Southern Transylvania in 2043. Science based development scenarios for the former “Saxon Area”
EN: This is an article about a large scale socio-ecological scientific study about the possible future(s) of Southern Transylvania (partly the Western part of the Szekely region) – for all those really interested about the former Saxon area of Transylvania. It’s worth the 1-2 hours to read through some of the materials and watch the videos about the results of the study about the “Saxon Area” in the year 2043!
More information on the webpage and the FB-page of the project
DE: Unten ein Artikel ueber ein grossangelegtes sozio-oekologisches Forschungsprojekt der Uni Lueneburg ueber moegliche Zukunftsszenarien fuer den laendlichen Raum in Suedsiebenbuergen. Alle am Thema Interessierten bekommen mit den unten vorgestellten und verlinkten Materialien eine wissenschaftlich erarbeitete Grundlage und Handreichung, die bei der Ausarbeitung von zukuenftigen Strategien und Projekten von allergroesstem Nutzen sein koennte! Also, nehmt euch die 1-2h Stunden Zeit fuer diese ausgesprochen gehaltvollen Texte und die Videos zum Thema ‘Sachsenland im Jahr 2043’.
Weitere Infos auf der Internetseite und der FB-Seite des Projektes.
RO: Va invit sa studiati (nu doar sa cititi la repezeala) materialele de mai jos – fiind vorba de rezultatele unui studiu stiintific, socio-ecologic, despre posibile scenarii de viitor privind sudul Transilvaniei peste aprox. 30 de ani – adica in anul 2043. In urma lecturii textelor si a vizionarii filmelor video, cei interesati de soarta acestui tinut atat de bogat in natura si (multi)cultura vor avea la indemana un set de informatii cheie ce nu pot fi neglijate la elaborarea de strategii si planuri/proiecte de viitor pentru fostul “Tinut Sasesc”.
Mai multe informatii pe pagina de internet si FB a proiectului.
During the recent project presentation in one of the project villages.
Imagine din campania de promovaare a rezultatelor proiectului intr-unul dintre satele din aria de cercetare. Aufnahme von der Projektpraesentation in einem der Doerfer Suedsiebenbuergens…
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By Joern Fischer
A little while ago, we conducted a scenario planning analysis in Southern Transylvania, Romania. Scenario planning is suitable where uncertainty about the future is high, and where things cannot be easily controlled. We worked with a wide range of regional organizations and a number of individual experts to construct four alternative scenarios describing possible futures for Southern Transylvania. Our goal was to assess a wide range of possible changes that might take place. We summarized the scenarios describing alternative future development paths. Our scenarios are short stories of what the future might be like, and they are based on a “systems understanding” of how one change causes another, which in turn may cause yet another change, and so on.
Our goal was for those scenarios to help stimulate new thinking about the future in the region. But how can this be done in practice — in a location where civic engagement is traditionally low, and government is not necessarily interested in sustainability issues?
As one of our outreach tools, we produced a small booklet — about 60 pages long — and that booklet has just been published online. It is an open access publication, so you are free to distribute it as you like.
Cover of our booklet
Key features of our booklet are:
- We use simple, accessible language throughout the booklet, and avoid all academic language — in Romanian and Hungarian (both are important local languages).
- We use “narratives” of alternative futures, as well as fictional accounts of people living in the future — who describe how they experience a given future.
- We use original artwork (by Jan Hanspach) to illustrate the scenarios.
- We have included quotes from interviews in the region to illustrate aspects of the scenarios that are already taking place throughout the book.
- As next steps, we will distribute this booklet in Transylvania (in May), and we are planning poster exhibitions and flyers, too.
- We are contemplating constructing a second version, in German/English, which would be of “academic” use, too.
Back of our booklet (click to enlarge), showing the status quo landscape and four alternative futures
The entire booklet is available for download and distribution at Pensoft.
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Below some videos by Hans Hedrich about the presentation of the project’s results in Agarbiciu and Medias, both Sibiu county as well as interviews with the project coordinator joern fischer and four young international researchers who took part in the 4 year long work…
