EDS306 Green Transformations in Theory and Practice

During the past decade, efforts to tackle environmental degradation have been increasingly framed under the term ‘green transformation’, arguing for a wholesale re-organization of socio-economic systems that will allow societies to tackle environmental problems, while at the same time maintaining and increasing levels of prosperity and well-being. This dual goal acknowledges the severity of current environmental problems (e.g. climate change, biodiversity (species and habitat) loss, pollution, resource degradation) and proposes what is usually perceived as dramatic social changes. There is however very little critical reflection in public debates and policy arenas as to how drastic changes in societies come about, and under which circumstances and consequences. This course addresses this gap by critically scrutinizing the assumptions, problems and solutions inherent in green transformations. It does so by drawing on 1) different strands of social science theories of change and 2) empirical material that illustrates how social changes come about.In doing so, it draws on broad fields of study like environmental governance, human geography, socio-technical transitions, and social practices. The common idea of these fields is that the types social changes proposed by green transformations are difficult to achieve and often unpredictable, but not impossible. Existing socio-technical system such as our energy, transport, housing and agri-food arrangements rely on ‘heavy’ lock-in dynamics such as infrastructural investments, regulations, subsidies schemes, vested interests, and behavior patterns. These are in turn difficult to address at one level alone (regional, national, local) and often require slow-moving incremental adjustments, rather than wholesale transformations. In addition, behaviors that lead to greenhouse gas emissions are difficult to understand and tackle by simply ‘editing’ individuals’ choices and ‘nudging’ them toward sustainability, because such practices are social, rather than individual.The course draws therefore on investigating critically the content of green transformation policy documents and plans from various Western contexts. Students will also acquire skills in content analysis and synthesis of such policy programmes and documents. Subsequently, the content, assumptions and pathways of green transformation will be contrasted to theoretical insights from social sciences regarding social transitions. Students will be provided with detailed insight into how to understand and analyze social change by drawing attention to historically and culturally specific trajectories of what people do, and how certain practices replace others as a result of accumulations of meaning, materiality and competence. For instance, social practices around heating and cooling of public spaces required new meanings/ideas of what it means to be comfortable, material heating/cooling systems, and competences around the latter. Practice theories, socio-technical transition management, nature conservation. food systems, capitalist transformation, theories of institutional change, and theories of futurism and prefiguration are some of the main theoretical approaches that are going to be used. These will provide the students with the necessary key concepts, frameworks and tools to analyze concrete examples of environmental problems and possible solutions in the current context of ‘green transformations’. Many of lectures will illustrate how these theoretical approaches are applied in current research from Norway and abroad.The course will ensure ample space for discussion and deliberation among students, especially in relation to the seminars. These will be anchored in concrete current initiatives aimed at transitions toward sustainability in practice.