Projects / Programmes
Sociological aspects of sustainable sociospatial and manpower development of Slovenia in Europe
January 1, 2017
- December 31, 2019
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.03.00 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
|
| 5.01.00 |
Social sciences |
Educational studies |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S210 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
| 5.03 |
Social Sciences |
Educational sciences |
sustainable development, socio-spatial development, human resource development, reflexivity, labour market, education, competencies
Researchers (7)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Researching sociological aspects of sustainable socio-spatial and human resources development consists of two stages. The first is an exhaustive theoretical and conceptual reflection on the diverse definitions of sustainable development (SD), which range from simple and therefore quite popular formulations to much less attractive, physics-determined ones, which address entropy as an inevitable developmental category. The second basic concept is individual and institutional reflexivity as one of the essential features of manpower development. Both concepts are open and indeed need to be theoretically and conceptually complemented and refined. Given the extensive nature of the theme, the research will be performed at the meta-analytical level, meaning that a selection of researches and literature on the theme will be analysed. The reflexivity on sustainable development ideas and objectives requires a discussion on the ability of social learning, i.e. the ability to integrate social and technological innovations into a concrete social praxis, as well as the participation of the different social groups. It also assumes the ability to develop more integral approaches, capable of observing and reflectively addressing so-called socio-technical combinations, which are both social and technological problems. For the purpose of such a comprehensive approach, the composition of the research team is interdisciplinary in nature. The objective of the theoretical research is the conceptualization of methodological instruments to measure how educational system and labour market responds to sustainable development. This will form the basis for applied researches, which is to include “case studies” on the reflexivity on sustainable sociospatial and menpower development. The objective of the program is a contribution to the theoretical and conceptual understanding of some essential dilemma of sustainable development, and the elaboration of a measuring instrument to investigate levels and types of reflexivity on sustainability. This relates to the question of developing competencies, which one can observe on the wider social level or in particular social segments: in the education process, on the job or in the processes of occupational professionalisation. The described dynamic is changing relations among stakeholders of education and labour market systems in the sense of research and development, the transition of graduates from education to the labour market, the transition of experts from employers' organisations to education processes, and the mobility of teachers and academics to the world of work and lifelong learning. These dynamics can be studied in both the area of SD and other areas.
Significance for science
Researching sociological aspects of sustainable socio-spatial and human resources development consists of two stages. The first is an exhaustive theoretical and conceptual reflection on the diverse definitions of sustainable development (SD), which range from simple and therefore quite popular formulations to much less attractive, physics-determined ones, which address entropy as an inevitable developmental category. The second basic concept is individual and institutional reflexivity as one of the essential features of manpower development. Both concepts are open and indeed need to be theoretically and conceptually complemented and refined. Given the extensive nature of the theme, the research will be performed at the meta-analytical level, meaning that a selection of researches and literature on the theme will be analysed. The reflexivity on sustainable development ideas and objectives requires a discussion on the ability of social learning, i.e. the ability to integrate social and technological innovations into a concrete social praxis, as well as the participation of the different social groups. It also assumes the ability to develop more integral approaches, capable of observing and reflectively addressing so-called socio-technical combinations, which are both social and technological problems. For the purpose of such a comprehensive approach, the composition of the research team is interdisciplinary in nature. The objective of the theoretical research is the conceptualization of methodological instruments to measure how educational system and labour market responds to sustainable development. This will form the basis for applied researches, which is to include “case studies” on the reflexivity on sustainable sociospatial and menpower development. The objective of the program is a contribution to the theoretical and conceptual understanding of some essential dilemma of sustainable development, and the elaboration of a measuring instrument to investigate levels and types of reflexivity on sustainability. This relates to the question of developing competencies, which one can observe on the wider social level or in particular social segments: in the education process, on the job or in the processes of occupational professionalisation. The described dynamic is changing relations among stakeholders of education and labour market systems in the sense of research and development, the transition of graduates from education to the labour market, the transition of experts from employers' organisations to education processes, and the mobility of teachers and academics to the world of work and lifelong learning. These dynamics can be studied in both the area of SD and other areas.
With rare exceptions, the problem of the un/sustainable development of modern hypercomplex societies has not been adequately perceived yet, not even at the scientific level. This is probably most clearly indicated by the fact that, regardless of the environmental consequences, the consumer society has become a universal and global “development goal”. The popularity of this model is such that nothing is harder than to construct a convincing alternative to the existing unsustainable, self-destructive system. Due to the increasing complexity of societies difficulties occur in defining and hierarchizing society’s business and general social priorities. Because of these complications a neoliberal strategy and practice asserts itself globally, which leaves the selection and hierarchization of fundamental development issues to a presumed “market automatism”. As long as the “materialist consumer utopia” continues to operate all over (Cioran, 1996), any alternatives to it are logically perceived as “unpractical” and, of course, in the wider political sense, totally unfeasible. However, even in this ideological framework we can argue for the need to research reflexivity on sustainability.
Researching transdisciplinary reflexivity is a form of social learning, f
Significance for the country
Research aimed at contributing to better individual and institutional reflection on the idea of sustainable development, contributes to a more sustainable orientation in education from the lowest to the highest levels as well as in the area of labour market developmental needs. Enhanced reflexivity has a great impact on the decision-making subsystem, where conceptually accomplished reflection improves the legitimacy of political decisions. Reflexivity is a contribution to motivating civil society, especially environmental and spatial non-government organisations, which have a major role in asserting sustainable ideas. The past research and other experiences prove that many promising programmes and projects remained unrealised precisely because of the "low reflexivity capacities", or because legitimation procedures were neglected. In view of the fact that in all development strategies sustainable development and reducing the carbon footprint are the top priorities, contributions to a higher quality of reflection on development objectives, and the ways to achieve them, are also contributions to achieving sustainable goals. Research programme support approaches which assume that sustainable development is a productive synthesis of social (cultural), environmental, and economic measures. The integration of diverse professional views and ideas has been identified as a problem before, and quality reflection then contributes to these integration dimensions, which even professionally irreproachable interpretations underestimate, and quite often overlook. Reflection on the vast cultural (normative) diversity in the introduction of sustainable measures facilitates the search for suitable solutions.
The research programme’s direct relevance to the economy and social activities can observed in two areas. In terms of human resource development – on the general level and in the domain of sustainable development – we can expect the programme will contribute to the quality of the starting points for developing new educational programmes and adapting the existing ones, systemic solutions for implementing the »practical« scope of education, graduates’ transition from education to the labour market, the creation of starting points for elaborating occupational and professional standards and in cooperation among education institutions and employers.
In the area of sustainable development, it has already become obvious that a transformation in line with sustainable principles would enable a wide range of direct “business opportunities”. A good example is the energy restoration of buildings, which has been identified in Slovenia as a development opportunity for the wider construction branch. The same is true of energy supply, in particular renewable resources. In transportation, as well, great changes are expected and wider assertion of “green mobility”. Here we run into a particular dilemma: how to identify and differentiate between popular practices, which in their business operations take into account the limits of a sustainable economy, and others, who use “green washing” as just another way for successful operation.
The planned research programme is thus in line with the current trends and takes into account that scientific interpretations of sustainable development and development of human resources are often not self-evidently legitimate. This is a direct consequence of the reduced credibility of professional (scientific) reflection on development issues. Seen from this viewpoint, an important result of the research work will be the operational structuring of the issue field in a way that will make it possible to link cognitive, theoretically ambitious research to the applied aspects of the researched matter. By combining theoretical and empirical work the proposed programme will contribute to the scientific arguments for the need to enhance the interdisciplinary research field.
Considering roles already played by the programme lead
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2017,
2018,
final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2017,
2018,
final report
