Just Sustainability from the Heart of Communities: our research on socio-cultural centres and just sustainability transitions

In a rapidly changing world, we are facing an unprecedented era of complexity and transformation driven by technological advancements, socio-political changes, and looming environmental crises. In this dynamic landscape, the urgency of fostering transitions that are both sustainable and just cannot be understated. Socio-cultural centres are uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in steering these transitions in a manner that is impactful and lasting.

Socio-cultural centres serve as vibrant hubs where culture, community, and sustainability converge. They possess the potential to act as catalysts for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collective action, making them indispensable in addressing the multifaceted challenges confronting our global society.

Through close collaboration with our members, our research effort aims to identify, develop, and amplify roles that align with and contribute to just sustainability transitions.

By employing collaborative action-led research involving socio-cultural centres across Europe, the organic emergence of these roles is co-created and facilitated aiming to provide actionable results.

In addition to its primary objectives, this research seeks to promote and exchange good practices across socio-cultural centres and their initiatives contributing to just sustainability transitions. It also aims to create a platform for sharing failures and lessons learned, recognising that these are invaluable in the pursuit of just sustainability transitions. Moreover, the research aims to identify potential blind spots where networks of cultural centres could act as catalysts for socio-cultural centres in these vital transitions.

The research will last until June 2024 and the findings will be presented at the 2024 ENCC Annual Conference that will take place in Riga from 4 to 6 June 2024.

To download the research report, go here