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The future of sustainability projects: Flights of fancy or a threnody to a lost age?

Ingelhag, Karin ; Dymitrow, Mirek LU ; Kotze, Shelley and Wright, John (2020) p.236-238
Abstract
Just like a living organism, also the project has an anatomy, a life span and a purpose. A project has its given actors, given timeframe and phases, and a given goal. Towards the project’s completion, all these factors must intertwine perfectly, otherwise the project’s success will be challenged. Uncovering how these intricacies are held in place has been the epistemological foundation of this book. However, rather than relying on formal project descriptions, reports and evaluations, we chose a different way, autoethnography. By exploring the implicit knowledge that emerges during the process of running a complex 21st-century sustainability project, we wanted to better understand what makes it tick, halt or change its course. Taking cue... (More)
Just like a living organism, also the project has an anatomy, a life span and a purpose. A project has its given actors, given timeframe and phases, and a given goal. Towards the project’s completion, all these factors must intertwine perfectly, otherwise the project’s success will be challenged. Uncovering how these intricacies are held in place has been the epistemological foundation of this book. However, rather than relying on formal project descriptions, reports and evaluations, we chose a different way, autoethnography. By exploring the implicit knowledge that emerges during the process of running a complex 21st-century sustainability project, we wanted to better understand what makes it tick, halt or change its course. Taking cue from the various project actors’ personal reflections on their own role within the project has helped illuminate a complex transdisciplinary co-creation process from the perspective of the individual. We conclude that if we truly want to attain sustainability transitions, then the organisation, the methods and the modes of thinking utilised in projects must differ from the traditional ones. But reaching a breakpoint for behavioural change must be rooted in interactions where the participating individuals and organisations have a common understanding of the complex challenges that are entailed in running a sustainability project in the 21st century. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
projects, projectification, 21st-century, autoethnography, sustainability, affinity, bravery, courage
host publication
Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories
editor
Dymitrow, Mirek and Ingelhag, Karin
pages
3 pages
publisher
Chalmers Tekniska Högskola
ISBN
978-91-984166-3-3
978-91-984166-3-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6517af43-633b-4830-bcda-1e5412fbd5d0
alternative location
https://research.chalmers.se/publication/517468
date added to LUP
2020-06-23 19:18:29
date last changed
2020-06-24 09:50:50
@inbook{6517af43-633b-4830-bcda-1e5412fbd5d0,
  abstract     = {{Just like a living organism, also the project has an anatomy, a life span and a purpose. A project has its given actors, given timeframe and phases, and a given goal. Towards the project’s completion, all these factors must intertwine perfectly, otherwise the project’s success will be challenged. Uncovering how these intricacies are held in place has been the epistemological foundation of this book. However, rather than relying on formal project descriptions, reports and evaluations, we chose a different way, autoethnography. By exploring the implicit knowledge that emerges during the process of running a complex 21st-century sustainability project, we wanted to better understand what makes it tick, halt or change its course. Taking cue from the various project actors’ personal reflections on their own role within the project has helped illuminate a complex transdisciplinary co-creation process from the perspective of the individual. We conclude that if we truly want to attain sustainability transitions, then the organisation, the methods and the modes of thinking utilised in projects must differ from the traditional ones. But reaching a breakpoint for behavioural change must be rooted in interactions where the participating individuals and organisations have a common understanding of the complex challenges that are entailed in running a sustainability project in the 21st century.}},
  author       = {{Ingelhag, Karin and Dymitrow, Mirek and Kotze, Shelley and Wright, John}},
  booktitle    = {{Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories}},
  editor       = {{Dymitrow, Mirek and Ingelhag, Karin}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-984166-3-3}},
  keywords     = {{projects; projectification; 21st-century; autoethnography; sustainability; affinity; bravery; courage}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  pages        = {{236--238}},
  publisher    = {{Chalmers Tekniska Högskola}},
  title        = {{The future of sustainability projects: Flights of fancy or a threnody to a lost age?}},
  url          = {{https://research.chalmers.se/publication/517468}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}