As a response to climate change, species mass extinction, global injustices and other serious outcomes of today’s economic priorities, mainstream policies and modern lifestyles, SUCH network contributes to sustainable change with research-based activities. The network is transdisciplinary and it aims to challenge – as well as to propose alternatives to – the unsustainable societies of today. We call for sustainable change at all levels, from the individual to the national and global levels, and at all sectors, from the private to public and third sectors. In particular, we call for change in the most affluent countries and corporations, which have the largest part in ecological overshoot.
The network promotes sustainable change based on strong sustainability and non-anthropocentric views. SUCH members critically examine societal structures, institutions, and the role of technology, as well as question the global growth of the economy and population. Importantly, alongside seeking for solutions and tools, SUCH promotes discussion on values, goals, and worldviews.
We nourish ecologically realistic and an ethically inclusive understanding of:
1. How to adapt to new realities;
2. How to challenge and resist unsustainable structures, processes and lifestyles; and
3. How to communicate ways of adaption and resistance to enable sustainable change.
Activities of the network will be based on collegial dialogue and a variety of initiatives, which include organising the biennial Peaceful Coexistence Colloquium, seminars, workshops and events, publishing books and articles, and communicating to all relevant actors in the public, private and third sectors.
Network members conduct research-based activities with mixed methods without limiting actions to scholarly work. SUCH promotes experimentation with novel forms of communication, favours artistic expression, tells alternative stories which are not limited to science and encourages participation in public debate. We interact with diverse stakeholders and engage in academic activism.
While we are inclusive in our approach and the network does not build on any particular paradigm or dogma, SUCH welcomes and appreciates, in particular:
· Ideas and work about strongly sustainable change on all levels;
· Explicit stances and reasoning in opposition to economic growth;
· Voicing radical visions while promoting honest and constructive communication;
· Networking with scholars from different disciplines and traditions, in different research stages, and from all regions.
Read more about how SUCH is organised here.