Adina Dumitru

The report presents the results fo the European project. It presents a comparison of the public perception of environmental risks with the scientific assessment of environmental risks, a qualitative assessment of the public perception of environmental risks, and an overview of the main factors influencing the perception of environmental risks

This paper argues that cities will play a critical role in any future sustainability transitions, and that the direction of such transitions will inevitably be shaped by broader, prevailing economic logics. Whilst neoliberalism has played a powerful role in shaping processes of urban development, we highlight four alternative, ‘new economic’ logics which represent fundamentally different modes of economic organization. In each case, the logics inform already existing urban experiments in transformative social innovation, leading to the creating of new patterns of (economic) relation. The growth of such experiments raises a number of important questions, including how we imagine the urban economy, and the role of social innovation in sustainability transitions.

The Slow Food International Association, founded in Italy in 1986, is present in 160 countries in the world, throughout 1.500 “convivial” (local chapters) formed by 100.000 members (who economically sustain the organization) and 1.000.000 supporters. Slow Food also counts with several national associations (Italy, Germany, Switzerland, USA, Japan, Netherlands, Brazil, Kenya and South Korea), two Slow Food International Foundations: The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and the Terra Madre Foundation and one University of Gastronomic Sciences (Italy). Slow Food facilitates and promotes the creation of a network of local communities in both the global North and South. These communities -called “convivia”- share the principles of the Association, focusing their local or regional work on the current “unfair” systems of food production and consumption. Chapter 3 of this study will focus on the Slow Food International Association. The research reviews the origin, evolution and organization of the international network. We also analyse the ambitions, activities and discourses of change developed by the association during its almost 30 years of history. We give special attention to dynamics of transformative social innovation and agency processes that contribute to the movement´s social impact, political influence and capacity for societal transformation, according to the operationalization described in the methodological guidelines (Wittmayer et al 2015). The report also presents the results of empirical research carried out on two local case studies the “Convivium Slow Food Araba-Vitoria” (chapter 4) and the “Convivium Freigburg-Südbaden” (chapter 5). Chapter 4 analyses the “Convivium Slow Food Araba-Vitoria” (created in 2005) is located in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the Province of Araba, (Basque Country, Spain). This organization has 300 members which carries out an intense activity in the province of Araba, with more than 70 events per year. The convivium is also very well connected to the international network. They were invited to participate in the first Slow Food “Terra Madre” (2004) and have taken part in numerous Slow Food networking activities. The president of Slow Food Araba-Vitoria, Alberto López, is a member of the Slow Food Association´s International Council, in representation of the Spanish convivia, since 2012. Chapter 5 studies the ‘Slow Food’ group Freiburg/Südbaden1 (SFFR) in Germany will be introduced in chapter 5. Founded in 1997, this convivium is one of the first and largest convivia in Germany. The area of the Freiburg convivium covers the far South West of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, close to the Swiss and French borders, in the so-called border triangle. Besides the city of Freiburg with its 220.000 inhabitants, it also includes a unique diverse agricultural infrastructure with the vineyards and fruit growing areas of Kaiserstuhl, Markgräfler Land, and Breisgau as well as the Southern Black Forest with traditional lifestock farming rising up to 1.500 m above sea level. Furthermore, a high pressure on land use competes with tourism and a very ecologically minded population of the ‘university city’ Freiburg [extracted from the report's overview]. Chapted 6 establishes a comparison between both local Spanish and German local iniatives and the Slow Food International network. Results show how dynamics and learning, empowerment and agency processes enhance transformative social change in local and regional contexts.

The journal is devoted to the advancement of applied psychology. It publishes empirical, theoretical, methodological, and practice oriented articles covering topics relevant to various fields of applied psychology. Whereas particular consideration is given to empirical articles using quantitative methodology, the journal will publish the full range of articles including but not limited to empirical qualitative studies, short research reports, meta-analyses, methodological papers or literature reviews. The manuscripts should be written in English or in Romanian, according to the American Psychological Association (APA) last edition standards. All charts and figures should be attached separately in a .ttf or in a .gif format. All manuscripts should have an English abstract of maximum 150 words, as well as 5 to 7 keywords in English. There are no limitations regarding the length of the manuscript, however the authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts with less than 10,000 words. Add...

The need to promote a debate among researchers from active research networks in IAPS is at the origin of this book on “Urban sustainability: Innovative spaces, vulnerabilities and opportunities”. This book is the reflection of a growing tradition of tackling issues that are central to social and political efforts to solve pressing societal and environmental problems in evermore intricate contexts of resource scarcity, growing population and urbanization, social inequality and rising emissions. Promoting research and creating the conditions for lively and effective scientific debate has been part of the mission of IAPS since its beginnings. The growing effervescence of content network is reflected in a rising number of scientific events and interesting publications, such as the book you now have in your hands. In this introduction, we will gloss over the reasons that lie behind the choice of theme, which is likely to underlie the discussions and debates throughout the next years, all...

This paper makes a contribution to the identified need for conceptual clarity and new theory on social innovation. Specifically it addresses transformative social innovation (TSI), defined as the process of challenging, altering, or replacing the dominance of existing institutions in a specific social and material context. Social innovation initiatives and networks are understood as the key collective actors that instigate TSI processes. They do not all start out with transformative ambitions however. Of those that do, only a few eventually achieve transformative impacts; indeed there are many risks of capture and co-option along the way. A relational framing is presented as the most suitable way to theorise the emergent and multiply embedded nature of SI initiatives interacting with changing institutions, where organizational and institutional boundaries are often fluid and under negotiation. To develop middle-range theoretical insights on TSI, we conducted an empirical study of 20 transnational social innovation networks and about 100 associated social innovation initiatives over a four-year period. The resulting contribution towards the solidification of a theory of TSI, consists of three layers: firstly, the research design and methodology employed; secondly, a relational framework for TSI that articulates four key ‘clusters’ of (inter)relations in TSI processes; and, thirdly, a solidifying and iteratively developed set of theoretical propositions on TSI processes. These propositions articulate the complex and intertwined process-relations of TSI, based on our study of the empirics. The paper ends with an assessment of the contribution of this TSI-theorising, and a discussion of the challenge of further developing TSI theory.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Abstract Cities all over the world are confronting intertwined environmental, social and economic problems and aim to become resilient to climate change and promote wellbeing for all their citizens. Nature-based solutions have been proposed as a promising policy approach to addressing urban problems for the potential they have to deliver multiple benefits and foster wellbeing for individuals and communities. However, the evidence for their multiple benefits is rather scarce and highly fragmented, and more robust frameworks for the monitoring and assessment of their impacts are needed to guide urban policy-making. This paper focuses on the current state of impact assessment of nature-based solutions in Europe and through a systematic review of the literature identifies four conceptual problems and three empirical gaps that impede the accumulation of solid evidence regarding of the impacts of different types of nature-based solutions for different social groups; as well as of the contextual conditions that contribute to their performance and delivery of multiple outcomes. Based on the identified mis-conceptualizations and gaps, we derive a series of principles that should guide the development of robust impact assessment frameworks for nature-based solutions. We discuss the policy implications of these gaps and principles. We conclude by making a series of recommendations that should inform the design of impact monitoring and evaluation frameworks in cities, in order to develop the comparative evidence base on the effectiveness of nature-based solutions. This, in turn, can inform urban decision-making on the appropriate design, implementation, and long-term regeneration of nature-based solutions, to ensure long-term delivery of important ecosystem services for different social groups.

There are numerous social innovation networks and initiatives worldwide with the ambition to contribute to transformative change towards more sustainable, resilient and just societies. Many of these have a specific vision on the economy and relate to alternative visions of a ‘New Economy’. This paper highlights four prominent strands of new economy thinking in state-of-the-art discussions: degrowth, collaborative economy, solidarity economy, and social entrepreneurship. Taking a perspective of transformative social innovation, the paper draws on case studies of 12 social innovation initiatives to analyse how these relate to new economies and to transitions toward new economic arrangements. The 12 cases are analysed in terms of a) how they relate to narratives of change on new economies, b) how they renew social relations, and c) how their new economy arrangements hold potential to challenge established institutional constellations in the existing economy.

This working paper presents a set of propositions about the agency and dynamics of transformative social innovation (TSI) that have been developed as part of an EU-funded research project entitled “TRANsformative Social Innovation Theory” (TRANSIT; 2014-2017). These TSI propositions represent first steps towards the development of a new theory of TSI, taking the form of proto-explanations of the agency and dynamics of TSI, based on the bringing together of our empirical observations on TSI and the project's theoretical reviews and theoretical framings. Ideally this working paper should be read in conjunction with the working paper entitled “A framework for transformative social innovation” (Haxeltine et al 2016) which presents in skeletal terms the theoretical and conceptual framing of TSI developed in the TRANSIT project. This TSI framework builds on sustainability transition studies, social innovation research, social psychology studies of empowerment and other several other a...

The overall aim of GLAMURS (Green Lifestyles, Alternative Models and Upscaling<br> Regional Sustainability) has been to develop a theoretically-based and empirically-grounded<br> understanding of the main obstacles and prospects for transitions to sustainable lifestyles<br> and a green economy in Europe as well as of the most effective means to support and speed<br> up these transitions in Europe. GLAMURS explored the complex interactions and links among<br> economic, social, cultural, political and technological factors influencing sustainable lifestyles<br> and transformations to a green economy across societal levels (from individual to social, and<br> from micro- to macro-economic levels); it developed and evaluated comprehensive models<br> of lifestyle change at a European level in key sustainability domains, and provided assessments<br> of these models in terms of economic and environmental effects, in order to provide<b...