competencies in key actors; energy practitioners need to work across the political spectrum; and the costs and benefits of energy transitions are unevenly distributed. We discuss how the three strategies of SD (i.e., economic choice, political choice, social choice) could be applied to manage the intended and unintended tensions and trade-offs inherent in energy transitions. We conclude that the three SD strategies are not always equally valued by energy practitioners, but they have the potential to be useful in different energy transitions scenarios.
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| 2. |
- Benson, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainable Development and Canada’s Transitioning Energy Systems
- 2022
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Ingår i: Sustainability (Switzerland). - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 14:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An energy transition is unfolding in Canada and across the world. During this transition, countries are facing increasing demands for their energy systems to address economic, social, and environmental considerations, including providing affordable and reliable energy, reducing inequality, and producing fewer environmental impacts. First, we identify key themes from the academic literature related to energy transitions: the systems perspective; economic, social, and environmental considerations; collaboration and dialogue; and social innovation. Second, we focus on a case study of a critical actor in Canada’s energy transition, the Energy Futures Lab (EFL), a social innovation lab that is actively working on the energy transition in Canada. We interviewed members of the EFL design team to investigate and deepen our understanding of the key themes identified in the academic literature. Third, we discuss how our research results relate to innovation and governance in the energy transition in Canada, and we offer an Integrated Model of Sustainable Development (SD) to help manage the common affairs of the energy transition. Fourth, we offer a theoretical contribution, arguing that both the ends and the means should be considered in an energy transition. It is important to keep in mind the overarching objective, or end, of the energy transition (e.g., alignment with the sustainability principles) to create the energy system that the future requires of us. Finally, we offer a practical contribution to show that SD can help inform a collaborative approach, that promotes innovation and increases knowledge, in an effort to address complex sustainability challenges.
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| 3. |
- Boda, Chad, et al.
(författare)
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A collective alternative to the Inward Turn in environmental sustainability research
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2190-6491 .- 2190-6483. ; 12:2, s. 291-297
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has become quite common in environmental sustainability research to promote the influencing of so-called inner dimensions of individuals as means to address pressing environmental problems such as climate change, what we refer to as the Inward Turn. We argue that the conceptual foundations of the Inward Turn, an extreme form of methodological individualism, limit it significantly as a strategy for addressing climate change and other socially relevant environmental problems. After briefly reviewing major shortcomings with the way the Inward Turn conceptualizes the relationship between individuals and social change, including its neglect of causal structures and propensity to abstract its analysis away from problems that are specific to place and time, we sketch the basic tenets of an alternative methodological approach capable of overcoming these limitations. Our approach, however, does not go to the other extreme and neglect the role of individuals; rather, our recognition of the structural drivers of particular environmental problems points to the necessity of specific collective actions by individuals, for example, in the practice of social movements. This recognition demands a rethinking of the role of individual factors, like emotion and empathy, in addressing environmental sustainability problems, namely as they relate to collective action/social movement emergence, development, and outcomes.
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| 4. |
- Boda, Chad
(författare)
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Applying frame analysis and reframing for integrated conservation and development : Example from Mumbai
- 2017
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Ingår i: Development in Practice. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0961-4524 .- 1364-9213. ; 27:4, s. 528-543
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The way we frame a given problem structures the content that is brought into focus and thus the kinds of practical steps seen as necessary to alleviate it. This article interrogates two competing partial framings implicated in ongoing controversy over mangrove destruction in Vikhroli East, Mumbai, which have precluded integrated conservation and development. The article analyses the content of each particular framing, identifies their respective “blind spots”, and evaluates the validity of various frame components. It concludes with an exemplary alternative reframing arguably more conducive to social justice and sustainability in Vikhroli East and beyond.
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| 5. |
- Boda, Chad
(författare)
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Applying frame-analysis and reframing for integrated conservation and development : Example from Mumbai
- 2017
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Ingår i: Development in Practice. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0961-4524 .- 1364-9213. ; 27:4, s. 528-543
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The way we frame a given problem structures the content that is brought into focus and thus the kinds of practical steps seen as necessary to alleviate it. In this article, I interrogate two competing partial framings implicated in ongoing controversy over mangrove destruction in Vikhroli East, Mumbai, which have precluded integrated conservation and development. I interrogate the competing frames by analyzing the content of each particular framing; identifying their respective “blind spots”; and evaluating the validity of various frame components. From this, I conclude with an exemplary alternative reframing arguably more conducive to social justice and sustainability in Vikhroli East and beyond.
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| 6. |
- Boda, Chad
(författare)
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Community as a Key Word: : A Heuristic for Action-Oriented Sustainability Research
- 2018
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 10:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, I outline the foundations of a consistent and systematic approach to conceptualizing communities in action-oriented sustainability research. More specifically, I develop a conceptual heuristic based on key questions related to ontology, epistemology, methodology and motivation that should be useful for researchers regarding the process of initiating, clarifying and reporting on research with communities. While the use of the community concept in sustainability research is particularly prominent, variability in the possible types of social groupings combined with the concept’s long and complicated etymology in the English language means the community concept lends itself easily to ambiguous and unspecified use. This can lead to problems of both conceptual vagueness and concept-object mismatch in scientific research, which in turn can influence the applicability and efficacy of research outcomes. While problems with community conceptualization are generally recognized, the heuristic developed here contributes by providing researchers with a framework and procedure for addressing these persistent challenges. The heuristic supports the rational and systematic development of a community concept that is sensitive to concrete contextual characteristics, while maintaining roots in a consistent philosophy of scientific knowledge production.
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| 7. |
- Boda, Chad, et al.
(författare)
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Enabling local adaptation to climate change: towards collective action in Flagler Beach, Florida, USA
- 2019
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Ingår i: Climatic Change. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0165-0009 .- 1573-1480. ; :157, s. 631-649
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Local communities around the world are directly exposed to impacts of climatechange. It is also clear that many local governments are politically and economically constrained in their capacity to implement needed adaptations. These constraints can restrict adaptation options to incremental, or even maladaptive, practices. At the same time, necessary transformational actions may remain out of reach for local actors. Building on five years of collaborative research with the city of Flagler Beach (Florida, USA), we draw on political process theories to describe how incremental adaptation activities that are possible within current constraints can serve to build local capacity for instigating reforms at higher scales of social organization. We use the concept of a collective action strategy to conceptualize how context-specific barriers to adaptation can be overcome. From our analysis, an idealized multi-step process for designing collective action strategies is presented. The study advances scholarship on limits to adaptation beyond the diagnosis of barriers to action by taking steps towards developing context-specific strategies for overcoming these barriers.
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| 8. |
- Boda, Chad, et al.
(författare)
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Every farmer is a farmer? : A critical analysis of the emergence and development of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana
- 2024
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Ingår i: Geoforum. - 1872-9398. ; 150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Smallholder farmer-based rural social movements have been heralded as a promising source of political power with the potential to effectively promote sustainable trajectories of agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. However, the very early stages of rural social movement building remain understudied, including under what conditions such nascent efforts are likely to lead to effective political influence and foundations for broader collective action. Drawing on insights from organizational studies and resource mobilization theories, we provide an analytical narrative of the emergence and development of a smallholder farmer-based policy advocacy organization, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG). Through analysis of organizational documents and an extensive open-ended focus group interview with PFAG’s founders, long-term members, and current staff, we discuss how PFAG managed to overcome the “liability of newness” faced by new organizations, and how its resulting organizational structure influences its modes of resource mobilization and thus type and coverage of its advocacy and service delivery activities. Considering this developmental narrative, we elaborate several challenges that PFAG faces in pursuit of its ambitions to expand its influence in Ghanaian agricultural policy and practice. Our findings indicate the need for PFAG to address emerging contradictions in project activities and uneven geographical coverage, manage tensions between advocacy and service delivery objectives and to work towards establishing an umbrella agenda capable of providing for the diverse and evolving needs of their membership base.
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| 9. |
- Boda, Chad, et al.
(författare)
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Every farmer is a farmer? A critical analysis of the emergence and development of Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana
- 2024
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Ingår i: Geoforum. - : Elsevier. - 0016-7185 .- 1872-9398. ; 150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Smallholder farmer-based rural social movements have been heralded as a promising source of political power with the potential to effectively promote sustainable trajectories of agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. However, the very early stages of rural social movement building remain understudied, including under what conditions such nascent efforts are likely to lead to effective political influence and foundations for broader collective action. Drawing on insights from organizational studies and resource mobilization theories, we provide an analytical narrative of the emergence and development of a smallholder farmer-based policy advocacy organization, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG). Through analysis of organizational documents and an extensive open-ended focus group interview with PFAG's founders, long-term members, and current staff, we discuss how PFAG managed to overcome the “liability of newness” faced by new organizations, and how its resulting organizational structure influences its modes of resource mobilization and thus type and coverage of its advocacy and service delivery activities. Considering this developmental narrative, we elaborate several challenges that PFAG faces in pursuit of its ambitions to expand its influence in Ghanaian agricultural policy and practice. Our findings indicate the need for PFAG to address emerging contradictions in project activities and uneven geographical coverage, manage tensions between advocacy and service delivery objectives and to work towards establishing an umbrella agenda capable of providing for the diverse and evolving needs of their membership base.
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| 10. |
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