Abstract
In our inexorably globalizing urban world, cities fuel socio-economic development, attracting young people in search of jobs and educational opportunities abroad. On the other hand, urbanization and urban lifestyles underpin current (and future) sustainability and human well-being challenges within and outside city boundaries - from climate change and biodiversity loss, to inequality and marginalization. We argue that the participation of the whole diversity of urban collectives, across socio-economic and cultural groups, is essential for tackling biodiversity protection and human well-being inside cities and beyond. In this study, we establish a dialogue with a small group of global students (encompassing a variety of cultures, capabilities, interests and knowledge frames) residing in Tokyo, Japan. Our aim is to identify how urban well-being is conceptualized and practiced by this collective in connection to local nature. In these dialogues, we consider that (urban biodiversity) knowledge is relational: content or substance is one component (e.g. facts), which is necessarily connected to the relationships the subject establishes within the community. From this perspective, we elicit the different ways in which students connect with nature in their daily lives. We believe that how they know and experience local nature (urban biodiversity) as young adults studying and working (formative years) abroad (new context) will shape the collective’s understanding of sustainability and urban well-beign alongside affective and cognitive dimensions. This, in turn, may impact their actions in the future, not only as city dwellers (in Tokyo or elsewhere) but, perhaps even more importantly, as professionals (experts, practitioners, policy-, decision-makers).
Presenters
Raquel Moreno-PeñarandaProject Assistant Professor, Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Sustainability, Well-being, Globalization, Cities, Biodiversity, Students, Participation, Equity
