Environmental Crisis and Global Challenges: An Ecosystemic Approach

[Andre Francisco PilonParticipant]

Complex problems of difficult settlement or solution in the contemporary world cannot be solved by segmented academic formats, market-place interests or mass-media headlines; they demand a critical appraisal of current patterns of production and consumption, governance and policies, environmental and cultural linkages, civic engagement, and democratic participation. Green practices and innovations struggle against transport, energy and agro-food systems stabilized by established beliefs, vested interests, favourable institutions, lock-in mechanisms, sunk investments, low costs and profits. Policy discussions and policymaking to promote a green economy requires a comprehensive ecosystemic approach embedded into the cultural, social, political and economical institutions (more critical than individual motives and morals). Acceptance of ethical norms, peace building, environmental equilibrium requires ethically interpreted and ordered social experiences as the bases of rights-bearing. The gap due to the lost of value systems has been filled by the prevalent ideology of the market: in many problem-ridden, economically unequal and intrinsically violent cities of the world most of the city dwellers live in makeshift slum housing, without the basic social services (health, education, police authority, etc), while some people enjoy life in fortified enclaves and move in armored cars. To counteract the asymmetries of power between individuals and corporations and to change the dominant perspective of powerful political and economic groups, new paradigms of growth, power, wealth, work and freedom should be embedded into the cultural, political and economic institutions. Instead of dealing with “taken for granted issues” (the apparent “bubbles” in the surface), problems should be detected and worked with deep inside the “boiling pot”, where the real problems emerge. This requires a comprehensive framework for problem solving, encompassing the dynamic and complex configurations intertwining, as donors and recipients, four dimensions of being-in-the-world: intimate, interactive, social and biophysical. The process of change must take into account the singularity of each dimension and their mutual support, as they combine to induce the events (deficits and assets), to cope with consequences (desired or undesired) and contribute for change (potential outputs). Instead of taking current prospects for granted and projecting them into the future, a definition of desirable goals and new paths to reach them is posited along with a framework to develop a multi-dimensional ecosystemic model to live better in a better world.

Attachments:

1. Building-a-New-World-Copy.pdf

[Author]

Posts