Sustainability, Environmental Knowledge and Social Imaginations of Climate Futures (SEaSons)

The project at a glance

Start date:

01 Sep 2024
Duration in months:

36
Funding:

Fonds National de la Recherche
Principal Investigator(s):

Boris TRAUE

Mathias BLANC

About

Climate and environmental issues are experienced through the seasons. We focus on several sectors in Luxembourg and Europe, such as the agri-food systems, the construction industry and social services. In their day-to-day practices, people working in the food, construction and social work fields – the technical experts – mobilise knowledge that can inform us about seasonal, climate or environmental topics. Even though they are not at the centre of the sustainability debates, we want to make more visible the fact that technical experts mediate between official discourse and implementation of adaptation and mitigation measures. Furthermore, their knowledge is particularly valuable as they are in daily contact with members of the general population throughout the seasons. This project aims to find out more about the knowledge they hold over the seasons, how it shapes the present and how technical experts imagine and anticipate futures. Using mixed and participatory methods, our research is designed to answer the following questions: • How are environmental and climate knowledge and the imagination of (un)sustainable futures distributed among the technical experts? • How are occupational practices and anticipations of futures embedded in social relations? • How can interventions informed by technical expertise and the experience of the seasons help to create sustainable patterns of everyday social practices?