Eco-creativity 2023: Sustainability in Europe’s cities: cultural adaptations to eco-citizenship

This virtual conference took place on Friday, June, 30 2023 (14:00 to 16:00)

An online seminar looking at cultural practices promoting and supporting ecological citizenships in Europe’s multicultural cities. Ecological citizenship is understood as a framework for both values and behaviours, referring to a sense of civic responsibility for the planet, for its biodiversity and endangered species and for future human generations. Importantly, ecological citizenship has ‘sustainability’ as one of its core dimensions—alongside ‘responsibility’, ‘rights and justice’ and ‘participation’. Our event will bring into focus new creative methodologies, such as the use of storytelling, for exploring sustainable futures.

Participants are invited to share theoretical and practice-led engagement with these topics with a specific focus on multicultural urban European contexts.

The event aims to examine how different networks and communities develop and promote urban sustainability and climate resilience through a diversity of creative, participatory acculturative activities.

This seminar will bring together academics and cross-sector collaborators in the UK and Europe, asking:

• How are cultural adaptations promoting sustainability and ecological citizenship in multicultural European cities? 
• How can ecological citizenships support green transitions to urban sustainability in European cities?  
• How can emerging and developing creative practices, like participatory storytelling, support ecological citizenships in multicultural European urban environments? 

Confirmed participants

Dr Maria Nita, Lecturer in Religious Studies (FASS); Dr Alessandra Campoli, Lecturer in Design (STEM); Prof Marion Bowman, Professor of Vernacular Religion (FASS); Dr Arabella Frazer, Senior Lecturer in Global Development (FASS); Deborah Benham, Gaia Education.

References

Asilsoy, Buket, and Derya Oktay. 2018. ‘Exploring Environmental Behaviour as the Major Determinant of Ecological Citizenship’, Sustainable Cities and Society, 39: 765–771. 

De Guttry, Corinna, Martin Döring and Beate Ratter. 2016. ‘Challenging the Current Climate Change–Migration Nexus: Exploring Migrants’ Perceptions of Climate Change in the Hosting Country’, Die Erde, 147 (2): 109–118. 

Harvey, Daina C., and Erin E. Robinson. 2016. ‘Sharing Stories’, Humanity and Society, 40: 442–461. 

Hayes, Michael Thomas, Pauline Sameshima and Francene Watson. 2015. ‘Imagination as Method’, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14 (1): 36–52. 

Nita, Maria. 2020. “‘Inside Story’ Participatory Storytelling and Imagination in Eco-pedagogical Contexts”, in Storytelling for Sustainability in Higher Education: An Educator’s Handbook, Petra Molthan-Hill, Heather Luna, Tony Wall, Helen Puntha and Denise Baden eds. Abingdon: Routledge, 154-167.

Reason, Matthew, and Catherine Heinemeyer. 2016. ‘Storytelling, Story-Retelling, Storyknowing: Towards a Participatory Practice of Storytelling’, Research in Drama Education, 21 (4): 558–573. 

Banner image: Glitch Landscape Picture by Alessandra Campoli