Saving the world VS saving the day: implanting socio-ecological transition in local development approaches

• In Event: Social Economy and Local development initiatives

Abstract

Climate change repercussions is experienced on an environmental and social level. More and more, community-based and environmentalist movements are called to work together to face the challenges ahead, even though these two movements had evolved until very recently in parallel without converging. Today, the concept of socio-ecological transition is a good lever for exploring their alliance in a context marked by mutual crises (Courtemanche et al., 2022). Defined as “the transition from the current state of the system to a more socially just, inclusive and ecologically viable state […] and based on the establishment of social relations that bring social justice” [translate from French] (Guay, 2021, p. 24), socio-ecological transition is not only a mean to adapt to climate change, but also a strategy to mitigate climate change at their very source. (FCTQ, 2020). In that sense, it has to be a “fair transition”, that is, the strategies used by the different levels of government must no harm the most disadvantaged groups of our society (Couturier, 2021), that last constituting the meeting point between social and environmental movements (Favreau, 2017). This collaboration seems to however be hampered by the day-to-day crisis faced by Third Sector Organizations (TSO) in social development field and their already overbooked resources.

Through a multi-case study, this paper explores how local development actors treat socio-ecological transition actions. More precisely, we explore how social actors problematize socio-ecological transition and her place in social development reality, and how socio-ecological actions enter social development networks. An estimation of 130 interviews were conducted in 8 different local development approaches in Quebec, Canada. Preliminary results indicate that the vast majority of social development actors recognize the importance of implementing the socio-ecological transition in their actions, but that they lack knowledge of how to do so, as well as human and financial resources What’s more, some actors fear that the time invested in these environmental issues will encroach on the time allocated to the fight against poverty. We conclude by proposing a tool for practitioners on how to facilitate the integration of socio-ecological transition in social development actions. This paper is useful for both scholars and practitioners, since the scope of the literature on socio-ecological transition is minimal while the issue of climate change is global.

References

Courtemanche, A., Bourque, D., Racine, S., Parent, A.-A. et Morin, L. (2022). Développement des communautés et transition socioécologique au Québec. Revue Organisations & territoires, 31(2), 73-84. https://doi.org/10.1522/revueot.v31n2.1481

Couturier, E.-L. (2021). Fiscalité municipale: une réforme nécessaire pour une transition juste. Institut de recherche et d'informations socioéconomiques. https://cdn.iris-recherche.qc.ca/uploads/publication/file/Fiscalite_municipale_WEB.pdf

Favreau, L. (2017). Mouvement communautaire et état social : le défi de la transition sociale-écologique. Presses de l'Université du Québec.

Front commun pour la transition énergétique (FCTQ). (2020). Projet Québec ZeN (zéro émission nette) : feuille de route pour la transition du Québec vers la carboneutralité. https://www.pourlatransitionenergetique.org/wp-content/uploads/QcZeN-Feuillederoute_v2.pdf

Guay, L. (2021). Les enjeux sociaux de l’environnement: Des problèmes aux actions. Presses de l'Université Laval.

Authors

• Ariane Hamel

• Denis Bourque, Université du Québec en Outaouais