DIgitalisation for biocultural diVERsity and Environmental justice

Introduction

Does the digital divide deprive movements for environmental justice (EJ) and in defence of biocultural diversity from the benefits of digitalisation? DIVERSE’s hypotheses resist the idea. From drone monitoring of forests to indigenous digital media and online mapping to vindicate stories of resistance and transformation, a digital transformation from the ground up may not only be paving the way for just and diverse futures but also for an alternative understanding of digitalisation.

Research Gaps

Yet no large-scale scientific study has examined the occurrence of digitalisation in grassroots transformative initiatives (GTI) nor theorised its effects. While elite-and growth-driven digital innovations are redefining lifestyles and overall imaginaries of the future, a strong debate in the fields of political ecology and EJ involves two confronted views:

1. Celebratory
2. Technophobic

These views focus on the likelihood of enfranchising technologies.

Project Goals

DIVERSE’s overarching goal is to theorise an alternative model of digital transformation rooted in relationality (care, community, personal connection) that emerges from GTI in their pursuit of diverse worlds and EJ.

Methodology

The ground-breaking approach combines qualitative data with quantitative methods:

• Qualitative data includes expert interviews, databases compilation worldwide, case studies, and biographical interviews across continents.
• Quantitative methods and models are used to analyse these data, such as:
  • Two newly created indices: transformative effectiveness and GTI digitalisation.
  • A first global compilation of digital practices in GTI.

This methodology offers both an understanding of causal chains and a basis for generalisation.

New Concepts

DIVERSE proposes the new concepts of:

• Life-centred digitalisation: Including both livelihoods and ecology.
• Situated digital leadership: Disclosing the specific links of digitalisation with changes in material experiences, situated knowledge, and place-based digital ecologies.

Theoretical Foundations

My ultimate goal in terms of theory is to lay out the foundations of a political ecology of digitalisation.