A Global Voice for Survival: An Ecosystemic Approach for the Environment and the Quality of Life

André Pilon

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: In view of the overwhelming pressures on the global environment and the need to disrupt the systems that drive them, an ecosystemic theoretical and practical framework is posited for the evaluation and planning of public policies, research and teaching programmes, encompassing four dimensions of being-in-the-world (intimate, interactive, social and biophysical), as they combine, as donors and recipients, to induce the events (deficits/assets), cope with consequences (desired/undesired) and contribute for change (potential outputs). The focus should not be on the “bubbles” of the surface (consequences, fragmented issues), but on the configurations deep inside the boiling pot where the problems emerge. New paradigms of development, growth, power, wealth, work and freedom, embedded at institutional level, include heterogeneous attributes, behaviours and interactions and the dynamics of the systems (institutions, populations, political, economic, cultural and ecological background). Instead of dealing with the bubbles (segmented, reduced issues) and trying to solve isolated and localized problems without addressing the general phenomenon, the proposal emphasizes the definition of the problems deep inside the “boiling pot”, where the problems emerge, encompassing the current “world-system” with its boundaries, structures, techno-economic paradigms, support groups, rules of legitimation, and coherence. In the socio-cultural learning niches, heuristic-hermeneutic experiences generate awareness, interpretation and understanding beyond established stereotypes, from a thematic (“what”), an epistemic(“how”) and a strategic (policies) point of view. The proposal relates to how taken for granted worldviews, values and perceptions affect environmental problems and quality of life.

Keywords: education; culture; politics; economics; ethics; environment; ecosystems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I00 I25 I28 I29 O21 O31 Q2 Q28 Q5 Q51 Q56 Q57 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-11-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-hme and nep-pke
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: A Global Voice for Survival: An Ecosystemic Approach for the Environment and the Quality of Life (2016)
Working Paper: A Global Voice for Survival: An Ecosystemic Approach for the Environment and the Quality of Life (2016)
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