English Summary
Welcome to the Environment and Socio-Cultural Change Network
Environment and Socio-Cultural Change Network is a Danish network, meant as a help to promote environmental sociological research. The Network consists of about 60 researchers from ten institutes related to eight universities and three sector research institutions. The network was established in 2003 , made possible by financial support from The Danish Social Science Research Council.
This English part of the website aims at giving a brief introduction to the
network and Danish research in the field of environment and socio cultural
change.
The purpose of the Network
Research of environmental problems has changed its focus from being exclusively a field of technology and natural science to include social science. The main emphasis has been laid on research concerning political instruments, weighting economy and law issues. During the 90ties however, research with a sociological perspective on the environment problems has raised, and along with this a need for an organization and coordination of a common theoretical and methodical development of the field.
During the same period, political efforts on the environmental area have changed, from focusing mainly on regulations on specific topics, to pay attention to the need of preventive and motivating efforts including all aspects of society as well. This means an agenda pointing out questions of political culture, different interests, relations in the field, organisation development, communication, lifestyles, citizen participation etc. These seem necessary as well as difficult questions to work with for politicians and administrators within the field. The problems have shown to be results of complex interaction between a number of causes. Referring to this, the rising interest in environmental sociology is not casual.
Environmental sociology appears as a relatively new interdiscipline field. To understand the environment problems, and to be able to develop qualified ways of handling these, a need for a knowledge which includes other areas than strictly environment, appears: A need for knowledge about:
* how the meaning of environment changes, in the interplay between different actors in the society
* how actors think and react
* changes in production forms, technology, lifestyles, social practices, political culture etc. as well as the driving forces behind these processes
* experience with different strategies, ways of organization and methods in the effort to promote a sustainable development
During the last decades, a number of empirically based projects have been carried out in Denmark, concerning barriers as well as possibilities for a sustainable development, such as within companies, among consumers, in cities and inhabited areas, within transport, food, agriculture etc. Clearly, a number of areas have been involved, and the work of research has taken place in many different institutions, with only a few social scientists working in each institution.
The purpose of this network, is to strengthen the co-operation between the research institutions as well as to strengthen development of theories to which the empirical work could be useful, as well as qualify further theory development. Another purpose of the network, is to strengthen exchange of knowledge within the field of environmental sociology between Danish and foreign research institutions. In order to be inspired as well as to contribute to the theory development on the basis of one´s own research.