A broad view

2023/11/08 STEAM-Hezkuntza (Elhuyar Zientzia)

• Komikiak
• STEAM-hezkuntza

The climate emergency, loss of biodiversity, desertification, pollution and waste of natural resources are not just an environmental problem. The reasons are diverse and the consequences are economic, political, ecological, cultural, health, technological, ethical, philosophical... Therefore, to understand the situation of the planet and seek solutions, it is necessary to become aware of the importance of all these factors and to integrate this complexity in the reflections.

On many occasions, several factors interact with each other and this interaction increases the consequences. This is called syndemia because there is synergy between several epidemics. A significant example was COVID-19, which combined the health, environmental and social crisis with complex consequences. It soon became apparent that working from a purely medical point of view would not be a solution.

What we are dealing with today is not merely an environmental emergency, as social, economic and health crises cross, feeding each other. We are facing a complex eco-social crisis. And the search for solutions necessarily involves integrating complementary perspectives. The social, economic, cultural, ecological and political impact of solutions must be analysed. When we talk about economics, we're talking about how to solve the resources to live. The concept of economy goes beyond markets, which is in families and in life management.

But interdisciplinarity is not enough. Another dimension of the complementary looks is to incorporate the view of the remaining human groups. The preparation of the emergency resolution proposals recommends: To whom are the benefits directed? Who has proposed them? What do they propose for?

In addition to interdisciplinarity, the perspective of intersection must be incorporated. Otherwise, the proposed solutions may not take into account the realities of people who do not give rise to Western culture, economic wealth, masculinity, heteronormativity and whiteness. To ensure that these are proposals that leave no one behind, it is important to introduce an intersectional approach: gender, ethnicity, social class, age, sexual orientation, disability and other social categories so that situations of multiple discrimination do not occur.

Because in research and data, we're not all the people represented in the same way, the technocyst white man is still behind many key disciplines for the future. There is a social perception that is achieving parity between women and men. This perception of parity, unfortunately, is false. The data show this. In the defense of sustainability, for example, entrepreneurship has different effects on men and women. Women are more vulnerable and persecuted globally.

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This project, promoted by Elhuyar, is supported by the Department of Economic Promotion and Strategic Projects of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.