NMBU
TOWARDS is a think tank to support the transformation of cities and communities towards socially just and sustainable futures.
Complex global challenges such as climate change, COVID-19 and rapid urbanisation bring into focus the deeper health and well-being dimensions of sustainable development, including social belonging, everyday interactions, and the environmental quality of local surroundings.
Rising polarization, crises of legitimacy and social inequalities highlight the ethical and equity dilemmas inherent in any practical solutions aimed at sustainability transformations.
TOWARDS fosters interdisciplinary co-learning regarding transformations towards sustainable development in cities and settlements. It does this through:
- Piloting experiments with green technologies and nature based solutions in people’s lived environments
- Examining equity and ethical dilemmas in best practices for promoting health, well-being and environmental qualities of local communities
- Exploring new modes of policy and planning required to govern sustainability transformations
Through these experiments and analyses, we bring into dialogue the development contradictions and dilemmas inherent in sustainability transformations across disciplines.
Innovating to support local transformations also requires transforming how we conduct research and teach, including a closer integration between research, education and public engagement. For this purpose, TOWARDS serves as a thinktank that opens up space for deliberation between researchers, students, civil society and public and private sectors actors.
TOWARDS announces six scholarships each year up to NOK 8 000 for NMBU students who are writing their Master's thesis within one or more of the following themes:
- Transformation towards sustainable local communities
- Green technologies
- Social justice and health
- Lived environments.
The scholarship covers travel and accommodation expenses, course and conference fees, publishing costs and more. The funds are distributed twice a year.
Application deadlines: 1 March and 1 OctoberQueries should be addressed to caroline.marie.kristina.karlsson@nmbu.no
TOWARDS organizes an interdisciplinary Masterproject in 2023 to gain greater insight into the breadth of sustainability challenges across disciplines.
The masterclass explores transformation, covering master theses (individual or in group) that address sustainability challenges within the themes of green technologies, social justice and health and lived environments.
For more information, contact ingrid.odegard@nmbu.no
News
New TOWARDS Policy Brief: Jelle Philippus Ronaldus Buijs - former NMBU Master student - writes about his research on the lived experiences of protesters and how it can lead to a better understanding of the personal sphere of transformations.
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Here we share the latest updates and events from the first quarter of 2024.
Read the newsletter hereOn the 19th of March, researchers from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) convened a policy dialogue on climate resilient development in Laikipia County in Nanyuki, Kenya. NMBU and JOOUST have been jointly conducting research in Laikipia North around the Mukogodo forest since 2017. Read more about the policy dialogue here.
During COP28, an agreement was reached with funding pledges to help countries at the frontline of climate change and with limited capacities pay the costs of the irreversible impacts of climate change. In January, TOWARDS organized a seminar in collaboration with C-Hub (Learning Hub for Climate Change Adaptation in Development) on climate loss and damage in January at Litteraturhuset in Oslo. Read more about it here.
Klimaforsker Siri Eriksen om robust utvikling - NMBU podcast