Social-Ecological Seeds

EcoPeace Middle East: Environmental Peacemaking for transboundary water management in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan

Citizens of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan know about borders. Crossing between these regions requires rigorous checkpoints and determination. However, the waterway shared between these neighbors, the Jordan River, knows no political boundary. Recently, the Jordan River Basin has experienced massive declines in quality –93 percent of its original flow has been diverted by neighboring states; it is also affected by pollution from sewage, agricultural runoff, and fish pond effluent [...]

Anna Kusmer2017-03-02T17:30:58+00:00community, Conservation, Integrated social-environmental, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Bogota’s CicloRuta

How can government investments in infrastructure projects help trigger good sustainable change? How can we overcome our lock-in to fossil-fuel intensive transport systems? Bogotá is the largest city of Colombia with a population of 7 million. Since the 1990s it has undergone a transformation from being know for its drug violence to its sustainability initiatives, many which have focussed on public transportation as a key for social inclusion. One of these initiatives was [...]

Garry Peterson2016-10-24T07:50:14+00:00Social-Ecological Seeds, transport system, Urban|Comments Off

Mandated Multi-functionality

Can mandated multi-functionality, supported by government at multiple scales, address multiple Anthropocene challenges while building social capital? Mandated multi-functionality is a concept being studied and implemented by researchers and partners in British Columbia, Canada developed through the Solutions Agenda Research Project. The general concept is to re-think spaces and land-use in ways that better accommodates multiple functions, and ultimately mandate the implementation of multi-functionality in communities. This can include interior spaces that [...]

ciararh2015-12-18T09:46:45+00:00infrastructure, Integrated social-environmental, Social-Ecological Seeds, sustainable living, transdisciplinary research, urban ecology|Comments Off

MEGA

Can an online gaming platfom lead to real-world learning and behavioural change? How widespread can its impact be? MEGA Game is a gamified web platform & smartphone app that give you knowledge, skills, and power to create sustainable world by playing for impact. The Moldovan Environmental Governance Academy (MEGA) represents an innovative solution to the world’s most pressing social and environmental issues, such as inefficient natural resource management, environmental pollution with [...]

ciararh2015-12-11T21:29:39+00:00Education, Skills Development, Social-Ecological Seeds, sustainable living|Comments Off

Intentional Community in Gaviotas, Colombia

Can a thriving community be created in a harsh, socially hostile environment, and can it last? What lessons can be learned from Gaviotas, Colombia? Gaviotas is an intentional community in eastern Columbia established by Paulo Lugari in the mid 60’s. The ecosystem consisted of “llanos”, savannas that seasonally flood. The intent of the community was to find ways to make the region more habitable. Through Colombian and UNDP grants in the 70’s [...]

ciararh2015-10-30T15:40:00+00:00Food, health, infrastructure, Integrated social-environmental, Project information or update, Skills Development, Social-Ecological Seeds, stop destructive action, sustainable living|Comments Off

Community Dialogue Sessions in the Urato Islands

How can new ways of discussion trigger action towards sustainability? Community dialogue sessions were organised by sustainability researchers in the Satoyama Initiative to discuss rebuilding and revitalisation of the Urato Islands after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on the 11th of March 2011. These sessions were key turning points for the rebuilding process of the Urato Islands. Two dialogues were held, the first in 2012 and the second in 2014. Strong collaboration between local [...]

Garry Peterson2015-10-22T13:13:00+00:00community, Food system, Integrated social-environmental, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Adaptive Resilience in Drylands (ARiD) in Ricote, Spain

Can the knowledge developed by observing a small dryland village adapt to climate change be used in other places? In spite of the challenges they pose, drylands have been successfully settled by humans over time, and constitute a “hot spot” for the study of adaptive resilience in dry climates. Ricote, in SE Spain, provides an example of adaptive resilience in drylands. For over 1000 years, the village of Ricote (c. [...]

ciararh2015-10-13T09:05:45+00:00Food system, Integrated social-environmental, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

The Farm

Can new communities founded on novel personal beliefs lead to lasting change? The Farm is an experimental community founded in 1971 when several hundred 'hippies' moved from San Francisco to Tennessee to develop a new way of living. The Farm is a long-lasting example of an intentional community that has evolved and produced a number of world influencing innovations. Ina May Gaskin, a founding resident, became a world famous innovator in midwifery. And both she and the NGO Plenty International, [...]

Garry Peterson2015-10-09T16:02:23+00:00community, Education, health, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Cape Flats Nature Project

How can people care for biodiversity amidst urban poverty and inequity, when the social, ecological and institutional worlds are fragmented? The Cape Flats Nature project was a project that aimed to reconnect people and nature in South Africa, to slow biodiversity loss and enhance the availability of urban biodiversity. Cape Flats is a plain on the edge of Cape Town that has rapidly urbanized, in which both ecosystem, society, and institutions are fragmented. Apartheid era South [...]

Garry Peterson2015-09-30T13:51:42+00:00community, Conservation, Integrated social-environmental, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Fish Box

The Fish Box scheme is a group of UK initiatives that brings sustainably caught, fresh fish right to your doorstep. Fish comes straight from the landing site direct to your door and apart from having access to fresh fish, you also get to know the different landing sites and boats and are also assured that it is caught sustainably. There seem to be an overwhelming abundance of these schemes in [...]

Laura Pereira2015-09-27T16:26:23+00:00Food system, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Seeds are existing initiatives which hold potential to shape the future. They are likely not widespread nor well-known. They can be social initiatives, new technologies, economic tools, or social-ecological projects, or organisations, movements or new ways of acting that have that appear to be making a substantial contribution towards creating a future that is just, prosperous, and sustainable.

We gather seeds from diverse research disciplines, communities of practice, and individuals that have different world-views, values, and problems. This diversity means that not everyone will agree on the importance or value of every seed.