A new approach to sustainability: Besides the common understanding that sustainability should include the three »columns« socio-culture, ecology and economy, there is still need for scientific definitions.
SUCCESS will mobilise the strengths, expertise and resources of the European scientific community jointly with Chinese experts.The research is carryed out by a Chinese-European team, putting in evidence their reciprocal strength and allowance for exchange. It aims to capitalise the competence and viewpoint of the Chinese and European partners – we expect to combine the European traditon in sustainability-research with important input from China in the field of integrative approaches which is culturally embedded in a country with Confucian history.
The rapid change China is undergoing today is characterised by an urbanisation process, combined with huge shifts from the rural to peri-urban communities. The amount of land devoted to agriculture is rapidly declining.
Case-studies
In this situation, SUCCESS undertakes an innovative step to combine interdisciplinary factors in order to proceed to a complex analysis of the actual situation in seven Chinese communities. From here, we proceed to developing future sustainability scenarios which show different ways of making a living from within the limits of the eco-system: besides agriculture, agro-forestry and ecological regional economy, we propose para-agricultural ways like agro-tourism, small industries, city-village-partnerships and the like.
The case-studies will include renewable energy-scenarios: Instead of designing single low-energy- or zero-emission houses, the study will work with the settlement as a whole, providing options for modernisation with the advanced solar and renewable-energy-technologies as a service from the community to its people.
Scenario-Making
The development of scenarios will be oriented on the results of the analysis of the involved disciplines. At least a breakdown of large scale scenarios, relevant for the specific village will be made. If the results of the investigations in the villages are sufficient, bottom up scenarios will be made for the specific villages.
Sustainable Area Budget (SAB)
SUCCESS will give input to the ongoing discussion of integrated indicators for sustainability. According to Local Agenda 21 charters, sustainable development is a multidimensional process which can not be characterised only by quantitative parameters as for example ecological footprints. However, it is necessary to put together quantitative and qualitative parameters in causal loop models to understand effects of interdependencies and emergent effects. The SAB is necessary to integrate the knowledge of experts at different levels of observation scale into the development of the models.
This study will follow the definition developed by Oikodrom and its partner, the Center for Sustainable Cities, Lexington, KY: “Sustainability is a local, informed, participatory balance-seeking process, operating within a Sustainable Area Budget, exporting no negative imbalances beyond its territory or into the future, thus opening the spaces of opportunity and possibility (Möglichkeitsraum)”. The study will develop this definition.
A set of structural theses (»Seven Theses on Quality of Communities«), developed by Oikodrom, will be used for analysing a Chinese situation — this will give important insights of the common basic ideas and visions of humans on their present and future that can be shared in such different cultures as China and Europe.
Inter- and multidisciplinarity
In dealing with settlement development, a multidisciplinary approach is crucial. The range of tools goes from the numeric analysis to qualitative methodologies, from risk-control to a participatory video, including even the view of a Chinese painter on rural community life.
Transdisciplinarity
Success is cross-sectoral, it includes many disciplines and institutions, from SME (small and medium enterprises) and scientific entities to governmental agencies. The complex urban-rural-system involves interacting components like social, architectural, technological aspects.
The research includes civil society-agenda, the state, market forces and international experts.
Gender sensitivity
Gender issues play an important role in this study. The co-ordinator is female, and several team-leaders in China are female as well. The whole study will be carried out in a gender-sensitive way.
Innovation in the project SUCCESS
Proto-Sustainability: In Europe there is no way of studying traditional proto-sustainable community-systems as all settlements have already undergone the changes that industrialisation has brought about.
Socio-cultural studies: SUCCESS will combine two innovative methods in socio-economic research, one having a European, one a Chinese tradition: PRA, the participatory rural appraisal method, applied by partner CIAD in China and the method of visual sociology »Photo-Interview« developed by Oikodrom, combining it with objective hermeutics.
Case studies: The co-operation of Chinese and European researchers will enable us to conduct fact-finding-visits in communities that have never been studied in such an intensive way.
The main innovation is the overall concept: Research as a process, combining a locally focused process of sustainability in the 7 selected Chinese communities.
