News

Grassroots initiatives and citizen power

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A key concept in SUSPLACE is transformative capacity, which refers to the ability of people to shape places according to their own ideas, needs and desires. Even though people and places are affected by global and structural processes, there are also numerous examples of how people take initiatives and actively transform their living environments. Recently … Read more

Presenting on social economy concepts in Latvia

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By Alanna K. Higgins Earlier this week, I gave a talk entitled “Social Economy: A Primer” at a local training course co-hosted by Zala Briviba and the Latvian branch of the EU project “Sustainable and Solidarity Economy” (SUSY). The course “When money is not essential? Local and global solutions of social and solidarity economy” was … Read more

Learning to hope

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By Malin Bäckman Every now and then I find myself wondering: what’s the point? What’s the point of researching about sustainability, searching for ways to shape more sustainable places? What difference will my contribution make, or will it make any difference at all? While grappling with these questions I continuously try to tell myself, that … Read more

XIV World Congress of Rural Sociology: Debating peasantries, envisioning real utopias, and the all-important interdisciplinary perspective

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By Alanna Higgins From the 10th to 14th of August, over 700 delegates met at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada for the XIV World Congress of Rural Sociology. The theme of the conference was “Sustainable and Just Rural Transitions: Connections and Complexities”; with 78 regular sessions and panels, excursions, and other events happening throughout the … Read more

“Common-tryside”: revitalising the Portuguese countryside through commoning forests

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By Marta Nieto Romero “Para lá de Marão, mandam os que lá estão”- “At the other side of Marão, govern those who are there” (traditional Portuguese saying) Last week, Elisabete, Sandra and me crossed the recently inaugurated tunnel of Marão to meet with BALADI, the national federation of common lands of Portugal which is located … Read more

“All models are wrong, some are useful” [1] : summer school on quantitative storytelling with MuSIASEM

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by Anastasia Papangelou Imagine a sizzling day in the heart of Spanish summer. A long room with bright-green chairs, welcomingly cool despite the lack of air-condition. A patchwork of more than 30 people from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, origins and ages. And a bearded man talking in an imposing voice, mixing in his lecture … Read more

Questions of community-making at the GEN-Europe Conference

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By Siri Pisters Last week I attended the yearly conference of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) – Europe in Arterra Bizimodu, a young community in Navarra, Spain. Arterra Bizimodu inhabits an old monastery in a sleepy, rural village in the beautiful yet dry and quite deserted Spanish country side. This young community hosted over 200 participants … Read more

Exploring the potential of place-based practices in Sao Pedro do Sul, Portugal

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By Alessandro Vasta About a month ago I went to visit the rural area around Sao Pedro do Sul Municipality, about a couple of hours to the interior from Aveiro, Portugal.  I went with the research team that is working on the Resilient Places Work Package within SUSPLACE. Within this package my research topic is … Read more

Exploring eco-villages in Finland

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By Siri Pisters A few weeks ago I officially visited my first eco community in Finland – Ihala. If I understood correctly, it means something in the direction of bright place. I joined an open community weekend and GEN(Global Ecovillage Network)- Finland gathering at the same time. The group of people attending was small for … Read more

Integrated Sustainability Strategies for Cardiff

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What strategies can we develop to improve the sustainability of the Cardiff Capital Region? This was the challenge we addressed during the 3-day training in Integrated Sustainability offered by SUSPLACE partner Except in May 2016. Applying the Symbiosis in Development (SiD) framework developed by Except, we worked in teams to define strategies for four different topics defined by the Welsh Government: 1) Governance and leadership, 2) Social and economic inclusion, 3) Health and well-being, and 4) Sustainable transport.20160509_141312

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Stripping sustainable forms of transportation in Cardiff

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text and pictures by Lorena Axinte For a city where cycling’s modal share is still modest[1], a group of almost 150 cyclists going around the main streets on a sunny Sunday afternoon might come as a surprise. The fact that most of them are completely naked is the added bonus. Nonetheless, the world naked bike … Read more