Sustainability and Speculation: Exploring Eco-Friendly Scenarios in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Disposses sed

Abstract

Sustainability and Scenario Planning provide a structured framework for exploring, analyzing, and planning for a sustainable future in the face of uncertainty and complexity. Science fiction frequently intertwines itself with sustainability through its predictions of the future and its proposals for predictable scenarios. Thus serving as an encouragement to contemplate a multitude of potential outcomes and possibilities. The study delves into the realm of sustainability and an eco-friendly scenario within the imaginative landscape of Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. Sustainability Scenario Planning lends a hand to constructing and analyzing sustainable and eco-friendly scenarios. At the same time, it emphasizes the intricate relationship between ecological practices, societal structure, and harmonious coexistence within the environment. With concrete examples from the novel, this study unveils the profound exploration of sustainability in Le Guins’ work, emphasizing its relevance to real-world ecological concerns. This study focuses on the Sustainability Scenario Planning of the planet Anarres in the novel.   

Key Words: Eco-friendly, Sustainability, Scenario Planning, imaginative landscape, environment 

References

1. Le Guin, Ursula K. The Dispossessed. New York: Perennial Classics, 2003.

2. Carr, Terry. Dream’s Edge: Science Fiction Stories about the Future of Planet Earth.

3. Sierra Club Books, 1980.

4. Oteros-Rozas, Elisa, et al. “Participatory Scenario Planning in Place-Based Social-Ecological 

   1. Research: Insights and Experiences from 23 Case Studies.” Ecology and Society, vol. 

   2. 20, no. 4, 2015. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26270296. 

5. “Mapped: Where afforestation is taking place around the world.” Negative Emissions, 9 

   1. Oct 2018. https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-where-afforestation-is-taking-place-around-the-world

6. “US astronauts drink recycled urine aboard space station but Russians refuse.” The Guardian, 

   1. 26 Aug 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/26/us-astronauts-recycled-urine-international-space-station  

7. Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations. 2021.

   1. http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/ 

8. World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future. Oxford. 1987.

9. Watts John D. Community living standards and rural household decision making. Journal of

   1. Rural Studies. Vol 80, Dec 2020