New publication: Exploring the narratives from eco‑villagers through a place‑based transformative learning approach by Pisters et al.

Siri Pisters is 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 National Resource Institute of Finland (LUKE) at the research project Eco-villages and sustainable living of the MSCA ITN programme SUSPLACE. ‘Inner change and sustainability initiatives: exploring the … Read more

New publication! Place-based transformative learning: a framework to explore consciousness in sustainability initiatives by Siri Pisters et al.

Siri Pisters 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 National Resource Institute of Finland (LUKE) at the research project Eco-villages and sustainable living of the MSCA ITN programme SUSPLACE. Abstract Based on a … Read more

Being a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Ambassador

  By Catia Rebelo, Alessandro Vasta and Siri Pisters How do citizens’ initiatives shape sustainable places? This question guided a seminar lead by Elisabete Figueiredo and Sandra Valente at University of Aveiro last May. Some ESRs, namely Alessandro Vasta, Cátia Rebelo, Marta Romero and Siri Pisters had the opportunity to share their work with a … Read more

Never stop experimenting! Introducing the SUSPLACE Toolkit on Arts-Based Methods for Transformative Engagement

Written by Angela Moriggi and Kelli R. Pearson “The only way to approach such a period in which uncertainty is high and one cannot predict what the future holds, is not predict, but to experiment and act inventively and exuberantly via diverse adventures in living” ~ C.S. Holling In October 2016, six of us got together … Read more

What would a world look like in which humans and animals no longer fear each other?

Welcome to Tamera – an experiential community and peace research project At some point in history, with the evolving modern, instrumental worldview, humans placed themselves outside of nature on the basis that humans carry some sort of consciousness that non-humans do not[1]. This, according to many, has led to many of the environmental and ecological … Read more

Back to basics and it feels good!

Do you ever have the feeling that in order to live more sustainably you have to make lots of sacrifices? That you have to give up on those things that actually bring joy, comfort and pleasure to your life? Living lightly and feeling good You might want to think twice. Research shows that people who … Read more

Interactions between human and environment: an account of the DENVI 2nd annual meeting

  By Angela Moriggi, Sara Grenni, Siri Pisters The Doctoral Programme in Interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences (DENVI) at the University of Helsinki hosted its 2nd Annual Meeting on February 6-7, 2017. Sara, Angela and Siri – the group of ESRs based in Helsinki at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) – participated as “SUSPLACE ambassadors”, with … Read more

Transformative change: from personal experience to societal value

What is the nature of societal transformative change? When are people willing to go along a transformative change process and when and why do they resist? These questions have been guiding me in my research journey thus far, aiming to better understand the ‘roots’ of transformative societal change towards a more sustainable world. Looking back … Read more

Questions of community-making at the GEN-Europe Conference

By Siri Pisters Last week I attended the yearly conference of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) – Europe in Arterra Bizimodu, a young community in Navarra, Spain. Arterra Bizimodu inhabits an old monastery in a sleepy, rural village in the beautiful yet dry and quite deserted Spanish country side. This young community hosted over 200 participants … Read more

Exploring eco-villages in Finland

By Siri Pisters A few weeks ago I officially visited my first eco community in Finland – Ihala. If I understood correctly, it means something in the direction of bright place. I joined an open community weekend and GEN(Global Ecovillage Network)- Finland gathering at the same time. The group of people attending was small for … Read more