Abstract
Bendor, R., D. Maggs, R. Peake, J. Robinson, and S. Williams. 2017. The imaginary worlds of sustainability: observations from an interactive art installation. Ecology and Society 22(2):17. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09240-220217
Highlights
Speaking, the challenge of sustainability has been viewed as one of proving the world real
We report on preliminary results from a public engagement project based on a procedural approach to sustainability
The project centered on an interactive art installation that comprised a live actor, an immersive soundscape featuring a handful of different characters, an interactive touch-table, and four interactive rooms within which participants wandered, partially guided by a narrative through-line, yet at the same time left to make sense of any larger meanings on their own
Summary
Speaking, the challenge of sustainability has been viewed as one of proving the world real. We understand sustainability as an essentially contested concept, like truth or justice (Jacobs 2006, Connelly 2007, Ehrenfeld 2008), not a “universalist” end-state shaped by the value-free dictates of scientific descriptions, but the dynamic, fluid outcome of processes of negotiations among interested parties about what kind of world we want to live in (Miller 2013). Such a view places emphasis on the imagination because sustainability can no longer rely exclusively on scientific knowledge production to determine the right path to a single sustainable future. This view implies a significant, ontological shift: instead of a world made of objects whose reality can be established in absolute terms, we must contend with dynamic and contingent cultural forms that shape the ways such facts are constituted, expressed, and interpreted (Watzlawick 1977, Goodman 1978, Berger and Luckmann 1989, Latour 2004)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
