Can an academic research project be turned into a children’s story? Yes, it can! With great enthusiasm and dedication, a team of six SUSPLACE fellows (Anastasia, Alessandro, Angela, Kelli, Lorena and Marta) has been engaged in an experimental co-creation effort to translate their research insights into a Children’s Book. After two years of work, the … Read more
Diogo Soares da Silva is PhD-candidate at the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University. From April 1, 2016, until March 31, 2019, he was appointed at the research project The Energetic Society of the MSCA ITN programme SUSPLACE. ‘The role of local energy initiatives in co-producing sustainable places‘ by Diogo Soares da Silva and Lummina G. … Read more
About two years ago we embarked on a mission to transform our research learnings into children’s stories. We wanted to write a book about hope and leadership that could inspire readers to bring positive change in their surroundings, reconnect with their environment and bond with their communities.
After a couple of training events, various rounds of writing and re-writing, dozens of meetings and fruitful collaborations with writing coaches, editors, an illustrator and a graphic designer, as well as lots of teamwork, mutual support, and hope, the book is almost finished.
Alessandro Vasta is an external PhD-candidate at the Rural Sociology Group of Wageningen University. From April 1, 2016, until March 31, 2019, he was appointed as Early Stage Researcher at the University of Aveiro at the research project Regrounding of Practices of the MSCA ITN programme SUSPLACE.
everyday superhero (noun) :
1) a person that develops superpowers in order to bring change in the places she cares about
2) [becoming an ~] : the desired outcome of reading the anthology “Once Upon the Future. Everyday Adventures that Change the World”
Once out in the world, we hope that our book will inspire its young and not-so-young readers to develop and exercise the everyday superpowers needed to change their little corners of the world for the better. If, in the meantime, you want to start changing the world by making a children’s book on sustainability, here are a couple of superpowers we found useful:
Marta Nieto Romero is an external PhD-candidate at the Rural Sociology Group of Wageningen University. From April 1, 2016, until March 31, 2019, she was appointed as Early Stage Researcher at the University of Aveiro at the research project Managing the Commons of the MSCA ITN programme SUSPLACE.
This video-documentary is the result of the project Marão Minha Serra, an action-research project aiming at promoting more sustainable human-nature relations (see facebook page). The project aimed at re-connecting people to each other and to their forested common land to re-build communities (human and more-than-human). For that, the project recorded residents telling stories about their common land and asked them to choose a meaningful place for their life telling the story behind it. Thus, this video is an affective map of the baldio of Ansiães, a map that tells the past and current resident’s affects towards their common land.
What are commonlands? And how can commoning help to revitalise rural communities? In this video, we follow SUSPLACE researcher Marta Nieto Romero to one of her case studies – a small community in Galicia, Spain that’s seeking new ways to take care of their communal forest lands and, through that, rebuild community life.
Can you produce a children’s book as part of an academic research project? Yes, you can! With great enthusiasm and dedication, a team of six SUSPLACE fellows (Anastasia, Alessandro, Angela, Kelli, Lorena and Marta) has been engaged in the writing of children’s stories inspired by their research projects. After more than a year of work, they are happy to announce that they are almost done! Preliminary title of the book: Once Upon the Future: Everyday Adventures that Change the World.
In the recently published article Citizen Initiatives in the Post-Welfare State , SUSPLACE researcher Diogo Soares da Silva reflects on the role of citizen initiatives in shaping sustainable places. The article is based on the outcomes of the research project The Energetic Society and was co-authored by prof. Lummina Horlings and prof. Elisabete Figueiredo. The article belongs to the Special Issue Civic Enterprises, the Co-Production of Public Governance and the Prospects for Democratic Renewal in Europe of Social Sciences.
Written by Angela Moriggi Editing and inspiration: Kelli Rose Pearson, Lorena Axinte, Alessandro Vasta, Anastasia Papangelou, Marta Nieto Romero. How can we convey the value of interdependence without falling into cheesiness? How do we advocate for re-appreciation of traditional textiles without being overly didactic? How can we talk about urban regeneration with a hint of … Read more
With the aim of outreaching my research as well as practicing my teaching skills, I decided to volunteer to give lectures in my department (Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences, University of Aveiro). The two professors that accepted to have me as a guest in their course both proposed the same day- the 21st … Read more