Events

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 

MED-GREEN

Socio-ecological Sustainability between Bioregionalism and Globalism.

Models, Metaphors, Terminologies and Transformations

Università degli Studi di Cagliari

Dipartimento di Lettere, Lingue e Beni culturali &

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale e Architettura

20-22 February 2025

Aula Coroneo

Cittadella dei Musei, Piazza Arsenale, 1, Cagliari

The definition of the principle of "sustainable development", as protection of the environment and preservation of natural resources, first appeared in the Our Common Future report, better known as the Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987). Subsequently, in 1992, on the basis of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the local implementation tool called Agenda 21, the concept of sustainability was broadened by taking into consideration economic development, social progress of the poorest countries and including a political and cultural sustainability (UNCED, 1992). This multidimensional character of sustainability was reaffirmed in 2002 through the Action Plan of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, 2002) in which environmental sustainability represents not only ecosystem protection but also social and economic growth with the purpose of defending human rights, safeguarding health and distributing resources fairly. The soft power strategies, at an international level, came to be made explicit in the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC, 2005), a legal instrument introduced in 2005. The objectives regarding economic and social development and environmental protection have since evolved until the signing of the Agenda 2030 (SDGs, 2015), an action program which concerns 17 objectives for sustainable development.

Given these premises, the ever-growing attention to the balance of ecosystems understood as open systems, the result of complex interactions between the planetary bio-geo-physical system and human cultural systems (Merleau-Ponty, 1956-1960), requires, here, an in-depth analysis of sustainability in an eco-territorialist and bioregional perspective (Whitehead, 1920; Næss, 1989; Magnaghi, 2000, 2014 and 2020; Colavitti & Serra, 2022; Parascandolo, 2022).

This means, on the one hand, to highlight the efforts regarding territorial synergies that require the use of new technologies of certified environmental compatibility to connect apparently distant sectors such as, for example, green building, the recovery of raw materials and sustainable logistics, albeit apparently distant, in a circular economy vision, thus achieving objectives of environmental protection and human development.

On the other hand, observing and interpreting, through a linguistic approach, the integration of environmental policies with local development linked to the specialisms of the various Mediterranean and non Mediterranean territories. In this regard, the conference will welcome any contribution aimed at bringing out the relationships between the concept of "sustainability" and metaphors, terminology and discourses.

From a methodological point of view, the conference proposes the adoption of an inter- and transdisciplinary approach in which a dialogue emerges between multiple disciplines and, in particular, between linguistics, geography, anthropology, history, semiotics, philosophy, chemistry and engineering sciences.

The guiding question of the conference will therefore be to try to observe local and global sustainable practices. More generally, papers can fall within the non-exhaustive scope of the following topics:

§  sustainability;

§  ecosystems;

§  bioregionalism;

§  ecoterritorialism;

§  global models:

§  local models;

§  green building;

§  recovery of raw materials;

§  sustainable mobility;

§  territorial continuity;

§  ecovillages;

§  ethics and sustainability;

§  socio-ecological sustainability;

§  ecology and human systems;

§  sustainability and insularity;

§  energy transition and localism;

§  gastronomy and sustainability;

§  tourism and sustainability;

§  valorisation of the territory and sustainability;

§  discourse analysis and sustainability;

§  neology, metaphor and sustainability;

§  terminology, terminological resources, language for specific purposes ​​and sustainability;

§  translation, discourses and sustainability;

§  phraseology, discourses and sustainability.

How to join us

The MED-GREEN conference will take place in: 

Cittadella dei Musei

Piazza Arsenale, 1, 09123 Cagliari CA

Aula Rossa, Aula Bianca, Aula Coroneo 

The Cittadella dei Musei (Piazza Arsenale) is 10 minutes by bus and 20 minutes by foot from Cagliari central station (Via Sassari). We remind you that Cagliari Elmas "Mario Mameli" airport is 10/15 minutes from the central station and the city center.