Ciência-IUL
Publications
Publication Detailed Description
Journal Title
Local Environment
Year (definitive publication)
2017
Language
English
Country
United Kingdom
More Information
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Abstract
As the need to address climate change is ever more urgent, many have emphasised the importance of community-level responses. The Transition movement has advanced community-based action to increase resilience for over a decade and has expanded significantly. Thus, it is a critical setting for examining community engagement towards climate change in practice. Our study is based on 39 interviews with facilitators of Transition initiatives in Portugal, coupled with observational data, and is guided by two main research questions: how do Transition initiatives promote community engagement at the local level? What are the factors constraining or facilitating community engagement within Portuguese Transition initiatives? We identify several aspects of Transition’s constructions of community resilience and engagement that indicate ambivalence towards, or avoidance of, certain issues. They relate do agency, structure, power and inclusion, as well as to the modes of engagement and the communication practices of Transition initiatives. We argue that strategies for community engagement should be specific to social contexts rather than internationally uniform and be based on participatory approaches. Drawing on an extensive empirical analysis, the article contributes to theory building on the Transition movement beyond the Anglo-Saxon context and to the wider field of community-based environment initiatives.
Acknowledgements
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Keywords
Transition,Community engagement,Portuguese initiatives
Fields of Science and Technology Classification
- Earth and related Environmental Sciences - Natural Sciences
- Social and Economic Geography - Social Sciences
Funding Records
Funding Reference | Funding Entity |
---|---|
EXPL/IVC-COM/1717/2012 | Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia |
UID/PSI/03125/2013 | Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia |
Contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
With the objective to increase the research activity directed towards the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the possibility of associating scientific publications with the Sustainable Development Goals is now available in Ciência-IUL. These are the Sustainable Development Goals identified by the author(s) for this publication. For more detailed information on the Sustainable Development Goals, click here.