Stella Veciana
Dr. Stella Veciana is founder of the Research Arts platform focusing on transdisciplinary art-science research for transformations towards sustainability. She studied experimental arts (University of Arts Berlin), computer arts (School of Visual Arts, New York) and earned her doctorate (University of Barcelona) in interdisciplinary research between art, science, technology and society. In Cooperation with the Civil Platform Forschungswende, a German public participation platform on civilian involvement in science, supported by the Federation of German Scientists, she developed innovative interactive art installations for a culture of Open Science | Open Access. For the German Agency for International Cooperation, the Intercultural Indigenous University and the Fondo Indigena, she wrote a manual for transdisciplinary community research. At Leuphana University Lüneburg in cooperation with several ecovillages she developed research community partnerships to support the enhancement of student’s competences in participatory and transdisciplinary sustainability oriented research. She co-founded and works for the association Bund für Bildung BfB (www.bundfuerbildung.de) where she engages in ESD projects. For her participatory Connecting Art Practice she creates workshops, videos, installations and landscape interventions. She is member of the Federation of German Scientists VDW (www.vdw-ev.de). More: www.stellaveciana.net, www.research-arts.net, www.instagram.com/stella.veciana
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simultaneously-run sub-processes of the five village collaborations, and the success factors among the change agents in village-development processes. Our analysis showed that tangible, successful, local transformational dynamics were achieved in all villages. At the local level, one of the main factors of success is to consider the village's specific starting point and analyse the potential “transformation window”. This includes the willingness of political actors to change, acknowledgement of village activism’s legitimacy, and the cohesion and sustainable orientation of the village community. The impact of the change agents is evaluated at transformational,relational, process and power levels. The success factors in terms of the project’s structure proved to be the participatory development of the instruments for village development, shared responsibility, eye-level communication, and flexible, process-oriented village development ensuring continuity. From our study’s findings, we identified further research needs and formulated recommendations for future sustainable village development projects.
The cases of intentional communities are particularly relevant in their pioneering path towards innovative sustainable lifestyles following an integrative approach based on all four dimensions of sustainability. From a socio-cultural perspective their innovative methods nurture intra-personal growth processes based on a matured conflict culture and peaceful coexistence culture in regards to both human and natural systems.
First, the distinctive levels of conflict resolution and self-empowerment are discussed particularly as central experiences for personal sustainability development. Next, a typology of community design methods are introduced as developed or practiced in different ecovillages: Forum, We- Process, Dreamwork and Emotional Baggage Dischargement. The analysis will concentrate especially on the Emotional Baggage Dischargement case. The method allows to access and resolve deeply grounded personal conflicts fostering a valuable community conflict culture. The method analysis evidences the needs, motivations and interests of ecovillagers regarding inner conflict resolution and self-empowerment for sustainable lifestyles. The focus relies on identifying significant personal capacities to be acquired through these methods as reflecting on interiorized rules of conduct or behaving following one’s own authenticity.
The research design follows the method of transdisciplinary research in sustainability science based on the knowledge gained by the analysis of specific case studies, qualitative interviews and the long personal experience of the authors practicing the community design methods.
As a result, the chapter gives a comparative view of relevant community-design methods for inner conflict resolution and self-empowerment practiced by intentional communities as a path to personal sustainability and recommendations for its personal implementation and further research.
Vor diesem Hintergrund entwickeln die beiden Autorinnen praxisnahe Handlungsempfehlungen für eine deliberative Forschungspolitik und skizzieren zugleich Anforderungen an eine nachhaltigkeitsorientierte partizipative Forschung, die zeigen, wie eine Demokratisierung der Wissenschaft gelingen kann.
Rezension
»Die Publikation von Stella Veciana und Claudia Neubauer gibt einen fundierten Einblick darüber, wo die [Autorinnen] Stellschrauben für ein verändertes Wissenschaftssystem sehen. Die Publikation [ist] ein Referenzwerk zur Nachhaltigkeit, Partizipation und Transformation in der sozialökologischen Diskussion. Die Publikation hilft dem Lesenden dank ihrer plakativen Darstellung und in ihrer politikberatenden Funktion ins Thema einzusteigen und Anhaltspunkte für eine eigene Position zu entdecken. [Sie stellt] Begründungszusammenhänge auf, warum und wie Wissenschaft und Forschung die Grundpfeiler darstellen, um den prognostizierten überlebensnotwendigen, raschen und sozialökologischen Wandel zu begründen, zu begleiten und vielleicht zu organisieren.«
Dr. Klaus Heuer, Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung
Full text: http://adp.cat/web/wp-content/uploads/politicas-publicas_apd.pdf
Link to full text: http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/80850
Papers by Stella Veciana
This article belongs to the Special Issue Visual Arts and Design: Practice-Based Research (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/societies/special_issues/430HEKJW7E)
Although sustainability science and education have been promoting sustainable futures for decades, their programs still struggle to reach more notably advances in transforming the profoundly unsustainable patterns of current societies. Addressing the complex phenomena related to the challenges of planetary boundaries and climate change requires change agents endorsed by a holistic sustainable culture. A culture aimed at linking external change (of economic, ecological, social, cultural systems) with internal transformation (of mindsets, conscience, values, beliefs, motivations, etc.). However, the implementation of this inner-outer transformation approach in higher education for sustainable development is scarce. With the aim of contributing to fill this gap, this study presents one exemplary seminar out of a series of undergraduate courses taught at Leuphana University in collaboration with several German ecovillages called ‘Sustainable Community – Real World Laboratories’ (SC-RwL). The analysis reflects the results of this transformative learning environment and the transdisciplinary ‘Research Arts’ didactic applied that combines scientific methods with community and artistic practices on the basis of the students evaluation results. Subsequently, the paper discusses critically the effectiveness and challenges of the SC-RwL particularly in relation to acquired sustainability skills, and extracts transformative qualities of ecovillages. Finally, it concludes on lessons learned and how these may be included into later courses, and suggests future research.
The classic analogue archive passes from the museum space to databank networks based on dynamic memory to new hybrid environments of mixed realities. How does the modern archive model differentiate as the on-site library of database from databank archive model? How do interactive database systems influence social memory? The ‘online memory environments’ transform the concept of the archive, which served to preserve cultural heritage, becoming as well a laboratory of aesthetic-scientific production as in experiments of collective participation in ‘virtual monuments’ that activate processes of social memory.
On the basis of this historical transformation and intercultural artistic-scientific methodological approaches, the purpose of this communication is to present the online dynamic memory space as future laboratories of artistic-scientific research.
The participative exhibition is a collaboration between Stella Veciana and Dan Norton. When it was first presented at the Center for Development Research in Bonn, it showed an interactive video-interface projected onto a kentia palm tree and a series of posters with quotes from interviewed experts of the so-called “global North” and “global South.”
simultaneously-run sub-processes of the five village collaborations, and the success factors among the change agents in village-development processes. Our analysis showed that tangible, successful, local transformational dynamics were achieved in all villages. At the local level, one of the main factors of success is to consider the village's specific starting point and analyse the potential “transformation window”. This includes the willingness of political actors to change, acknowledgement of village activism’s legitimacy, and the cohesion and sustainable orientation of the village community. The impact of the change agents is evaluated at transformational,relational, process and power levels. The success factors in terms of the project’s structure proved to be the participatory development of the instruments for village development, shared responsibility, eye-level communication, and flexible, process-oriented village development ensuring continuity. From our study’s findings, we identified further research needs and formulated recommendations for future sustainable village development projects.
The cases of intentional communities are particularly relevant in their pioneering path towards innovative sustainable lifestyles following an integrative approach based on all four dimensions of sustainability. From a socio-cultural perspective their innovative methods nurture intra-personal growth processes based on a matured conflict culture and peaceful coexistence culture in regards to both human and natural systems.
First, the distinctive levels of conflict resolution and self-empowerment are discussed particularly as central experiences for personal sustainability development. Next, a typology of community design methods are introduced as developed or practiced in different ecovillages: Forum, We- Process, Dreamwork and Emotional Baggage Dischargement. The analysis will concentrate especially on the Emotional Baggage Dischargement case. The method allows to access and resolve deeply grounded personal conflicts fostering a valuable community conflict culture. The method analysis evidences the needs, motivations and interests of ecovillagers regarding inner conflict resolution and self-empowerment for sustainable lifestyles. The focus relies on identifying significant personal capacities to be acquired through these methods as reflecting on interiorized rules of conduct or behaving following one’s own authenticity.
The research design follows the method of transdisciplinary research in sustainability science based on the knowledge gained by the analysis of specific case studies, qualitative interviews and the long personal experience of the authors practicing the community design methods.
As a result, the chapter gives a comparative view of relevant community-design methods for inner conflict resolution and self-empowerment practiced by intentional communities as a path to personal sustainability and recommendations for its personal implementation and further research.
Vor diesem Hintergrund entwickeln die beiden Autorinnen praxisnahe Handlungsempfehlungen für eine deliberative Forschungspolitik und skizzieren zugleich Anforderungen an eine nachhaltigkeitsorientierte partizipative Forschung, die zeigen, wie eine Demokratisierung der Wissenschaft gelingen kann.
Rezension
»Die Publikation von Stella Veciana und Claudia Neubauer gibt einen fundierten Einblick darüber, wo die [Autorinnen] Stellschrauben für ein verändertes Wissenschaftssystem sehen. Die Publikation [ist] ein Referenzwerk zur Nachhaltigkeit, Partizipation und Transformation in der sozialökologischen Diskussion. Die Publikation hilft dem Lesenden dank ihrer plakativen Darstellung und in ihrer politikberatenden Funktion ins Thema einzusteigen und Anhaltspunkte für eine eigene Position zu entdecken. [Sie stellt] Begründungszusammenhänge auf, warum und wie Wissenschaft und Forschung die Grundpfeiler darstellen, um den prognostizierten überlebensnotwendigen, raschen und sozialökologischen Wandel zu begründen, zu begleiten und vielleicht zu organisieren.«
Dr. Klaus Heuer, Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung
Full text: http://adp.cat/web/wp-content/uploads/politicas-publicas_apd.pdf
Link to full text: http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/80850
This article belongs to the Special Issue Visual Arts and Design: Practice-Based Research (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/societies/special_issues/430HEKJW7E)
Although sustainability science and education have been promoting sustainable futures for decades, their programs still struggle to reach more notably advances in transforming the profoundly unsustainable patterns of current societies. Addressing the complex phenomena related to the challenges of planetary boundaries and climate change requires change agents endorsed by a holistic sustainable culture. A culture aimed at linking external change (of economic, ecological, social, cultural systems) with internal transformation (of mindsets, conscience, values, beliefs, motivations, etc.). However, the implementation of this inner-outer transformation approach in higher education for sustainable development is scarce. With the aim of contributing to fill this gap, this study presents one exemplary seminar out of a series of undergraduate courses taught at Leuphana University in collaboration with several German ecovillages called ‘Sustainable Community – Real World Laboratories’ (SC-RwL). The analysis reflects the results of this transformative learning environment and the transdisciplinary ‘Research Arts’ didactic applied that combines scientific methods with community and artistic practices on the basis of the students evaluation results. Subsequently, the paper discusses critically the effectiveness and challenges of the SC-RwL particularly in relation to acquired sustainability skills, and extracts transformative qualities of ecovillages. Finally, it concludes on lessons learned and how these may be included into later courses, and suggests future research.
The classic analogue archive passes from the museum space to databank networks based on dynamic memory to new hybrid environments of mixed realities. How does the modern archive model differentiate as the on-site library of database from databank archive model? How do interactive database systems influence social memory? The ‘online memory environments’ transform the concept of the archive, which served to preserve cultural heritage, becoming as well a laboratory of aesthetic-scientific production as in experiments of collective participation in ‘virtual monuments’ that activate processes of social memory.
On the basis of this historical transformation and intercultural artistic-scientific methodological approaches, the purpose of this communication is to present the online dynamic memory space as future laboratories of artistic-scientific research.
The participative exhibition is a collaboration between Stella Veciana and Dan Norton. When it was first presented at the Center for Development Research in Bonn, it showed an interactive video-interface projected onto a kentia palm tree and a series of posters with quotes from interviewed experts of the so-called “global North” and “global South.”
One of the most outstanding experimental approaches to co-create a common curriculum beyond disciplinary and cultural barriers was recently carried out during the »Anthropocene Campus«. The Campus was organized by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in cooperation with the Max Planck Society, Deutsches Museum, the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies. During the Anthropocene Campus new experiences and methodologies, were presented and discussed to contribute to foster a transdisciplinary ‘work in progress’ Anthropocene curriculum. The summary presents the questions raised in the “Disciplinarities” seminar which was part of the three topical clusters called “Connecting” (the correlations between environmental conditions, society, and technological development).
Full text: http://www.research-arts.net/kooperieren/ra15_cooperating_anthropocenecampus.html