Pål Dobrin, Therese AsplundSince 2015 when the UN adopted 17 global goals to transform our world, research on sustainability transformations have increasingly attract attention in its political and practical spheres, while personal sustainability transformations although recognized, are still scarcely studied (O´Brien, 2018). While the last few years have witnessed an increased scholarly discussion on transformative learning as an entry point to the study of personal sustainability transformations (e.g Bostrom et al., 2018; Hoggan, 2016; Rodríguez Aboytes & Barth, 2020), this presentation conceptualizes personal transformation based on holistic starting points that includes but also goes beyond the cognitive domain of knowledge. By exploring personal sustainability transformations through wisdom traditions, we present a model for conscious inner transformations including mental, emotional, physical, social and global domains. Second, we particularly invite participants for a joint conversation on the idea of separation as an underlying driver of unsustainable trajectories while simultaneously exploring the intentions of the model to increase the experience of a more relational self. In doing so, our intention with the presentation is to further explore consciousness-driven transformations in particular with regards to linking inner and outer dimensions (e.g. Wamsler et al, 2021; Cooper and Gibson, 2022), The presentation is part of a transdisciplinary and collaborative research project between partners Empaticus – an organization with long experience of widom traditions, contemplative practices and inner transformation and Department of Thematic Studies – unit of Environmental Change, Center for Climate Policy Research at Linköping University with expertise in the intersection between sustainability transformations, sense-making, and communication. The presentation is supported by the Swedish Research Council FORMAS under Grant No. 2021 -01254.
Assessing the effectiveness of inner transformation interventions for sustainability progress
Kira Cooper
Optimism for inner transformations to support progress towards sustainability is rapidly increasing. However, despite the mounting interest in leveraging individual skills, capacities, and worldviews to support conditions for long-term viability, there remains significant gaps in understanding. This study addresses one such gap by presenting a novel sustainability assessment framework for inner transformation. Through a case study analysis, this research assesses how a series of mindfulness-based events addressed criteria for collective flourishing. Results of the analysis demonstrate a range of potential synergies and trade-offs between inner transformation offerings and requirements for social and ecological wellbeing. Additionally, the study explores how normative conceptions of both inner and outer transformations might be contextualised anew to be in service of more just, viable, and inclusive sustainability transformations.
People Who Play Together, Stay Together: Constructive Sensemaking, Community Health, and Collective Efficacy
Anne Taufen