Climate change and biodiversity loss have for long hinged on apocalyptic images of future catastrophes that must be acted upon before it is too late. Recently, new scientific, artistic, and activist narratives have gained ground  that suggest socio-ecological catastrophe is already here and inescapable. The  LIving with WildFIre  (LiFi) project engages with these post-apocalyptic narratives through the lens of Extreme Wildfire Events (EWEs). We ask how lived experiences of EWEs influence the way communities imagine, narrate and act upon their environmental relations and futures. B2F investigates both the traumatic dimensions of EWEs (eco-anxiety, grief, loss) and the potential of EWEs to transform community imaginaries, agency and political organization.  LiFi interweaves political discourse theory and interpretive methods within a transdisciplinary framework. Working with fire-affected communities, we investigate: their changing priorities; how recovery and sustainability are re-imagined; and what shared visions for the future gain ground. LiFi will unearth archetypal political ’fantasies’ that  emerge after profound socio-ecological disruption, and the possibilities these bring to creatively renegotiate collective values, environmental rights, obligations and political participation and engagement. Through its  transdisciplinary approach, LiFi will help communities develop soft skills and policy tools necessary to build  resilience in a rapidly warming world. 

A investigação científica tem demonstrado inequivocamente que as alterações climáticas têm implicações profundas e multifacetadas para as sociedades, assim como para os sistemas biofísicos, e que tais implicações agravar-se-ão nas décadas futuras. Os impactos climáticos, e as medidas de mitigação e adaptação para os conter, irão afetar particularmente as pessoas que são atualmente jovens. Em Portugal, e em todo o mundo, o futuro dos jovens e de outros grupos etários também será moldado por outros desafios ligados à sustentabilidade, como a pandemia de COVID-19 tem mostrado. O Painel Intergovernamental para as Alterações Climáticas (IPCC, 2018) e múltiplos analistas têm vindo a destacar a necessidade de uma ‘mudança sistémica transformativa’ de modo a cumprir os objetivos do Acordo de Paris e os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Agenda 2030. Diversas abordagens e propostas têm surgido para responder à necessidade de fomentar transformações para a sustentabilidade social, económica e ambiental, assim como de apoiar os seus agentes e impulsionadores (Linner & Wibeck, 2019). Vários estudos têm revelado que os discursos tecnocráticos têm uma posição dominante nos media e noutros espaços públicos, a par com perspetivas que se focam na mudança individual (Carvalho et al., 2018). No entanto, as transformações para a sustentabilidade são eminentemente políticas, com as questões de poder, justiça e redistribuição no seu cerne. O pluralismo político e a contestação são fundamentais para ultrapassar a condição pós-política das alterações climáticas e para re-politizar o Antropoceno, nomeadamente através da exposição e debate de visões divergentes sobre futuros sócio-ecológicos possíveis (Lövbrand et al., 2015). As recentes mobilizações sociais pelo clima demonstram claramente que os jovens estão ou querem ser envolvidos nos debates sobre as alterações climáticas e na construção de futuros climáticos. O projeto JUSTFUTURES pretende contribuir para o estudo da ag...

The EUMEPLAT project aims at analyzing the role of media platforms in fostering or dismantling European identity. The assumption we will draw on is that European dimension has rarely been dominant in media history. In most cases – i.e., movie – market shares are mainly divided among national productions and importations from the most influential country. In broadcasting both regional and national patterns emerge, with properly European exchanges being the exception more than the rule. Web platforms are usually owned by US companies, with a new threat appearing in our media landscape. We will focus on the “platformization” process, as the rise of new closed Web architectures, so as to inquire its positive and negative externalities, functional and dis-functional consequences. Positive externalities are beneficial to society at large, in a way that explains the overall ambition of the project. Detecting the insurgence of negative effects is a fundamental duty for scholars and policy-makers, as externalities of both kinds tend to reinforce themselves, giving rise to positive loop feedbacks and critical vicious circles. Negative externalities include misinformation, toxic debate, exclusion of independent voices; positive externalities encompass European co-productions, or practices able to bring people out of the information bubble. For this purpose, we will run a multidisciplinary analysis of platformization in three fields: news, video sharing, media representations, with the final goal to offer a theoretical synthesis. The research question is whether or not new platforms – YouTube, Netflix, NewsFeed - are making European culture more European, based on indicators related to production, consumption and representation. Patterns will be detected by comparing national, regional and European and level. Advanced methods will be applied for data analysis, so as to provide guidelines for decision-makers (i.e., fake news prevention; best practices in co-productions).