by Shiara González, Lakshmi Charli-Joseph, and Beth Tellman The Wixáritari communities, better known as Huichol, are mainly located within the Sierra Madre Occidental, north of Jalisco state, Mexico. These communities, like many others in the world, and particularly in the Americas, are subject to pressures from the ‘Western’ world which are the catalyst for many…
Mapping a transforming world in the Sierra Huichol, Mexico
The Transformation Labs (T-Labs) approach to change
The PATHWAYS Network is exploring solutions to problems in six sites (in Argentina, China, Kenya, India, Mexico and the UK) where socio-ecological systems are transforming. To intervene in these transformations, the project is convening multi-stakeholder processes called ‘transformation labs’ (T-Labs) in order to foster change in the systems being studied by each hub.
How do we ‘co-produce’ transformative knowledge?
by Andy Stirling, Adrian Ely and Fiona Marshall This is one in a series of four blog posts exploring ideas and case studies on ‘transformations’, drawing on research carried out in 2017 and looking forward to the STEPS Centre’s work in 2018. For background and links to the other posts, read the introduction. There is…
What ‘agency’ do researchers have in transformative research projects?
by Hallie Eakin, Lakshmi Charli-Joseph and J. Mario Siqueiros In our PATHWAYS network case in Xochimilco, Mexico City, we are exploring whether people can have ‘agency’ to make a difference to very complex socio-ecological problems. Xochimilco is a degraded but very culturally, ecologically and economically meaningful wetland system in the south of Mexico City. In…
Seeding ideas: knowledge brokering and recombination for agricultural transformations
by Adrian Ely, Paddy Van Zwanenberg, Elise Wach, Martin Obaya and Almendra Cremaschi Straight after the ‘Transformations 2017’ conference, the ‘Pathways’ network gathered at the mid-point in our three year project to take stock. This included discussions in ‘pairs’ of hubs, including reflecting on our ‘theories of change’. In our case, the UK and Argentina…
Transformations from Beijing to Nairobi and back: what can we learn from each other?
by Yang Lichao, Kennedy Liti Mbeva and Jiang Chulin This blog post summarises discussions between the Africa and China hubs at the project-wide meeting of the PATHWAYS Network in Dundee in August 2017. The Africa and China hubs in the project are both working on ‘Transformation Lab’ (T-Lab) processes related to energy, climate change and…
What does transformative research for sustainability look like?
by Patrick van Zwanenberg, Hallie Eakin, Ethemcan Turhan, Mutizwa Mukute and Fiona Marshall Efforts to nurture more sustainable, just futures are happening all around us, albeit in the context of a rapidly changing and highly unequal world that is on the brink of irrevocably dismantling the ecological foundations that sustain human life. The researchers and…
STEPS presents research at Resilience and Transformations conferences
The STEPS Centre and our partners in the Pathways to Sustainability Global Consortium will present new and emerging research at two major international conferences in August and September 2017. We will be taking part in the Resilience 2017 conference in Stockholm, Sweden on 20-23 August, and the Transformations conference in Dundee, UK on 30 August…
Coming to terms with messiness: What is a ‘Transformation Lab’?
In this blog post, Laura Pereira explains the idea of a ‘Transformation Lab’ (T-lab). T-labs are being used in our Pathways Network project in 6 countries to try to enable socio-ecological transformations. In the post, Laura uses an example of a completed T-lab from the GRAID research project in South Africa. For a short summary…
A day in the Chinampas
In the wetlands of Xochimilco in Mexico, farming is carried out in a system going back to Mesoamerican times, in chinampas – rectangular floating fields growing crops on a shallow lake. The area is changing rapidly with competing pressures from farming, urbanization and pollution, and we’ve been exploring how local people can respond to this…