International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
inVIVO Planetary Health (inVIVO) is a progressive scientific movement providing evidence, advocac... more inVIVO Planetary Health (inVIVO) is a progressive scientific movement providing evidence, advocacy, and inspiration to align the interests and vitality of people, place, and planet. Our goal is to transform personal and planetary health through awareness, attitudes, and actions, and a deeper understanding of how all systems are interconnected and interdependent. Here, we present the abstracts and proceedings of our 8th annual conference, held in Detroit, Michigan in May 2019, themed “From Challenges, to Opportunities”. Our far-ranging discussions addressed the complex interdependent ecological challenges of advancing global urbanization, including the biopsychosocial interactions in our living environment on physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing, together with the wider community and societal factors that govern these. We had a strong solutions focus, with diverse strategies spanning from urban-greening and renewal, nature-relatedness, nutritional ecology, planetary diets, and m...
ABSTRACT Originating in the UK in 2006, the Transition movement is oriented to local grassroots c... more ABSTRACT Originating in the UK in 2006, the Transition movement is oriented to local grassroots citizen-led efforts that prepare for and support a societal energy transition to a low-carbon future in response to climate change, peak oil, ecological degradation, and economic instability. Overlapping significantly with relocalization, degrowth/slow growth, local food, and related movements, and based on permaculture principles and a distributed network model, it embraces the opportunity to turn crisis into an opportunity to build more resilient, convivial, and vibrant local communities, declaring that “if it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable”. The Transition approach has spread rapidly around the world, including initiatives in over 100 communities and cities in Canada. This paper reports on the methods and results of a Canadian community-based research study aimed at understanding how and where the movement has taken root across the country, what Transition practice looks like, challenges and opportunities encountered, and lessons learned that could be applied within the movement and by others interested in the role of citizen-led initiatives for sustainability transition. Utilising a practice theory lens, drawing on an extensive web-scan of the movement’s online presence, a survey and interviews with initiative (co)founders, an e-survey of Transition members/participants, regional “structured story-dialogue” workshops, and key informant interviews, and informed by input from a Movement Advisory Group, we describe the research process and explore what success and impact mean to those most active in the movement.
Dialogue and story-telling are essential elements of many qualitative methodologies and action re... more Dialogue and story-telling are essential elements of many qualitative methodologies and action research itself, reflecting the constructivist paradigm in which qualitative research (QR) and action research (AR) are grounded, and the co-construction of knowledge that takes place amongst research participants (in group settings) and researchers. This paper reports on the adaptation of a structured story-dialogue method for research with social movement activists undertaken in the form of a series of regional weekend workshops animated by researchers and attended by Transition movement leaders and participants from multiple locales, as part of a larger study ( www.transitionemergingstudy.ca ). We draw upon participant observation, animator reflections, research team meetings, participant feedback, as well as workshop materials, in relation to two different adaptations of Labonte and Feather’s original formulation (1996) and subsequent reflections (2011), setting this in the context of ...
Local Environment The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 2018
Originating in the UK in 2006, the Transition movement is oriented to local grassroots citizen-le... more Originating in the UK in 2006, the Transition movement is oriented to local grassroots citizen-led efforts that prepare for and support a societal energy transition to a low-carbon future in response to climate change, peak oil, ecological degradation, and economic instability. Overlapping significantly with relocalization, degrowth/slow growth, local food, and related movements, and based on permaculture principles and a distributed network model, it embraces the opportunity to turn crisis into an opportunity to build more resilient, convivial, and vibrant local communities, declaring that “if it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable”. The Transition approach has spread rapidly around the world, including initiatives in over 100 communities and cities in Canada. This paper reports on the methods and results of a Canadian community-based research study aimed at understanding how and where the movement has taken root across the country, what Transition practice looks like, challenges and o...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
inVIVO Planetary Health (inVIVO) is a progressive scientific movement providing evidence, advocac... more inVIVO Planetary Health (inVIVO) is a progressive scientific movement providing evidence, advocacy, and inspiration to align the interests and vitality of people, place, and planet. Our goal is to transform personal and planetary health through awareness, attitudes, and actions, and a deeper understanding of how all systems are interconnected and interdependent. Here, we present the abstracts and proceedings of our 8th annual conference, held in Detroit, Michigan in May 2019, themed “From Challenges, to Opportunities”. Our far-ranging discussions addressed the complex interdependent ecological challenges of advancing global urbanization, including the biopsychosocial interactions in our living environment on physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing, together with the wider community and societal factors that govern these. We had a strong solutions focus, with diverse strategies spanning from urban-greening and renewal, nature-relatedness, nutritional ecology, planetary diets, and m...
ABSTRACT Originating in the UK in 2006, the Transition movement is oriented to local grassroots c... more ABSTRACT Originating in the UK in 2006, the Transition movement is oriented to local grassroots citizen-led efforts that prepare for and support a societal energy transition to a low-carbon future in response to climate change, peak oil, ecological degradation, and economic instability. Overlapping significantly with relocalization, degrowth/slow growth, local food, and related movements, and based on permaculture principles and a distributed network model, it embraces the opportunity to turn crisis into an opportunity to build more resilient, convivial, and vibrant local communities, declaring that “if it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable”. The Transition approach has spread rapidly around the world, including initiatives in over 100 communities and cities in Canada. This paper reports on the methods and results of a Canadian community-based research study aimed at understanding how and where the movement has taken root across the country, what Transition practice looks like, challenges and opportunities encountered, and lessons learned that could be applied within the movement and by others interested in the role of citizen-led initiatives for sustainability transition. Utilising a practice theory lens, drawing on an extensive web-scan of the movement’s online presence, a survey and interviews with initiative (co)founders, an e-survey of Transition members/participants, regional “structured story-dialogue” workshops, and key informant interviews, and informed by input from a Movement Advisory Group, we describe the research process and explore what success and impact mean to those most active in the movement.
Dialogue and story-telling are essential elements of many qualitative methodologies and action re... more Dialogue and story-telling are essential elements of many qualitative methodologies and action research itself, reflecting the constructivist paradigm in which qualitative research (QR) and action research (AR) are grounded, and the co-construction of knowledge that takes place amongst research participants (in group settings) and researchers. This paper reports on the adaptation of a structured story-dialogue method for research with social movement activists undertaken in the form of a series of regional weekend workshops animated by researchers and attended by Transition movement leaders and participants from multiple locales, as part of a larger study ( www.transitionemergingstudy.ca ). We draw upon participant observation, animator reflections, research team meetings, participant feedback, as well as workshop materials, in relation to two different adaptations of Labonte and Feather’s original formulation (1996) and subsequent reflections (2011), setting this in the context of ...
Local Environment The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 2018
Originating in the UK in 2006, the Transition movement is oriented to local grassroots citizen-le... more Originating in the UK in 2006, the Transition movement is oriented to local grassroots citizen-led efforts that prepare for and support a societal energy transition to a low-carbon future in response to climate change, peak oil, ecological degradation, and economic instability. Overlapping significantly with relocalization, degrowth/slow growth, local food, and related movements, and based on permaculture principles and a distributed network model, it embraces the opportunity to turn crisis into an opportunity to build more resilient, convivial, and vibrant local communities, declaring that “if it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable”. The Transition approach has spread rapidly around the world, including initiatives in over 100 communities and cities in Canada. This paper reports on the methods and results of a Canadian community-based research study aimed at understanding how and where the movement has taken root across the country, what Transition practice looks like, challenges and o...
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Papers by Roxy Cohen