The project is supported by the Swedish Institute REALS – RESILIENT AND ECOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR LIVING SUSTAINABLY PROJECT PARTNERSHIP STATEMENT AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS Emilia Rekestad } Permaculture Sweden } E: [email protected] Maria Falaleeva } International NGO EKAPRAEKT } E: [email protected] Iryna Usava } International NGO EKAPRAEKT } E: [email protected] Based on the input of the REALS partners: o Permaculture (Sweden) o CEMUS at Uppsala University / SLU (Sweden) o Greenelizer (Sweden) o Russian Ecovillage and Eco-initiative Network REEN (Russia) o Department of Environmental Safety and Regional Sustainable Development, St.Petersburg State University (Russia) o EcoHome (Belarus) o Ecoproject (Belarus) o Green Network (Belarus) The views expressed in this publication reflect opinions of the REALS project participants as interpreted by the authors and does not represent official position of the Swedish Institute. Photo credit: REALS project participants. 2016 lifestyle. The project goals are to increase INTRODUCTION learning, awareness and access to information in relation to sustainable lifestyles, waste Depletion of ecosystem services and the land´s reduction and sustainable resource inherent capacity to sustain human life and the management . Detailed information about the ecosystem as we know it has gone too far. And project, its partners and activities can be found the awareness about this is growing fast. Our on the project website (http://realsproject.org) knowledge about the accelerating release of and in social media (links on website), CO2 and other Green House Gases into the atmosphere due to human impact is also well This document summarises the theoretical and known. The alarming speed of biodiversity loss practical insights discussed and formulated by on lands and sea is less known and often the international project participants during underestimated by public and media, however the REALS activities – workshops, trainings, it further complexifies and increases challenges practical actions, informal exchange of which we face as a global community. experience. Important source of information was the interviews with the project The world speaks about the need of participants made in 2016. As the result, sustainability. But what is it to «sustain»? A several suggestions for policy, management wooden board can be sustainable, but there´s and funding programs in the BSR have been not much life, flexibility, responsiveness in it. formulated. So – how can we keep, preserve and increase the resilience and re-generative capacity of the The document does not pretend to be a ecosystems themselves in meeting the comprehensive academic analysis of the best challenges of today and the future? practices and scientifically-based policy proposal. Rather, we see it as an important Several approaches, tools and methods to “message from the ground” to policy-makers in support resilience are readily available and put into practice. Examples include local the BSR reflecting the range of themes, community-led initiatives for sustainability barriers and opportunities faces by such as permaculture, ecovillages, and practitioners and experts creating and enabling Transition Towns. Each of these movements resilient communities in the EU BSR and combines a myriad of local practices related to neighbouring countries. regenerative rural and urban land management and stewardship. Except being The document consists of three parts. Section places which host an interesting fusion of low- 1 provides general reflections on sustainability and high tech solutions, community-led in the BSR and call for the need to reconsider initiatives are platforms for public/local “traditional” views on sustainable participation and engagement necessary for development in the region in a favour of holistic environmental care and stewardship. approaches more adaptive to complexity, local needs and socio-ecological diversity. Section 2 The “REALS - Resilient and Ecological considers the sustainability in the BSR in the Approaches for Living Sustainably” project context of achieving the new Sustainable supported by the Swedish Institute (2013- Development Goals (SDGs) defined in the UN’s 2016) supported a bottom-up vision of “Agenda 2030”. Section 3 gives more focused community-led sustainability in the Baltic Sea overviews of specific regenerative land- Region (BSR) and beyond by collecting stewardship practices and policies that should experience of community initiatives in the BSR be supported and promoted in the region. All including EU and neighbouring countries. three sections contain the Questions and REALS aimed to create networks and Recommendations by the REALS partners as a intercultural learning primarily between feedback and contribution to the common goal Sweden, Russia and Belarus, with a focus on - to build wholesome sustainability in the Baltic socio-ecological resilience and sustainable Sea Region. } Page 2 rules within the Common Agricultural Policy SECTION 1 (CAP), and within the European regulation of seeds. At the same time, decentralized GOVERNANCE AND POLICY governance can also bring challenges. Water, SUITABLE FOR RESILIENT soil, biodiversity, food-distribution and AND COMPLEX ADAPTIVE consumption are highly interconnected. Nature SYSTEMS doesn´t adapt to human-made boundaries. A river flows through many communities. Decentralized communities can lack resources, The key questions of sustainability governance expertise and knowledge needed to support increasingly risen by the academic literature as diverse large-scale initiatives. Skilful well as coming from practical experiences of coordination between regions as well as local communities are: between stakeholders supported by lifelong learning, training and dialogue between actors “What do we need to be capable to skilfully are critically important for sustainability and navigate through increasing complexity and resilience. Multi-level governance based on uncertainty, with the aim of supporting effective distribution of the resources resilience and the regenerative capacity of our (financial, human, informational, cultural and systems?” others) are key solution for balancing complex “How can we further explore approaches, systems. formats and strategies for policy which suit the However, changing the management paradigm complexity and diversity which reality holds?” from an experts- and market-led approach At the core in REALS and associated networks, towards a multi level governance model where there is an insight that the world isn´t working markets and experts only play one role of as a machine, where you can find a magical many, require “cultivating” ways of common button which repeatedly can be clicked work which are people-centered, inclusive, followed by the same repeated outcome. The appreciative, diverse and oriented towards earth’s life-supporting systems and their flexible, need-oriented and strategic solutions. related challenges are highly complex, living and uncertain. The outcomes will look different in different contexts and through time. Examples of such complex systems are interconnected ecological, social and economical systems living and developing within a certain territory – big and small settlements and communes. Each such territory and system is unique. Although significant “pool” of expert knowledge and successful patterns are readily available, complex systems ask for more than experts and best practices for finding solutions which Sustainability researchers state that “successful work through time and in each given context. policies for complex, adaptive systems will typically need to be adaptive themselves” Inflexible and highly centralized policies can (Bankes, 2002) Academic literature argues that often be hindrances for increased local the central feature of the classical planning and development, low-tech innovative thinking and decision-making is identification of a single resilience. Examples of this are to be found ‘‘best’’ model describing the system of within building permissions, sewage system interest, followed by designing a policy that is regulations, CO2 tax regulations, procurement- ‘‘best’’ in the context of that model. } Page 3 Nevertheless, the practice shows that this and caring relationships. We call for increased approach often fails when applied to strategic enquiry on how regulations and jurisdictional long-term decisions in the conditions of structures can be, on the one hand flexible uncertainty. Researchers frequently warn enough to adapt to the local needs while, on about the tendency to apply single, the other hand, being, robust enough to give technological solutions to complex problems. support and care for the health of local culture, people, communities, economy, animals and The need for adaptive policies is already well ecosystems? known, yet there is still much to explore in terms of how to implement this need on practice and how to create structures which truly care for people, local communities and the planet. One example of such “caring” approach is permaculture design based on three ethics of: Social care, Earth care and Fair shares. REALS partners actively work on designing and supporting permacultural practices in different parts of the Baltic Sea We believe that responsive, context- region. Our experience shows what the most dependent and adaptive policy can: beneficial and “caring” solution for people and planet are different according to context and - Empower and enable local community-