In-depth Notes on Sustainable Practices and Well-being

Overview of Presentation

  • Presenter: Garrett T. Morgan, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto
  • Date: 25 March 2025
  • Subject: Planetary Health focusing on sustainability and regenerative approaches

Content Outline

  • Introductions
  • Sustainability Narratives
  • Regenerative Approaches
  • Application: Well-being in Buildings

Introduction to Sustainability

  • Definition: Sustainability encompasses social, environmental, and economic aspects aimed at maintaining balance and health within ecosystems and communities.
  • Personal View: Emphasis on justice, well-being, and climate action.
  • Background of Presenter: Trained architect, licensed urban planner.

Positionality and Acknowledgment of Ongoing Failures

  • Emphasizes understanding one’s own position in discussions of sustainability and recognizing systemic failures.

Dominant Sustainability Narratives

Limits Storyline

  • Concept: Primarily focuses on harm reduction and damage limitation.
    • Key Aspects:
    • Mitigation and Cutting back on consumption.
    • Emphasis on sacrifice rather than positive narratives.
  • Consequences of Limits Thinking:
    • Feelings of apathy and hopelessness can arise.
    • Often leads to disengagement from sustainability efforts.
    • Unmotivating due to focusing merely on limitations.

Reframing Sustainability

  • Suggested Shift: From limits to a more regenerative, proactive sustainability that includes:
    • Acknowledging strong moral and political dimensions.
    • Viewing sustainability as an emergent process co-produced with community values and preferences.
  • Key Concept: Procedural sustainability focuses on discussions and collective understanding of goals.

Regenerative Sustainability

  • Definition: Aims for net-positive outcomes for both the environment and human well-being.
  • Essential to challenge structural conditions that impede prospects for regeneration.
  • Challenges: Exploring practical examples and theoretical implications.

Social Practice Theory (SPT)

  • Definition: Explores how everyday activities are shaped by social and environmental contexts.
  • Critique of individualistic perspectives on behavior change.
  • More holistic approach focusing on collective practices rather than blaming individuals.

Understanding Well-being in Built Environments

Dimensions of Well-being

  • Explored through concepts of:
    • Individual and collective well-being.
    • Psychological, material, and social factors.
    • The impact of physical spaces on wellbeing.

Dynamic Interactions

  • Well-being emerges from interactions of individual, collective, and environmental factors.
  • The importance of adaptive controls and user satisfaction in spaces.
  • Relationship between building design and inhabitants' lived experience.

Research Focus: Practicing Well-being

  • Project Sites: Focus on various building types (social housing, educational buildings, etc.).
  • Methods of Data Collection:
    • Surveys to gather demographic info and evaluation of comfort conditions.
    • Continuous measurement of indoor environmental quality (IEQ).
    • Photovoice methodology to capture experiences and engagement.

Analysis and Conclusion

  • Emerging Insights:
    • Importance of collective factors in determining well-being.
    • Shift from extractive practices to regenerative approaches in planning and design.
  • Final Thoughts: Promoting an emergent, relational understanding of well-being fosters holistic assessments and sustainable practices that benefit all community members.