Valuations, professional and lived experiences: what kind of new relationships should we be forging with knowledge and amongst ourselves to foster constructive action for sustainable development?

Faced with a complex problem, the main thing is not to establish a truth (…) but to bring about a process of efficient collective construction.
Cultivating shared knowledge means collectively developing a vision of the future.
Hubert Saint Onge

Changing points of reference as well as changing positions. Developing a frame of reference as well as throwing off the shackles of fashion, place and customary bonds of construction, appropriation, validation, recognition and the dissemination of knowledge. Questioning the astonishing acceleration of new knowledge and its manifold complexity, as well as the very many ways of accessing – and manipulating – it. Understanding the tremendous impact of the new information and communication technologies which amplify the tectonic movements of a society that is characterised by knowledge and the immaterial – a society still seeking a definition. Being aware of the infinite ramifications of the quest for Eldorado, this promised revolutionary wealth we call knowledge… so many imponderables. Moreover, when it grows apparent that the pundits have become specialists in the art of goofing things up, that the dictatorship of the instantaneous is often becoming more important than reflection, that power goes to those who talk the most, that no one speaks of organising the exploitation of knowledge even though it is meant to be a common good, that a platform is provided for those who ‘buzz’… imponderable piles upon imponderable. Let us draw on these imponderables to continue the constructive, lively debate begun at a workshop I coordinated at the recent Assises Nationales du Développement Durable (national sustainable development summit), where we explored the issues surrounding the ways the relationships we have with expertise and experience are changing. Let us engage in a fruitful discussion and a productive controversy:

Are the “wise crowds” wiser than those who imagine they can think on behalf of others?
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Because it is now possible to send bigger and bigger files via the internet, why restrict ourselves to text and 2D photos?
The magic of video is so seductive! With its special visual effects and audio capability, it is able to transport the viewer into a universe of human emotions, raw or refined. The messages it is able to illustrate touch us deep inside; they transcend all barriers – age, speech, language, social class, educational attainment, even culture. Intoxicating, bucolic, alarmist, disturbing, inspiring… the spectrum of feelings is infinite.
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“The internet as an information ecosystem”: interview with Benoît Thieulin, founder of the social and community web agency La Netscouade.
Benoît Thieulin, who oversaw the socialist candidate’s internet campaign in 2007, responds to the use of video on the web and explains what an information ecosystem is.
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The summit as if you were there: an interview with Jean Duverger, in charge of sustainable development at the Rhône-Alpes Region under Didier Jouve.
WebTV broadcasting covered the national sustainable development summit. It was a chance to follow each day’s business in line with the event’s programme.
The fifth national sustainable development summit took place in Lyons this year from 19 to 21 January. It was organised by the Rhône-Alpes Region in partnership with the City of Lyons, Greater Lyons and the Association des Régions de France*.
Philosophers, economists, senior company managers, elected representatives, citizens and so forth met to discuss the theme Trouvons la richesse: Qu’est-ce qui compte vraiment pour vous? (Securing wealth: what really matters to you?)
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A camera in the hand: young people talk about sustainable development at the Be Green film festival
The success of the Be Green film festival reveals just how strongly the general public is committed to issues surrounding sustainable development.
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ICT21-EE inaugural conference, 18 March 2009, Brussels
The Committee of the Regions in Brussels is to host the inaugural conference of the European thematic network ICT21-EE on 18 March 2009; it is managed by ACIDD.
This European ICT for Energy Efficiency network aims at federating a wide variety of stakeholders from 10 European countries to develop a common understanding of good practice in the field of ICT as applied to energy efficiency in cities.
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DG INFSO conference: ICT for Energy Efficiency
ICT and energy economy professionals, researchers and scientists are due to meet in Brussels on 19 and 20 March 2009.
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