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Accepted Paper:
Co-Creating Frugal Abundance: An Alternative Way to Imagine and Design Just Sustainable Futures?
Adrien Plomteux
(UCL)
Paper short abstract:
Some societies seem to live in "frugal abundance", that is, living well with a small consumption and environmental impact. Imagining and designing just sustainable futures could come from co-creation with such societies. I will present how my PhD project is applying this methodology.
Paper long abstract:
Environmental degradation is growing in most parts of the world. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative ways to tackle the environmental crisis. Since GDP and consumption are highly coupled to environmental degradation, models of society which are not based on high levels of these elements are particularly promising.
Empirical evidence suggests that some societies live well while not even consuming and having access to what would be considered as bare necessities by most in the Global North. For instance, the Maasai indigenous people in Kenya have been quantitatively assessed as very satisfied with housing, food, income, material goods, health, social life, their life overall, etc. These societies live in "frugal abundance".
Frugal abundance is a conception of sustainable development that is deeply rooted in indigenous knowledge, practices and institutions, and it could be a new starting point for imagining and designing just sustainable futures.
In my presentation, I would further explain the concept of frugal abundance but particularly focus on my PhD project's methodology. The Maasai in Kenya, an Ecovillage in Scotland and a "slow fishing village" in Iceland will be involved in participatory workshops to imagine pathways for their national society to move towards frugal abundance, applying a method called "backcasting". By subsequently analysing these pathways with policymakers, activists and academics, I hope to give them a firmer real-world grounding. Fieldwork activities will normally start in May and I should be able to provide preliminary results about one case at the conference.
Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality, and to see the links to virtual rooms. Log in
Accepted Paper:
Adrien Plomteux (UCL)
Paper short abstract:
Paper long abstract:
Environmental degradation is growing in most parts of the world. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative ways to tackle the environmental crisis. Since GDP and consumption are highly coupled to environmental degradation, models of society which are not based on high levels of these elements are particularly promising.
Empirical evidence suggests that some societies live well while not even consuming and having access to what would be considered as bare necessities by most in the Global North. For instance, the Maasai indigenous people in Kenya have been quantitatively assessed as very satisfied with housing, food, income, material goods, health, social life, their life overall, etc. These societies live in "frugal abundance".
Frugal abundance is a conception of sustainable development that is deeply rooted in indigenous knowledge, practices and institutions, and it could be a new starting point for imagining and designing just sustainable futures.
In my presentation, I would further explain the concept of frugal abundance but particularly focus on my PhD project's methodology. The Maasai in Kenya, an Ecovillage in Scotland and a "slow fishing village" in Iceland will be involved in participatory workshops to imagine pathways for their national society to move towards frugal abundance, applying a method called "backcasting". By subsequently analysing these pathways with policymakers, activists and academics, I hope to give them a firmer real-world grounding. Fieldwork activities will normally start in May and I should be able to provide preliminary results about one case at the conference.
Leaving, Living and Learning: Knowledge Production and its Impact on Designing Just Sustainable Futures
Session 1 Wednesday 6 July, 2022, -