Transitioning to Inclusive Sustainability

 

Photo by Matthew Smith on Unsplash

In a post published earlier this year, Lucia discussed the importance of intersectionality in sustainable development. Representation is essential for environmentalism to be a successful movement. While researching a university assignment, Holly came across a great chapter in the book Tackling Wicked Problems: Through the Transdisciplinary Imagination by Brown et al (2010) called Inclusive Governance for Sustainability. The chapter is by Carolyn M. Hendricks and you can find a copy of the book in the Main Library at UoM or in many other public libraries. This post is inspired by what Holly learned, transformed into 5 action points to help get you thinking about the future of intersectional and inclusive vsustainability.

To start us off, let me introduce the term "wicked problem". These are complex problems that cannot be solved using a single, simple solution: they sit across multiple systems and involve contradictory and multi-layered factors. If this sounds intriguing to you and you are a student at UoM I would fully recommend the UCIL unit Leadership in Action, in which you study a different wicked problem each week, including social inclusion, poverty and sustainability. Several WNW volunteers have taken this module and can vouch for it being very rewarding and useful.

The chapter I mentioned above from the book Tackling Wicked Problems highlights some key themes to consider when considering worldwide transitions towards more sustainable processes. It identifies the wicked problem here as the dominance of 'elite and expert' knowledge (the idea of 'the West knows best' or the hegemony of the Global North over the Global South) in long-term sustainability governance. For this blog post, sustainability means including environmental issues within social, economic and other development areas. So in order to tackle this specific wicked problem, I have broken down 5 essential ideas to implement when making local and global transitions to sustainability.

• Better representation - this is something we can happily say has progressed since Tackling Wicked Problems was written in 2010, but work still certainly needs to be done. Active effort needs to be made to ensure that representation criteria is met in local and governmental forums - this includes women, ethnic minorities, those with disabilities, a range of ages etc. A more diverse workforce is a better workforce - research says so!!
• Improved government-citizen relationships - the governments of nations and global organisations should be acting on behalf of the citizens that they represent, not for their own elite circle. Citizens should be engaged in policy-making and given a platform to voice their concerns, opinion and lived experiences of sustainability issues.
• An engaged public - similarly to the last idea about improving administration-citizen relationships, this notion focuses on grassroot involvement, and even more specifically on communication with the public. The challenge we see with the implementation of this idea is that it relies on the media's interest in climate change and sustainability, and the public's interest in these issues too - things which are not always present.
• Monitored progress - it's all very well striving for representation and engagement, but how do we know this has occurred, and that it has had the desired effect? For example, a diversity check within an organisation can confirm better representation but ensuring that this diversity is reflected in policy-making is a little more tricky. We need to monitor the extent to which the needs of the under-represented are met in policy-making if we want to achieve inclusivity and intersectionality.
• Leaving no one behind - this is the motto of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and it's something that reflects inclusivity to the max. It's the idea that in dealing with one area of sustainability you don't hurt another: that in making progress in one nation it's not to the deficit of another. Sustainability requires global governance and a collective effort to move forwards as a species, not simply as nations.

What does an inclusive transition towards sustainability look like in your life? In your community? In your university or workplace? Inclusivity and representation takes many forms and each of us can play an active role in making space for others. It is more important to turn up and turn out than to be perfect - put your heart in the right place and continue to educate yourself and be an active force in shaping the world.

If this blog speaks to you or it starts a conversation within your project or those around us, please do share with us in the comments below, on Facebook or on Instagram. We would love to continue the discussion on intersectionality and help each other to shape a more loving, represented and inclusive planet.

Author: Holly