DIVERSE

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. 

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 (celebratory vs technophobic) on the likelihood of enfranchising technologies. 

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. The ground-breaking approach combines qualitative data (from expert interviews and databases compilation worldwide, to case-studies and biographical interviews across continents) with quantitative methods and models to analyse these data. DIVERSE will propose new concepts disclosing the specific links of digitalisation with changes in material experiences, situated knowledge and place-based digital ecologies.

Funding

The DIVERSE (Digitalisation for Environmental Justice and Biocultural Diversity) project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon programme for research and innovation under the grant agreement 101124195.