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CHAPTERI.INNOVATIONSANDTECHNOLOGICALADVANCES…
tionoranotheroptionthatmightincludeconflictandclashorsometypeofnegotiated
co-shapingformulaasapossibilityaswell.Thesituationisextremelydifcultsincethe
processesdescribedabovearenew,embryonic,andmultitrajectory.Social,political,and
culturalinnovationscanfurtherhelpindevelopmentsinscience,technology,law,manage-
ment,andpolitics.Inertia,evolutionaryspontaneity,or“theinvisiblehandofthemarket”
donotguaranteeadesirablesustainablefuture.First,weshoulddealintellectuallyand
inscientificdiscoursewiththesenew“unfinished”problems.Fortunately,theliterature
ofthesubjecthasrecentlyincreased(seee.g.Castells,2004),butwitharathermore
descriptivethaninnovativeandpolicy-orientedbent.Information,networking,digitiza-
tion,andvirtualizationcreatenotonlyanewtechnologicalbaseforsocietiesandindividu-
als,but,havingimmenseperformativepower,alsochangeeverything,includingtheworld
societiesandindividuals.
3.Transformationsneeded(aprocessualmodel)
MatchingourmindsetsandWeltanschauungtothepresentandprospectivechallenges
generatesinmanyspacesmoreorlessfundamentaltransformations.Usuallythesetrans-
formationstaketime,hencetheystartashifttoanewbutnotfullyimaginednorplanned
future.Becauseoftheirimportanceitmaybeworthwhiletotreatthemasakindofpara-
digmwheretheyleftthepastandopenedthewaytothefuture.Aconceptualframework
(oraprocessualmodel)ofthetransformationsleadingtothesustainablefuture(s)are
presentedinFigure1.
Figure1showsthepassagetowardmanysustainablefutures(pluralindicatesthataset
ofthefuturescontainsmultipleoptionsandfailures;moreoverthesustainableonescan
diferdependingontheparameters)asaprocesswhichstartedfrombifurcationsand-
inspiteofmanycontextualdifculties-producedvarioustransformations,whichinturn
cantoasignificantextentbecontrolledandsteered.However,somechangesmaynotbe
easytorecognizeandmaster.Humanagencyhassomeperformativepower-institutional,
organizational,collective,andindividual-toovercometheinertiaofdevelopment,path
dependence,oldvestedinterests,blindmarketforces,culturalobsoleteness,andglobal
instabilities.Therearemanypositivefactorsandmechanismswhichcanbeused,ifthe
sustainablefutureistobeachieved.Itwouldbeutopiantothinkthatallregions,coun-
tries,organizations,andindividualswillagreeandundertakeproperdecisionsandactions
thatwillbeefectiveandsuccessfulonthewaytosustainability.Probablyitisenough
toaccumulateakindof“criticalmass”oftheories,research,strategiesandpolicies,regu-
lations,responsibilities,structures,undertakings,actions,andpatternsofbehaviourtostep
onasustainabilitytrajectory.Moreover,itseemsthattheworldhasalreadyobtainedsuch
apoint(orisclosetoit).Progressivelydevelopingsuch“mass”,humankind(anditsorgan-
izationalentitiesassocieties)cansignificantlyreducetherisksanddangerconnectedwith
thecurrent,butratherirrationalandirresponsible,modelofunsustainablegrowth.
Strongleaders(politicians,internationalactivists,businesspeople,concernedscien-
tists,localengagedcitizens,mediarepresentatives,internauts,etc.)arenecessarytomake
avisionofsustainabilityarealityandtodoitontime(i.a.beforethecomingcrisis).Sol-
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