“ASTRA has changed the course of my life”: International doctoral training and research project ASTRA creates pathways for social inclusion by means of sustainability transitions
The European Commission-funded research and doctoral training project ASTRA alters the question. It asks how the transdisciplinary pathways of sustainability can be applied in social work to promote social inclusion, which is considered one of the major current societal challenges.
Coordinated by the Ģֱ, in 2021 the ASTRA project engaged fifteen early-stage researchers together with seven further partners in Europe. Universities of Bielefeld, Bolzano, Durham and Ljubljana, the Catholic University of Leuven as well as the research organisations LUKE from Finland and CIRIEC from Belgium offer an inspiring environment for the researchers. The core novelty of the research is to establish a dynamic link between the research of social work and transdisciplinary sciences working on sustainability transitions. The fifteen individual research topics provide knowledge to the shared main research question and has made good progress in its empirical data collection. The researchers are genuinely urged to cross disciplinary borders.
An intensive networking and tight community of young researchers have had the opportunity to grow together, and now their first results are in, and the midway point of the work has been reached. The currently ongoing empirical data collection in the ASTRA researchers’ fifteen individual research projects is addressing for instance challenges of homelessness and food poverty, and the impact of the natural environment on social wellbeing. Economic sustainability is being investigated by addressing the social dimension of circular economy as well as social and solidarity economy by people with an African background and in urban regeneration, as well as migration-based care economy. The social standpoint is focused on the drought and water justice in the Arabic region, the capability approach of people with background in forced migration, gender-inclusive equality in sustainability actions, and social justice in green city initiatives.
One young researcher comments, “The transdisciplinary approach leads us to develop our open-mindedness by working with researchers in social work but also in life and environment sciences. This makes the project thrilling and rich.”
Another feels that “the ASTRA project has given me the freedom to explore an aspect of social work that is deeply meaningful to me. It is more important than ever to highlight our connection to the natural world and explore ways that can support both people and the natural environment.”
The third and last ASTRA Summer School will take place in Brixen in northern Italy in June 2023. The ASTRA project will conclude with a final conference including a researchers’ pre-conference at the Ģֱ in May 2024, where the project results will be presented and discussed with a transdisciplinary audience.
äپٴᲹ:
Aila-Leena Matthies, +358407422199, aila-leena.matthies@jyu.fi