Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Let’s play transformations! Performative methods for sustainability

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Sustainability Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Coping with global environmental change demands new forms of civic engagement and interaction able to transform passive audiences attending to the drama of unsustainability into committed actors for sustainability. This entails linking diverse sources of scientific knowledge with personal experiences, emotion and ethical judgments. In this paper, we assess the potential as well as the limitations of innovative theatre-based participatory tools and methods aimed at supporting sustainability learning and agent transformation. To this aim, we first review a series of experiences using theatrical performance and introduce the notion of performative methods. Second, we assess to what extent these new approaches can be of relevance in environmental action research and sustainability science, practice and learning. Finally, we list a series of key research questions to further guide methodological innovation in this promising area of sustainability science and practice. Our findings show a growing and successful use of such methodologies worldwide, both in academia and in implementation-oriented approaches. An increasing number of topics and complexity is being embraced by these methods, offering a fertile ground for innovation in participatory sustainability science.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We associate both the artistic and the aesthetic practices and experiences to those expressive activities whose interpretations (unlike science) do not require a single or predefined code of interpretations and therefore are open to multiple meanings depending on the contexts and interactions between artists and their audiences. This is coherent with the framing of sustainability as a procedurally emergent property of social practices (O'Shea 2012) and this is why our research mostly focuses on the procedural and conceptual aspects of arts-based reasoning and practice, that is, on the processes that create possibilities for reflexivity, experiencing and reframing, rather than on final outcomes of the art work.

  2. As observed by Conrad (2004), we borrow this term from performance studies and anthropology, where it is used as “performative research or inquiry”.

  3. Although the empirical basis for this article are the experiences reviewed from the literature, it also builds upon the knowledge of the main author, who has been member of theatrical collectives for the last 10 years and has training in social theatre, as actress and facilitator.

  4. Our approach is akin to phenomenological tradition in sociology (Berger and Luckmann 1967) in so far as we understand knowledge always as socially constructed and whereby facts and truths are mediated by social arrangements, contextual interactions and commitments. From this perspective, what is crucial in the understanding and in the creation of the various forms of knowledge and learning is not only the ‘objective world out there’, but also the mediating artefacts and entities between them and the individuals (e.g., texts, language), as well as actual experiences and other social processes (with regard to the role of the evolution of body and movement and its relation to knowledge, see Ingold 2011). While we consider that looking at the contributions of phenomenology is especially important in integrating everyday and commonsense knowledge as well as in the creation and interpretation of meaning, our focus in this review is much more limited. In particular, we narrow our analysis on a first account of experiences already using such perspective in the development of participatory methods in environmental and sustainability research.

  5. This term was first introduced by Schön (1983) to describe knowledge inherent in practice that, like in the artistic process, is developed in a constant reflective manner (doing- reflecting- doing again-reflecting, etc.).

  6. According to the author, the search process of sustainability is first and foremost to be understood as a search for self-reflective, dynamic and porous “cultures of sustainability”, acknowledging that culture includes the combination of values, beliefs, symbols, practices and “scripts” or rationalities that characterise social life in a specific spatial and historical context (Kagan 2010).

  7. Based on Dewey’s understanding of aesthetics as experience and Bateson’s notion of the aesthetics as the pattern that connects, Kagan defines aesthetics of sustainability as “a form of relation and process-centred aesthetics, which bases itself on a sensibility to patterns that connect at multiple levels” (Kagan 2011). This sensibility is unfolded in practice in many different ways through: topics that connect diverse patterns of relationships between different dimensions or levels of reality (considering as much antagonisms and competitions as complementarities and symbiosis); open processes enhancing skills for multiple reflexivities (beyond more rational ones); and explicit political values within an open-ethical framework (Kagan 2010).

  8. Table S1 is available in the electronic edition of this journal as Electronic Supplementary Material (ESM).

  9. Evaluation methods applied and outcomes are present in the ESM. More discussion on assessments is presented in Sect. 3.

  10. Applied drama was incorporated in Africa during the 1980’s and 1990’s, mostly under the form of Theatre for Development, which has been increasingly applied as a way of enhancing popular participation in the development process (Mda 1993).

  11. Legislative theatre was created in the late 1980’s by Brazilian theatre director and practitioner Augusto Boal. Boal, was the father of the Theatre of the Oppressed, one of the most influencing applied theatre approaches, and through Legislative theatre he developed a variation of Forum Theatre as a tool to engage people in policy making (Boal 1998). In Legislative theatre, the audience is composed of technicians, elected representatives and citizens. From the insights and discussions facilitated by the interactive forum theatre play, the audience makes proposals of action. These proposals are then reformulated in legislative terms by the technicians and discussed and voted during the session, generating policy proposals as an outcome of the session.

  12. PAR involves researchers and participants working together in a cyclic and self-critical research process oriented towards explicit social change and it is aimed at co-producing shared benefits of the research process. PAR processes are generally designed as a participation continuum (Pretty et al. 1995) negotiated by co-researchers and participants during the ‘research’ process. Its action-oriented and locally committed approach hence creates a more flexible and socially owned process, where a diversity of methods and epistemologies can be put into practice.

  13. At this point a distinction between changing individual behaviour and transformational change should be made. Indeed, individual behaviours may change but this does not mean that such changes will bring about transformational change (e.g., adaptive changes without any intention or effect on changing the actual contextual or structural/system conditions).

  14. In this way, we understand that, in contrast to other more positivist or reductionist approaches to knowledge production and understanding, these alternative forms of experiencing and learning can be more conducive to transformational change. Nevertheless, it is true that transformational change, and even less sustainability transformational change will not be guaranteed per se, precisely due to the complexity, open-endedness and the many uncertainties derived from any conscious intervention in the dynamics of social-ecological systems.

  15. In the last decades an ecocritical discourse has been slowly permeating different theatrical and performance art practices and theorisations outside the realm of applied theatre (see, for instance, Giannachi and Stewart 2005; Kershaw 2007; May 2007; Heddon and Mackey 2012). Due to the scope of the paper, in the following analysis we will focus only in applied theatre’s potentials and limitations.

  16. Generative themes, or meaningful thematics within the universe of participants (Freire 1970), have the potential to trigger a rich aesthetical dialogue and critical reflection within these spaces of creative exploration, as they unfold into again as many others and express dialectical interactions with their opposites.

  17. Institute on Environmental Science and Technology- ICTA (UAB), Barcelona, Spain. The experiment was carried out as part of an event called “Passion and Interdisciplinarity: a dialogue about interdisciplinary dialogue”, co-organised by Katharine N. Farrell, in February 4, 2013.

  18. Following Maanen (2009), by this we mean the direct effect or experience that comes into being through interaction with the artistic utterance.

  19. Indeed, unresolved tensions within the process put at risk the participatory nature of this approach. As a few examples, non-resolved hierarchies within the group may lead to a colonization of interpretations and views, reinforcing an uncritical status-quo (Hamel 2013) and tensions associated to the influence of the facilitator/artist, can result in an intervention of participant’s discourses, imposing a pre-determined ideological agenda (Snyder-Young 2011).

  20. See, for example, the experience of the European Commission with artists, scientists and ICT, available in: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/fet-open/docs/ict_and_art/ict-and-art.pdf and http://www.euclidnetwork.eu/files/artandictreport.pdf.

  21. Barone and Eisner (2012) propose some general criteria as a starting point for judging quality in ABR. These include: incisiveness, concision, coherence, generativity, social significance, evocation and illumination (see reference for further development).

  22. The assessment of impacts in applied theatre is still an unchartered field for practitioners. See for instance Etherton and Prenkti (2006) and the special issue “Impact Assessment and Applied Drama” Research in Drama Education, Vol. 11, Number 2, June 2006.

  23. For instance, instead of internal and external validity, Rolling (2010) speaks about interpretive and iterative validity. Acknowledging that in the arts it is not plausible to isolate cause from effect, interpretive validity invokes each of the multiple readings within a research study to serve as a criterion for trustworthiness. On the other hand, iterative validity stands in opposition to the predictive character and generalizability of external validity, invoking instead the self-similarity of variations on a concept over time.

References

  • Badham M (2010) The menace of measurement: a discussion about arts indicators. Saskatchewan Arts Alliance, University of Melbourne

  • Barone T, Eisner EW (eds) (2012) Arts based research. Sage Publications, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker C (1994) Herbert Marcuse and the subversive potential of art. In: Becker Carol (ed) The subversive imagination: artists, society, and social responsibility. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger P, Luckmann N (1967) The social construction of reality. Allen Lane, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackstock KL, Kelly GJ, Horsey BL (2006) Developing and applying a framework to evaluate participatory research for sustainability. Ecol Econ 60:726–742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boal A (1992) Games for actors and non-actors. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Boal A (1998) Legislative theatre using performance to make politics. Routledge, London (Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonnaud-Antignac A, Grenier MH, Mouzard A, Amar M (2009) Enseignement de la relation médecin–patient en pédiatrie à des étudiants de médecine à partir de la méthode du Théâtre-Forum. Neuropsychiatrie de l’Enfance et de l’Adolescence 57(6):510–516. doi:10.1016/j.neurenf.2009.03.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Centre for Arts-informed Research (CAIR) (2000) http://www.utoronto.ca. Accessed Nov 2012

  • Chilton G (2013) Altered inquiry: discovering arts-based research through an altered book. Int J Qual Methods 2013:12

    Google Scholar 

  • Colby S, Haldeman L (2007) Peer-led theater as a nutrition education strategy. J Nutr Educ Behav 39(1):48–49. doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2006.09.007

    Google Scholar 

  • Conrad D (2004) Exploring risky youth experiences: popular theatre as a participatory, performative research method. Int J Qual Methods 3(1):12–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornwall A, Chakavanda M, Makumbirofa S, Shumba G, Mawere A (1989) The use of community theatre in project evaluation: an experimental example from Zimbabwe. Sustain Agric Progr RRA Notes 6:30–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey J (2008) El Arte Como Experiencia. Paidós Estética 45, Barcelona

    Google Scholar 

  • Dieleman H (2012) Transdisciplinary artful doing in spaces of experimentation and imagination. Transdiscipl J Eng Sci 3:44–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Dieleman H, Huisingh D (2006) Games by which to learn and teach about sustainable development: exploring the relevance of games and experiential learning for sustainability. J Clean Prod 14(9–11):837–847. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2011.03.031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolan J (2001) Performance, Utopia, and the “Utopian performative”. Theatre J 53(3):455–479. doi:10.1353/tj.2001.0068 (Project MUSE)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EEA (2010) State and outlook 2010: assessment of global megatrends, Luxembourg: European Environment Agency. http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer/europe-and-the-world/megatrends

  • Eisner M (2008) Art and knowledge. In: Knowles JG, Cole AL (eds) Handbook of the arts in qualitative research: perspective, methodologies, example and issues. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

  • Etherton M, Prentki T (2006) Drama for change? Prove it! Impact assessment in applied theatre. Res Drama Educ J Appl Theatre Perform 11(2):139–155. doi:10.1080/13569780600670718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finley S (2008) Arts-based research. In: Knowles JG, Cole AL (eds) Handbook of the arts in qualitative research: perspective, methodologies, example and issues. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

  • Forrest M (2007) A reflection on arts-based research. Paideusis 16(2):3–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire P (1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Giannachi G, Stewart N (eds) (2005) Performing nature: explorations in ecology and the arts. Peter Lang, Bern

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman N (1969) Languages of art: an approach to a theory of symbols. Oxford University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray R, Sinding C, Ivonoffski V, Fitch M, Hampson A, Greenberg M (2000) The use of research-based theatre in a project related to metastatic breast cancer. Health Expect 3(2):137–144. doi:10.1046/j.1369-6513.2000.00071.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guhrs T, Rihoy L, Guhrs M (2006) Using theatre in participatory environmental policy making. Particip Learn Act 55:87–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamel S (2013) When theatre of the oppressed becomes theatre of the oppressor. Res Drama Educ J Appl Theatre Perform 18(4):403–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris D (2007) Pathways to embodied empathy and reconciliation after atrocity: former boy soldiers in a dance/movement therapy group in Sierra Leone. Intervention 5(3):203–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Heddon D, Mackey S (2012) Environmentalism, performance and applications: uncertainties and emancipation. Res Drama Educ J Appl Theater Perform 17(2):163–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch Hadorn G, Bradley D, Pohl C, Rist S, Wiesmann U (2006) Implications of transdisciplinarity for sustainability research. Ecol Econ 60(1):119–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horwitz EB, Kowalski J, Anderberg UM (2010) Theater for, by and with fibromyalgia patients. Evaluation of emotional expression using video interpretation. Arts Psychother 37(1):13–19. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2009.11.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingold T (2011) Being alive: essays on movement, knowledge and description. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Jäger J (2009) Sustainability science in Europe. DG Research, European Commission, Brussels

    Google Scholar 

  • Kagan S (2010) Cultures of sustainability and the aesthetics of the pattern that connects. Futures J Policy Plan Futures Stud 42(10):1094–1101

    Google Scholar 

  • Kagan S (2011) Aesthetics of sustainability: a transdisciplinary sensibility for transformative practices. Transdiscipl J Eng Sci 2:65–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Kagan S (2012) Toward global (environ)mental change transformative art and cultures of sustainability. Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaptani E, Yuval-Davis N (2008) Participatory theatre as a research methodology: identity, performance and social action among refugees. Sociol Res Online 13(5):2. doi:10.5153/sro.1789

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasemir BJ, Jäger C, Jaeger C, Gardner MT (eds) (2003) Public participation in sustainability science. A handbook. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kates RW, Clark WC, Corell R, Hall JM, Jaeger CC, Lowe I et al (2001) Sustainability science. Science 292:641–642

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kershaw B (2007) Theatre ecology: environments and performance events. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Knowledge, Learning and Societal Change (KLSC) (2011) Finding paths to a sustainable future, science plan, international human dimensions programme on global environmental change www.proclim.ch/4dcgi/klsc/en/newstype?klsc-news

  • Knowles J, Cole A (2008) Arts-informed research. In: Knowles JG, Cole AL (eds) Handbook of the arts in qualitative research: perspective, methodologies, example and issues. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuppers P (2000) Toward the unknown body: stillness, silence, and space in mental health settings. Theatre Topics 10(2):129–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuppers P (2007) Community performance: an introduction. Routledge Editors, Oxon

    Google Scholar 

  • Lang DJ, Wiek A, Bergmann M, Stauffacher M, Martens P, Moll P, Swilling M, Thomas CJ (2012) Transdisciplinary research in sustainability science: practice, principles, and challenges. Sustain Sci 7(Supplement 1):25–43. doi:10.1007/s11625-011-0149-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leavy P (2009) Method meets art: arts-based research practice. The Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehtonen A (2012) Future thinking and learning in improvisation and a collaborative devised theatre project within primary school students. Proc Soc Behav Sci 45:104–113. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maanen HV (2009) How to study art worlds—on the societal functioning of aesthetic values. Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mabala R, Allen KB (2002) Participatory action research on HIV/AIDS through a popular theatre approach in Tanzania. Eval Progr Plan 25(4):333–339. doi:10.1016/S0149-7189(02)00044-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madison DS, Hamera J (eds) (2006) The Sage handbook of performance studies. SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauser W, Klepper G, Rice M, Schmalzbauer BS, Hackmann H, Leemans R, Moore H (2013) Transdisciplinary global change research: the co-creation of knowledge for sustainability. Curr Opin Env Sustain 5(3):420–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mavrocordatos A (1988) Theatre for development, participatory monitoring and cultural feedback. PLA Notes CD-ROM 2001:29–33

    Google Scholar 

  • May TJ (2007) Beyond Bambi: toward a dangerous ecocriticism in theatre studies. Theatre Topics 17(2):95–110. doi:10.1353/tt.2008.0001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mbizvo E (2006) Essay theatre: a force for health promotion. Med Creativity 368:30–31

    Google Scholar 

  • McKay M, Bright S (2005) Dementia care: learning through drama. Pract Dev Health Care 4(1):18–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNiff S (2008) Arts-based research. In: Knowles JG, Cole AL (eds) Handbook of the arts in qualitative research: perspective, methodologies, example and issues. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, pp 83–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Mda Z (1993) When people play people: development communication through theatre. Zed Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Metcalf SM, Veiga MM (2012) Using street theatre to increase awareness of and reduce mercury pollution in the artisanal gold mining sector: a case from Zimbabwe. J Clean Prod 37:179–184. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.07.004

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller TR (2012) Constructing sustainability science: emerging perspectives and research trajectories. Sustain Sci 8(2):279–293. doi:10.1007/s11625-012-0180-6

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller TR, Wiek A, Sarewitz D, Robinson J, Olsson L, Kriebel D, Loorbach D (2013) The future of sustainability science: a solutions-oriented research agenda. Sustain Sci. doi:10.1007/s11625-013-0224-6

    Google Scholar 

  • Newell AF, Carmichael A, Morgan M, Dickinson A (2006) The use of theatre in requirements gathering and usability studies. Interact Comput 18(5):996–1011. doi:10.1016/j.intcom.2006.05.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newell AF, Morgan ME, Gibson L, Forbes P (2011) Experiences with professional theatre for awareness raising. Interact Comput 23(6):594–603. doi:10.1016/j.intcom.2011.08.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson H (2005) Applied drama. Theatre and Performance Practices. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke

    Google Scholar 

  • Nisker J, Martin DK, Bluhm R, Daar AS (2006) Theatre as a public engagement tool for health-policy development. Health Policy 78(2–3):258–271. doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2005.10.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Shea M (2012) Embodying and performing sustainability, Ph.D. thesis presented at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

  • Osnes B (2012) Voice strengthening and interactive theatre for women’s productive income-generating activities in sustainable development. J Sustain Dev 5(6):49–52. doi:10.5539/jsd.v5n6p49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osnes B (2013) Engaging women’s voices through theatre for energy development. Renew Energy 49:185–187. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2012.01.036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierre Brans J, Macharis C (1997) Play theatre a new way to teach O.R. Eur J Oper Res 99(2):241–247. doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(96)00339-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pohl C (2008) From science to policy through transdisciplinary research. Environ Sci Policy 11(1):46–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pohl C, Rist S, Zimmermann A, Fry P, Gurung GS, Schneider F, Wiesmann U (2010) Researchers’ roles in knowledge co-production: experience from sustainability research in Kenya, Switzerland, Bolivia and Nepal. Sci Public Policy 37(4):267–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pretty J, Guijt I, Thompson J, Scones I (1995) Participatory learning and action: a trainer’s guide. IIED, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravetz J (1997) The science of ‘what-if?’. Futures 29(6):533–539. doi:10.1016/S0016-3287(97)00026-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rockström J, Steffen W, Noone K, Persson Å, Chapin FS, Lambin E, Lenton TM, Scheffer M, Folke C, Schellnhuber H, Nykvist B, De Wit CA, Hughes T, van der Leeuw S, Rodhe H, Sörlin S, Snyder PK, Costanza R, Svedin U, Falkenmark M, Karlberg L, Corell RW, Fabry WJ, Hansen J, Walker B, Liverman D, Richardson K, Crutzen P, Foley J (2009) Planetary boundaries: exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecol Soc 14(2):32

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolfe A, Mienczakowski J, Morgan S (1995) A dramatic experience in mental health nursing education. Nurse Educ Today 15(3):224–227

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rolling JH (2010) A paradigm analysis of arts-based research and implications for education. Stud Art Educ S1(2):102–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum M, Ferguson K, Herwaldt L (2005) In their own words: presenting the patient’s perspective using research-based theatre. Med Educ 39:622–631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossiter K, Kontos P, Colantonio A, Gilbert J, Gray J, Keightley M (2008) Staging data: theatre as a tool for analysis and knowledge transfer in health research. Soc Sci Med 66(1):130–146. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.07.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salas-Zapata WA, Rios-Osorio LA, Trouchon-Osorio AL (2012) Typology of scientific reflections needed for sustainability science development. Sustain Sci 8(4):607–612. doi:10.1007/s11625-012-0183-3

    Google Scholar 

  • Schön D (1983) The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. Basic Books, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinner A, Leggo C, Irwin RL, Gouzouasis P, Grauer K (2006) Arts-based educational research dissertations: reviewing the practices of new scholars. Can J Educ 29(4):1223–1270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow S, D’Amico M, Tanguay D (2003) Therapeutic theatre and well-being. Arts Psychother 30(2):73–82. doi:10.1016/S0197-4556(03)00026-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder-Young D (2011) Rehearsals for revolution? Theatre of the oppressed, dominant discourses, and democratic tensions. RiDE J Appl Theatre Perform 16(1):29–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Souto-Manning M (2011) Playing with power and privilege: theatre games in teacher education. Teach Teach Educ 27(6):997–1007. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2011.04.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Springgay S, Irwin RL, Kind S (2008) A/r/tographers and living inquiry. In: Knowles JG, Cole AL (eds) Handbook of the arts in qualitative research: Perspective, methodologies, example and issues. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, pp 83–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan G (2010) Art practice as research: inquiry in visual arts. Sage, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Tàbara JD (2013) A new vision of open knowledge systems for sustainability. Opportunities for social scientists, World Social Science Report 2013. International Social Science Council, UNESCO, Paris, pp 112–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Tàbara JD, Chabay I (2013) Coupling human information and knowledge systems with social–ecological systems change. Reframing research, education and policy for sustainability. Environ Sci Policy 28:71–81. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2012.11.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2012) Global environmental outlook (GEO-5). UNEP, Nairobi. http://www.unep.org/geo/geo5.asp

  • van Kerkhoff L (2013) Developing integrative research for sustainability science through a complexity principles-based approach. Sustain Sci 1–13. doi:10.1007/s11625-013-0203-y

  • Whatmore S (2006) Materialist returns: practising cultural geography in and for a more-than-human world. Cult Geogr 13(4):600–609

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickson F, Carew AL, Russell AW (2006) Transdisciplinary research: characteristics, quandaries and quality. Futures 38(9):1046–1059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiek A, Iwaniec D (2013) Quality criteria for visions and visioning in sustainability science. Sustain Sci 1–16. doi:10.1007/s11625-013-0208-6

  • Wiek A, Withycombe L, Redman CL (2011) Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development. Sustain Sci 6(2):203–218. doi:10.1007/s11625-011-0132-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiek A, Ness B, Brand FS, Schweizer-Ries P, Farioli F (2012) From complex systems analysis to transformational change: a comparative appraisal of sustainability science projects. Sustain Sci 7(S1):5–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zammit-Lucia J (2012) Message and meaning: re-defining environmentalism. Sustainable Learning Working Paper Series No. 3. http://sustainable-learning.org/workingpapers/new-working-papers

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Grant (FI-DGR-2011) from the Catalan Government. We would like to thank Katharine N. Farrell for her reflections and for providing the opportunity for developing the theatrical workshop at ICTA, as well as Arnim Scheidel, Fiona Thomas and Ilan Chabay for their helpful feedback. Also special thanks to all the participants of ICTA’s workshop, and to Inma Pascual and Óscar F. Vega, for their fantastic work as co-facilitators. J. David Tàbara would like to acknowledge the Knowledge, Learning and Societal Change project (www.klscproject.org), the support of the Global Climate Forum (www.globalclimateforum.org) and of Carlo C. Jaeger in particular. Finally, we would like to thank the insightful comments of the anonymous reviewers which greatly helped us to improve the final text.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallés, Barcelona, Spain

    María Heras & J. David Tàbara

  2. Global Climate Forum (www.globalclimateforum.org), Berlin, Germany

    J. David Tàbara

Authors
  1. María Heras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. David Tàbara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to María Heras.

Additional information

Handled by Arnim Wiek, Arizona State University, USA.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 37 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Heras, M., Tàbara, J.D. Let’s play transformations! Performative methods for sustainability. Sustain Sci 9, 379–398 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-014-0245-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-014-0245-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation