Learning to build sustainable communities: An interdependency network perspective

Lever, John; Smith, Ian

Abstract

This paper explores the production of sustainable communities from an interdependency network perspective (Newton, 2001). Drawing on fieldwork that
examined how planners worked collaboratively with other professionals to address the challenges of delivering New Labour’s Growth Point Initiative, the paper fuses insights
from Actor Network Theory with Figurational Sociology to examine the requirements of the skills agenda for building sustainable communities (ODPM, 2004). Through an exploration of the ways in which planners adapted their working practice to facilitate the dual task of delivering growth and sustainable development, we argue that the
learning and skills agenda is problematic for understanding how new knowledge and learning emerges.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2013
• Journal: People, Place and Policy
• Print ISSN: 1753-8041
• Publisher: Sheffield Hallam University
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 113-126
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3351/ppp.0007.0003.0001
• Keywords: interdependency network, networked agency, knowledge, learning, sustainable communities
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/925528
• Publisher URL: http://extra.shu.ac.uk/ppp-online/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/sustainable-communities-inp.pdf
• Related Public URLs: http://extra.shu.ac.uk/ppp-online/
• Additional Information: Corporate Creators : University of Huddersfield, UNiversity of the West of England