Focused Discussions (Asynchronous Session)
Dialectical Pluralism as a Lens for Studies of Social Entrepreneurship Education View Digital Media
Focused Discussion Jackson Ver Steeg
This paper develops a theoretical stance proposing the appropriateness of using dialectical pluralism as a multiparadigmatic lens grounding mixed methodology research into social entrepreneurship education. Previous scholarship regarding dialectical pluralism is compared with the goals of social entrepreneurship study with an eye to how those goals seek congruence. Justification for the mixed method dialectical pluralism stance are found in 1) the lateral and hierarchical distance between significant actors in social entrepreneurship that result in fundamental differences in how they discover entrepreneurial opportunities, (2) differing ontologies that contrast the complexity of technological solutions with the complexity of natural organic systems, 3) dialectical pluralism’s goal of creating collaborative knowledge, 4) the ability of dialectical pluralism to produce knowledge from the multiplicity of projects, ontologies, and epistemologies guiding social entrepreneurship and 5) the non-equivalency of stakeholders, both social entrepreneurs as well as the targets of social entrepreneurship education and social entrepreneurship ventures. This theoretical stance also engages with epistemologies of the South, quantum models of environmental education, and connections to appreciative inquiry and asset-based community development. Together, these discussions support the promotion of dialectical pluralism-based mixed methodology studies as particularly fertile ground for understanding the complex systems guiding studies of social entrepreneurship education.
Organizations Must Be Responsible for Making Inclusive Decisions Regarding Pressing Issues: Adopt a Multi-stakeholder Team to Anticipate, Analyse, Act, and Advance View Digital Media
Focused Discussion Guilherme (Gui) Athia
I believe that organizations must be responsible for making inclusive decisions regarding pressing issues such as climate, racism, and inequality. This study considers how, at the same time that everyone is making their point, organizations are not ready to understand and decide on multi-stakeholder issues—a situation that will only worsen post-COVID-19. I present the 5A approach: Adopt a multi-stakeholder team to Anticipate, Analyse, Act, and Advance. I firmly believe that behind prosperity lie stakeholder companies—a vision I have developed over decades of hyperdiverse experience as an executive, a professor, and a pioneer in four continents.
Cultural Sustainability Assessment: An Approach Through the Development of Cultural Sustainability Indicators View Digital Media
Focused Discussion Jenna Winton
Cultural sustainability has begun to emerge as a crucial domain of community development and holistic sustainability but has little in the way of standardized tools for implementing and evaluating successful practices. The cultural sustainability assessment framework designed in this presentation uses of a set of standardized indicators to assess the vitality of the cultural sustainability of a community. The indicators are developed from the synthesis of concepts in cultural sustainability theory into a structured yet adaptive approach to accommodate any context while still providing a foundational framework. By combining academic and local knowledge, unique cultural variables informed by the community themselves can be coded into the standard set of indicators, creating a flexible framework adaptable to the complex variations in culture. The assessment framework adopts qualitative and quantitative methods found in natural and social science approaches to identify trends in sustainability themes specific to culture. By concluding what findings mean for cultural sustainability, the assessment report can be used as a precursor to developing strategies for community led cultural sustainability initiatives and ensure development projects consider, and build on, already present cultural values. With the assessment data these projects can be more successfully planned, implemented, and their impact evaluated. This presentation describes each cultural sustainability indicator, how it was developed, why it is important to cultural sustainability, and gives sample variables for assessing its condition within a community. Included is a case study applying the cultural sustainability assessment framework to a community experiencing a rapidly changing environment.
Nature and Sustainability in Calgary's Natural Playgrounds View Digital Media
Focused Discussion Miho Lowan-Trudeau
Natural playgrounds—playground sites emphasizing natural materials, form, and play—have gained increasing popularity since the late 1990s and early 2000s in many western industrialized countries, including Canada. Although natural playgrounds have largely emerged from a growing trend to bring urban children back into nature, these sites are often a more designed and regulated space than a perceived conception of “wild” nature. Natural playground sites are also often motivated by the benefits for children and child development that have been associated with natural playgrounds; for example, studies have shown increases in the diversity of play that occurs on natural playground sites, as well as greater prosocial behaviour and increases in physical activity. As part of ongoing research on natural playgrounds, this study explores several natural playground sites in Calgary, Alberta and describes emerging findings related to diverse concepts of nature and sustainability within natural playground development and usage within these sites. This review investigates how perceptions of nature and sustainability shape and are expressed within site development and explores how these concepts interact with aspects of the playgrounds including siting, materiality, and form. Analysis and discussion explore multiple sources including researcher observations, case site photography, document analysis, and emerging insights from an interview-based study.
