BBuilding Resistance from Home: Ecovillage at Ithaca as a Model of Sustainable Living / by Diana Michelle FISCHETTI (A thesis presented to the Department of Geography and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts September 2008)Because of the personal, social, economic, and environmental impacts of material consumption, resistance is afoot. The creation of new places is a tool used by those resisting the negative aspects of consumer culture. One example is the ecovillage: an intentional community whose members strive to live in a socially and environmentally sustainable manner, to practice voluntary simplicity, and to cultivate meaning, life satisfaction, and fulfillment. This research involves a case study of EcoVillage at Ithaca, located in New York, the goal of which is to create a model of sustainable living that is appealing to mainstream America, reduce the ecological footprint of inhabitants and increase meaningful relationships within the community. Through its educational mission and accompanying outreach, EcoVillage at Ithaca models an alternative to middle-class, mainstream American culture. EcoVillage at Ithaca's impact beyond the lives of the individual residents demonstrates its effectiveness as a space of resistance to consumer society.
DDestabilizing Dualisms: young people's experiences of rural and urban environments / by Karen NAIRN, Ruth PANELLI and Jaleh MCCORMACK (CHILDHOOD Vol 10(1): 9-42, cop. 2003)This article challenges two representations: one of rural communities as inclusive, closer to nature and therefore ideal places for young people to grow up in and the concomitant representation of urban areas as the antithesis of community, as alienating, distanced from nature and therefore not ideal for young people to grow up in. The results are presented from both rural and urban case studies, giving particular attention to young people's experiences of public space. Specifically, the article examines how young people describe the sites where they 'hang out', and their experiences of inclusion and exclusion at these sites.
FFaces of sustainability in Italian ecovillages: food as a 'contact zone' / by Alice BROMBIN (International Journal of Consumer Studies 39 (2015) 468-477)Ecovillages are intentional and experimental communities that embrace ecological
values and green consumption practices which result in a sustainable lifestyle
considered the best response to the global ecological crisis. The main
ecovillages’ goal is to regenerate social and natural environments through
communal living, refounding a dimension of proximity with the land and the
natural environment. Environmental ecology is primarily pursued focusing on
self-sufficient food production and alternative farming methods, such as
permaculture and organic farming practices. The use of these methods represents
a way to criticize the economic logic of equivalent exchange, preferring
instead a culture of gifting and the establishment of relations of reciprocity
and solidarity on a small scale.
In this way not just a particular and specific food style is put in practice,
but an holistic view of living, characterized by a new political-aesthetics in
which pleasure, conviviality and restoring relationships of trust and sharing
become essential in the pursuit of personal satisfaction and in the construction
of taste, following a process of individual and environmental renaturalization.
The article is based on ethnographic data related to my ongoing doctoral
research on the topics of sustainability and food self-sufficiency in Italian
ecovillages. The research adopts a qualitative methodology, involving
participant observation and a period of field work in the ecovillages located in
Tuscany and in the South of Italy in Apulia region. These ecovillages are part
of the Italian Ecovillage Network that interacts with the more broad
international web called Global Ecovillage Network.
Families, Neighborhoods, and Communities (Population and Environmental Psychology Bulletin. Vol. 26, No.#3, Autumn, 2000)Feature Articles:
Mindwalking / PERKINS, MANZO, & NATION International Community Research / Silka ITHACA Ecovillage / KIRBY Children, Violence, Reading and Mathematics / NETTLES Disaster Preparedness / MULILIS & DUVAL HHow the Grass Became Greener in the City: On Urban Imaginings and Practices of Sustainable Living in Sweden / by Cindy ISENHOUR (City & Society, Vol. 23, Issue 2, pp. 117-134)Far removed from a direct connection to the land and environmental feedback, most urban inhabitants have little choice but to rely on external sources of information as they formulate their understanding of sustainability. This reliance on analytical, scientifically produced, and highly technical sources of information - such as life-cycle analyses, carbon footprints and climate change projections - solidifies definitions of sustainable living centered on technological resource efficiencies while concentrating the power to define sustainability with experts and the industrial and political elite. Drawing on 14 months of ethnographic field work in and around Stockholm, Sweden, this paper explores how urban alienation shapes ideas about sustainable living among ecologically concerned citizen-consumers and how the urban focus on efficiency has led many to argue that the grass is now greener in the city. Meanwhile this ethnographic research demonstrates that the efficiency-based perspectives so dominant in urban settings are contested by other Swedes who argue that sustainable living also depends on localized connections to the land and communal self-sufficiency. Despite these contrasting perspectives, research presented here suggests that these views are united in the Swedish context by a historically-rooted concern for global equity. As such, the concept of 'a fair share of environmental space' resonates with many Swedes who are concerned about human and environmental health, regardless of where they live or how they define or practice sustainable living. [Sustainability, technology, knowledge construction, ecological modernization, power, Sweden]
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CCommunity and in-home behavioral health treatment / by Lynne RICE WESTBROOK (New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2014)Learn how you can cut down on rapport-building time, make your services
accessible to more people, and put your consumers at ease during treatment by
offering in-home and natural community-based behavioral health services. This
book examines the impact that the environment can have on the comfort level,
perception, ability to connect, and general mindset of consumers during
treatment, Home and natural community-based services have the potential to help
adults, youth, and children live in their own homes and natural communities with
specific supports in place that can address their behavioral health needs. Lynne
Rice Westbrook examines these treatment settings, from the most restrictive to
the least restrictive, and demonstrates how such services can be implemented to
bring coverage to remote, rural, and underserved areas. Providing services in
the consumer's community allows children, youth, adults, and families to receive
treatment they may not be able to access otherwise, and to stay together in
their own community. This book provides a detailed mop of the benefits,
challenges, and proposed solutions, and the steps professionals need to take in
order to help change the tapestry of behavioral health provision one home, one
healing at a time.
EEcopsychology and the Long Emergency: Fostering Sanity as the World Goes Crazy / by Linda BUZZELL and Craig CHALQUIST (Ecopsychology. VOL. 7 NO. 4 December 2015)Ecopsychology, Phenomenology, and the Environment: The Experience of Nature / by Douglas A. VAKOCH, Fernando CASTRILLÓN (Editors) (New York: Springer, 2014)This book seeks to confront an apparent contradiction: that while we are
constantly attending to environmental issues, we seem to be woefully out of
touch with nature. The goal of Ecopsychology, Phenomenology and the Environment
is to foster an enhanced awareness of nature that can lead us to new ways of
relating to the environment, ultimately yielding more sustainable patterns of
living. This volume is different from other books in the rapidly growing field
of ecopsychology in its emphasis on phenomenological approaches, building on the
work of phenomenological psychologists such as Maurice M.
Evidence-Based Culturally Appropriate Services for Minorities / by Y. S UAREZ-BALCAZAR, A. SHARMA, M. GARCIA RAMIREZThere is growing recognition from the federal government of the need to manage
diversity and address inequalities in research knowledge and services to
minorities. Currently, in our society, most community services tend to be
unicultural despite the fact that society is becoming increasingly
multicultural. Unfortunately, research with minority populations is typically
not integrated into mainstream policy, service provision or practices. This
roundtable will focus on the discussion of evidence-based frameworks for
conceptualizing critical elements of the process of cultural competent community
services. Specifically, facilitators will draw from two
examples: culturally competent services for minorities with disabilities and
culturally competent services for immigrant Asian women. The immigrant
experience is one of the least understood experiences, especially within the
context of social service provision. Often, traditional models of service
provision have marginalized
minorities by focusing on only single issues such as just looking at gender or
problem of interest and not at the multicultural experience of groups. Beyond
the need to document best practices employed in direct services we will discuss
issues that point to the importance of utilizing a service model that
understands the acculturation processes, employs community-based strategies, and
identifies cultural values and worldviews of minority populations.
GGlobal Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing. In: L. JIANPING et al. (eds.), Report on Global Environmental Competitiveness (2013).Environment is the foundation and support of human existence and survival and
the guarantee of sustainable human development; environmental protection has
undoubtedly become a common understanding and development strategy of all
countries of the world. Now humankind is striving into the historical process of
postindustrial society and is trying to reach rebalance with environment in
later stage of development. All countries need to perform respective duties and
obligations in environment governance, in joint efforts to plan economic
development, social progresses and environment protection to realize mutual wins
and sustainable development of the world and to create an Earth homeland for
harmonious co-existence of humankind and environment.
IIndigenous Resource and Institutional Capital: The Role of Local Context in Embedding Sustainable Community Development / by Mike VALENTE (Business & Society 51(3) 409-449, cop. 2012)Although scholars agree that local context is critical in a firm's commitment to sustainable development, questions remain about how this context plays a role in achieving simultaneous goals of sustainable community development and firm strategic success. By sampling two groups of firms differentiated according to their adoption of a weak or strong orientation to sustainable development, this author searched for relevant explanations from the local context that help to answer this very question. Results point to indigenous resource and institutional capital, the combination of which assists the firm in its ability to embed sustainable development. Whereas more tangible forms of capital assist in the strategy implementation process, less tangible forms of capital influence the strategy formulation process. What is more, firms tended to progress sequentially in the appropriation of these forms of capital as a result of the strengthening of the relationship with contextual stakeholders.
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Cutting the Hedge, Mowing the Lawn: The Role of Domestic Space in the Social Inclusion and Exclusion of Refugees in Rural Denmark (paper) / by Birgitte LARSENThe proposed paper examines negotiations over social inclusion and exclusion that take place during everyday settlement processes among refugee families located in rural areas in Denmark. Since 1999 the Danish authorities have dispersed recognised refugees in ethnically Danish rural communities in accordance with the Danish government's integration policies. For new refugees in Denmark, conditions for establishing new social networks have changed radically as they are now, to a larger degree, expected to create social relations with ethnic Danes rather than with, for instance, co-ethnics. But how does the social incorporation of refugees into society unfold when it takes place, not in the diversity of the city, but in the uniformity of a small rural community? Based on twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork in the homes and neighborhoods of refugee families located in rural villages and smaller towns the paper focuses on the ways in which daily domestic routines and material culture in the local community influence refugees' experiences of establishing a new life in Denmark. The article shows how in Danish communities local codes of sociability are often concretized and materialized in domestic space and circulated between homes in particular ways, turning the home sphere into a socio-cultural domain of great importance in terms of the local social incorporation and acceptance of refugee newcomers. This domestic domain is of particular significance in a Scandinavian society where, on the one hand, the welfare state and its professional workers tend to intervene deeply in its citizens' private spheres and, on the other, cultural homogeneity is emphasized and regarded as closely related to equality.
Exploring cultural inclusion: Perspectives from a community arts organisation / by Fara AZMAT, Yuka FUJIMOTO and Ruth RENTSCHLER (Australian Journal of Management 2015, Vol. 40(2) 375-396)Using focus group interviews and individual stories of participants from secondary data, we illuminate the role of Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV) in Australia in how it promotes cultural inclusion through programs of social and civic service. Our findings confirm the significance of cultural inclusion and the potentially useful role of arts in creating inclusive organisations and communities. We further develop a framework of cultural inclusion in the workplace to provide a holistic understanding of the cultural inclusion process that can lead to the development of inclusive workplaces. As social inclusion is central to Australia's national identity, this article helps researchers and practitioners to understand how cultural inclusion and inclusive organisational theories collide and complement each other to create inclusive organisations.
Exploring Sustainable Development of Cultural Living Circles Through Action Research: The Case of Sanyi Township, Miaoli, Taiwan / by Yung-Jaan LEE, Ben-Chaung WANG, Pin-Chu CHEN (Syst Pract Action Res (2013) 26:239-256)A cultural living circle comprises a 'living cultural space' with local characteristics established via interactions between resident daily behaviors and the surrounding environment. In studying the long-term promotion of a cultural living circle in Sanyi Woodcarving Village, Miaoli, Taiwan to explore the sustainable development of cultural living circle, the authors engaged in local community building to identify its dynamic composition through Action Research, and conducted a field study examining cultural living circles and main interaction networks through literature review and in-depth interviews. This study obtains three findings. First, cultural living circles are created through interactions among four main systems, educational, community, professional and administrative. Second, in the interaction network, a core 'leading system' guides other 'subservient systems' to establish a 'core-satellite' model. Third, the role changing that occurs during cultural living circle development constructs a solid and flexible link that can realize sustainable development of cultural living circles.
Exploring the Connection Between Intentional Communities and Sustainability / by M. MERRICKCommunity-based interventions can be a critical key for the promotion of
pro-environmental behavior. However, very little research examines how living in
an intentional community, such as a cohousing community or an ecovillage, can
influence environmental behavior. An intentional community is usually resident
planned and managed with some balance between private and community ownership of
land, housing, and shared space. This research proposes the idea that
intentional communities have the unique ability to create a living surrounding
that encourages, nurtures, and transforms the environmental activity of the
residents. Individuals that reside within such exceptionally supportive and
networked communities may exhibit integrated and advanced patterns of
environmental behavior. This exploratory study examines one US Midwestern
intentional community and its struggle for ecological, social, and spiritual
sustainability. Community residents completed comprehensive written surveys
containing quality of life, environmental behavior, and community activity
items. Additionally, interviews with several residents unveiled trends regarding
resident beliefs, values, and worldviews. Emerging attitudes, values, and
behavior are investigated and the link between intentional communities and
improved environmental and sustainable lifestyles is explored. Results can guide
the integration of various community-based environmental efforts in the context
of more conventional American communities.
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LLifestyles of the self-sufficient / by Jennifer KONGS (Mother Earth News. August/September 2014)These three inspiring stories from our 2014 Homesteaders of the Year prove that
you can reject the "rat race" and build a more sustainable, satisfying life.
Living in a sustainable community: new spaces, new behaviours? / by Sophie A., HADFIELD-HILL (Local Environment, 2013 Vol. 18, No. 3, 354-371)Sustainable communities are new sites of exploration; spaces which have been planned and designed to overcome a multitude of social, economic and environmental problems which are present in the UK urban landscape. Given their environmental credentials, this offers a new backdrop for investigating children and young people's knowledge regarding the environment and sustainability. Data are presented from research with children, young people and families living in one of these new communities. The paper focuses on the local primary school and homes which have been designed and equipped with various eco-technologies, exploring how pro-environmental behaviour is encouraged and acted out within these (new) spaces. Ultimately, the paper identifies a number of barriers to pro-environmental behaviour which need to be overcome if these new built environments are to become true sustainable communities.
PPast and Present Environmental Psychology / by Tommy GÄRLING (European Psychologist 2014; Vol. 19(2):127-131)In my commentary on the papers in this special section of European Psychologist, I note that the focus of past environmental psychology on changing the human environment to increase people's well-being has in contemporary environmental psychology been replaced by a focus on changing people and their behavior to preserve the human environment. This change is justified by current concerns in society about the ongoing destruction of the human environment. Yet, the change of focus should not lead to neglecting the role of changing the environment for changing people's behavior. I argue that it may actually be the most effective behavior change tool. I still criticize approaches focusing on single behaviors for frequently being insufficient. I endorse an approach that entails coercive measures implemented after research has established that changing consumption styles harming the environment does not harm people. Such a broader approach would alert researchers to undesirable (in particular indirect) rebound effects. My view on application is that research findings in (environmental) psychology are difficult to communicate to those who should apply them, not because they are irrelevant but because they, by their nature, are qualitative and conditional. Scholars from other disciplines failing to disclose this have an advantage in attracting attention and building trust.
SSelf in practice in an ecological community: connecting personal, social and ecological worlds at the ecovillage at Ithaca (dissertation) / by Andrew KIRBY (VDM Verlag, 2009) (First published as dissertation, City University of New York, 2004)This book examines the motives and experiences of members of an ecovillage community as they strive to develop a redefined sense of self-world relations. The ecovillage movement has arisen as an attempt to define the parameters of a new social paradigm, in response to the dominant social paradigm that is seen to have had disastrous consequences on the social, ecological, and personal fabric of our lives. This paradigm has, through 300 years of history, constructed a "consumer landscape" over the original "empty space" of the American continent which binds up our psychic attention, alienating us from the holistic and ecological ground of our lives. Residents of the Ecovillage at Ithaca came together to give concrete expression to a new set of ideals in a unique form of domestic protest. The book explores the processes of the first years as residents began to react and adapt to competing demands against a review of literature from diverse sources that examines the nature and conceptions of the self. The result is a vision of a newly emerging sense-of-self-through-practice that seeks reconstitution on personal, social, and ecological levels.
Sustainable welfare in the EU: Promoting synergies between climate and social policies / by Max KOCH, Anne Therese GULLBERG, Mi Ah SCHOYEN, Bjorn HVINDEN (Critical Social Policy 2016, Vol. 36(4): 704-715)The commentary addresses the scope for synergy between climate change policy and social policy in the European Union (EU) from a 'sustainable welfare' perspective. The emerging sustainable welfare approach is oriented to the satisfaction of human needs within ecological limits, in an intergenerational and global perspective. While the overall goals of EU climate policy and EU welfare policies largely reflect this orientation, there are significant differences in policy priorities. A 'policy auditing' approach towards sustainable welfare defines critical thresholds for matter and energy throughput to identify how much room there is for economic and societal development. However, the EU refrains from prioritizing environmental over other, especially economic, goals and displays a remarkable degree of optimism in relation to the extent to which one can make these different policy goals compatible.
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NNarrative citizenship, resilience and inclusion with dementia: On the inside or on the outside of physical and social places /by Charlotte L CLARKE, Cathy BAILEY (Dementia 2016, Vol. 15(3) 434-452)There has been little research that addresses the importance of place in
enabling resilience and citizenship, most to date focusing on these as a
characteristic of the individual. This paper reports on findings from a
qualitative study that aimed to explore the everyday experiences of living with
dementia within rural and semi-urban communities. Data collection included a
sequence of four research diaries and interviews with 13 families living at home
with dementia and interviews with service providers and commissioners (a total
of 57 diaries, 69 interviews with people living with dementia and 6 interviews
with service providers and commissioners). Key themes identified included:
Others Knowing and Responding; Socially Withdrawing and Feeling Excluded;
Sustaining and Changing Activities; Belonging and Estrangement from Place;
Engaging Services and Supports. The study found that familiarity with people and
place can be supportive, and these factors support a narrative citizenship in
which people can tell a story of inclusion and feeling on the inside. However,
this familiarity with place may also create a social barrier and a sense of
estrangement, or being on the outside. Narrative citizenship allows us to
explore how people with dementia position themselves in relation to others and
in so doing, negotiate their own and others' understandings of dementia. It also
allows for people to tell stories about themselves in relation to their sense of
belonging in a social and physical place, which augment the personal and
political approaches to citizenship and thus offers an approach that enhances
individualised yet collective understandings of living with dementia.
RRe-imagining the utopian: Transformation of a sustainable lifestyle in ecovillages / by Soonkwan HONG, Handan VICDAN (Elsevier Journal of Business Research, 2015)This research elucidates the transformative nature of sustainable lifestyles in
ecovillages as ostensibly utopian
spaces. Using archival data from several ecovillages, in-depth interviews with
ecovillage residents, and participa-
tory observations made at the EcoVillage at Ithaca (EVI), New York, and
Imeceevi, Turkey, the article explains the
processes by which utopian ideals are re-imagined and re-configured based on the
social configuration of the sus-
tainable lifestyle. The findings suggest that consumers organize alternative
life modes in their quest to explore
and internalize environmentally sustainable lifestyles in multi-faceted
ideological fields. The study documents
the transformation of ecovillages from intentional to incidentally utopian
communities where residents equally
prioritize and contest relational sustainability. Drawing on these findings, the
article also presents public policy
implications on new educational programs and sharing economy.
Sustainable Development and the Standard of Living in the EU - Objectification of Measurement for Applications of Knowledge / by Bogdan KLEPACKI, Malgorzata GOTOWSKA (Polish Association for Knowledge Management. Series: Studies & Proceedings No. 63, 2013)At present, sustainable development and the standard of living are the two most
popular problems discussed by scientists from different fields of expertise. The
aim of the study was a statement of the objective; international indicators
characterized sustainable development and the standard of living in the
countries of the European Union. The indicators are presented in three levels:
1. Environmental, 2. Economic and 3. Society. The research hypothesis assumes
that the standard of living has an impact on socially responsible behavior for
the sustainable development in the country has an impact on the standard of
living of its inhabitants. As a source of data were used statistical data from
the database of EUROSTAT and SolAbility. The research method was a method of
desk research and statistical methods of data.
TThe European Union, Russia and the Eastern region: The analytics of government for sustainable cohabitation / by Elena A. KOROSTELEVA(Cooperation and Conflict. 2016, Vol. 51(3) 365-383)This article applies the Foucauldian premise of governmentality and the analytics of government framework to demonstrate how exclusive modalities of power of the European Union (EU) and Russia and their competing rationalities relate, intersect and become, counter-intuitively, inextricable in their exercise of governance over the eastern neighbourhood. This particular approach focuses on power as a process to gauge the prospects for compatibility and cohabitation between the EU and Russia. Using original primary evidence, this article contends that cohabitation between these two exclusive power modalities is possible and even inevitable, if they were to legitimise their influence over the contested eastern region. It also exposes a fundamental flaw in the existing power systems, as demonstrated so vividly in the case of Ukraine - that is, a neglect for the essential value of freedom in fostering subjection to one authority, and the role of 'the other' in shaping the EU-Russian power relations in the contested region.
8 Great Places you've (Maybe) Never Heard Of / by K.C. COMPTON (Mother Earth News. October/November 2014)Throughout the United States, people are creating local food systems, building
sustainable communities and planning for a healthy future. Take a look at these
eight communities where folks are working to improve life right where they are.
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Neighborhood-Based Intermediary Organizations: A Community Systems Perspective / by S. BERKOWITZThis poster presents results of research on the Neighborhood Network Center model in Lansing, Michigan. NNCs represent a comprehensive, neighborhood-based approach to strengthening neighborhoods, empowering neighborhood decision-making and planning of programs and services, and providing neighborhood-based programming and service delivery. In this study, social network analysis techniques were applied towards understanding the larger impacts of these intermediaries on the collaborative dynamics of the community system. This poster presents findings on how neighborhood network centers can serve as a 'structural intervention' in the community system, promoting community development and improving system effectiveness by bridging between otherwise disconnected elements at both neighborhood and citywide levels. In addition, findings suggest the differences in how bridging roles unfold given both the capacity of intermediary organizations and the neighborhoods they serve. Implications for both research and implementation of neighborhood-based intermediaries are discussed.
Sustainable Happiness: How Happiness Studies Can Contribute to a More Sustainable Future / by Catherine O'BRIEN (Canadian Psychology 2008, Vol. 49, No. 4, 289-295)Sustainable development and sustainability have been fostering interdisciplinary
research and policy development for two decades. Likewise, positive psychology
and happiness studies are stimulating interdisciplinary research with
implications for policy and practice. O'Brien (2005) defined sustainable
happiness as the pursuit of happiness that does not exploit other people, the
environment, or future
generations. Bringing sustainability and happiness together within the concept
of sustainable happiness holds significant possibilities for individual,
community, and global well-being. Sustainable happiness is discussed with
respect to liveable communities, child-friendly planning, and education.
The Potential for Community Groups to Promote Sustainable Living / by Michael DEREK PETERS, Philip SINCLAIR (The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. Volume 6, Issue 8, 2012)In recent times there has been a growing recognition amongst policy-makers of the role for community-based action in contributing to the broader aims of energy policy and climate change. In this paper, we will examine the potential for existing community groups to use their influence and elements of internal cohesion to encourage more widespread understanding and adoption of sustainable lifestyle habits; both amongst their members and within the broader communities of which they are a part. Findings are presented from recent empirical work with a range of well-established community groups for whom environmental issues are not their main priority. A central aspect of the research was to explore both the current status and potential role of groups that may have the capacity to reach and influence a broader sphere of the public than energy/environment specific initiatives of recent times have been able to achieve. Representing a diversity of interests, age groups and functionality, the results suggest that the potential for more effective 'bottom-up' engagement on climate change and sustainable living might be given fresh impetus by these types of established community groups and their networks. An assessment of what motivates participation and membership in the groups highlights a series of factors common to all groups and a smaller number that are significant for particular groups individually. It is argued that an appreciation of motivating factors can be useful in understanding more clearly how such groups are able to survive and maintain cohesion over time. The findings also suggest that climate change action means different things for different groups, with the diversity of the groups bringing with it the challenge of making sustainable living relevant to a range of interests and different shared values.
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© Cover photo by Sergey Lutchenko.