Welcome back SCORAI members,
We are pleased to announce that the date and theme have been set for the upcoming and long-awaited 2023 SCORAI Conference! We look forward to seeing you there, no matter if it is in person, online, or a mix of both.
  
Transforming Consumption-Production Systems Toward Just and Sustainable Futures
The joint 5th SCORAI and ERSCP conference is hosted by Wageningen University in the Netherlands from 6-9 July 2023. This inter- and trans-disciplinary conference will provide a crucial opportunity to discuss recent advancements on sustainable consumption and production. It will provide a platform for building and enhancing connections between research, practice, and policy to increase understanding and action of how to move transformations to SCP forward. Just, equitable and sustainable human development in the 21st century requires transforming systems of consumption and production. The window of opportunity to avert irreversible damage to key earth systems, such as climate and biodiversity, is closing fast.
Resource-intensive consumption and production are key drivers of unsustainable development and require radical restructuring to accelerate transformations towards sustainable futures. The most recent IPCC report (April 2022) makes history in, for the first time, stressing the need to focus on the role of consumption in climate change, highlighting “...the potential of demand-side strategies across all sectors to reduce emissions is 40-70% by 2050”. The timing of this call is auspicious. Once promising ideas, such as the sharing economy, transition towns, collaborative consumption, future visioning, or nudging, have not brought about change in consumption and production patterns at the scale and pace necessary. In response to the Covid pandemic, governments obtained an unprecedented mandate to establish ambitious recovery programs which could potentially lead to changing consumption patterns; however, it appears that responses have been largely aimed at economic rebound and relative decoupling, while not initiating changes that can reduce demand and the dependency on fossil fuels.
Transformative social change is more likely at a confluence of a political window of opportunity, public receptiveness to change, and policy and research ideas ready for implementation and experimentation. We may be facing this confluence now. On the political front, the IPCC report provides a new framing for political and policy debate, and for explicitly making sustainable consumption key to progress towards sustainable futures. The Covid pandemic has demonstrated that lifestyle changes are not beyond the realm of possibility. On the research front, a growing body of interdisciplinary work has uncovered how various aspects of the social and material world impede or enable lifestyle changes, with important insights for modeling transformations toward just, equitable and sustainable systems of production and consumption.
This conference will provide a platform for exploring a wide range of practices, experiences and policy initiatives in the context of cutting-edge interdisciplinary sustainable consumption and production research. We invite scholars and practitioners, such as business representatives, innovators, policy makers, activists, and members of communities engaged in sustainable consumption initiatives, to participate with concrete ideas, methods and examples of how to inspire learning and change. We encourage discussion and reflection on the links and gaps between theory and practice. We seek to better connect research and action for sustainable consumption and production with strategies for transformative change.
Thank you!
Your Board: Ashley, Ginnie, Halina, Liz, Philip, Valerie
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 The Heschel Center for Sustainability is Israel's leading advocate for a sustainable Israel: a just society with a robust democratic economy and a healthy environment, now and for future generations. Founded in 1998, they are based in Tel Aviv, and have a national reach and presence, with a network of change-makers spread all over Israeli society that are committed to integrate sustainability practices and values among their communities.
The Heschel Center develops and spreads cutting edge ideas and practices, hosts transformative learning platforms, and creates collaborative and democratic strategic processes. Throughout the years they have brought to Israel innovative ideas such as “the tragedy of the commons”, sustainable food systems, local sustainable economy, sustainable neighborhood, and more recently, collaborative democracy and doughnut economics.
The Heschel Center’s learning programs are tailor-made to specific target audiences:
Change-Makers: Heschel's flagship leadership program, the Heschel Fellows Program, now running its 21st cohort, continues to be the leading training program for social-environmental leaders in Israel. Civil Society: A spin-off of the Heschel Fellows Program is the Partnership Program, focusing on social change organizations to help them develop multi-dimensional perception of their work.
 Municipalities: Understanding that change can be adopted faster on the local level, the Heschel Center works directly with municipalities and assists them to integrate a sustainability approach as an organizational strategy.
National-Level Decision-Makers: The NZO project has developed data-driven plan for Israel to transform to 95% renewables by 2050. The project staff continues to challenge Israel’s national renewable energy goals.
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Keep up to date on all the hot takes coming from the most recent IPCC reports!
@SCORAI_net
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New IPCC Report Looks at Neglected Element of Climate Action: People
Scientific American
The report outlines the unequal and unsustainable patterns of global demand and consumption that are driving climate change. About half of Earth's emissions are the product of consumption by the richest 10 percent of people. The average carbon footprint of the world’s richest people is about 175 times higher than those of the poorest. The chapter also delves into the ways that greenhouse gas reductions affect human well-being.
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Cut meat consumption by 75 per cent globally to tackle climate change: study
CTV News
If we want to save the world from climate change, we’re going to have to eat a lot less meat, experts say. In fact, according to a new report, while we don’t all need to become vegetarian, we do need to cut our global meat consumption by at least 75 per cent. The demand for meat has been drastically increasing beyond the actual dietary needs of the human population for decades, researchers say, despite poor living conditions in factory farm settings and the meat industry’s huge impact on the environment. "If all humans consumed as much meat as Europeans or North Americans, we would certainly miss the international climate targets and many ecosystems would collapse," said Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim of the University of Bonn, an author of the report.
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Gender and the Climate Crisis: Equitable Solutions for Climate Plans
Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for Biological Diversity recently released a report showing that gender equity solutions are missing from municipal climate plans although women and gender-diverse people are disproportionately affected by climate change. Twenty-one climate plans from cities across the United States were analyzed for this report, representing approximately 10-percent of the U.S. population (30,492,353). None of the climate plans reviewed mentioned family planning/contraception/reproductive health and only one plan mentioned gender as a solution.
If you'd like to amplify the report please retweet this:
https://twitter.com/kdennings/status/1516555188538163208
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Overconsumption is killing the planet. What can we do?
Popular Science
While gluttony is not a new invention, for most of human history, the sheer slowness with which goods were produced meant most people consumed in moderation. It was almost never worthwhile to buy stuff from afar, let alone based on desire rather than need. But this gradually changed as industry grew and the world became more interconnected. Overconsumption can exacerbate a range of environmental problems, says lvaro Castano Garcia, a PhD student at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University, including global warming, ecosystem collapse, and loss of biodiversity. “The things we buy and the activities we do contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The higher the consumption, the higher the emissions associated with our lifestyles that aggravate other environmental issues,” says Garcia.
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SCORAI Around the World
Focus on SCORAI Brazil
We want to wish our comrades involved in SCORAI Brazil Chapter well and highlight their recent efforts to promote sustainable consumption!
SCORAI Brazil is proud to have supported the adoption of the UN animal welfare resolution. In January, Mercy for Animals in Brazil, SCORAI Brazil, and 25 other organizations united in submitting a letter to the Brazilian Ministry of Environment requesting support for the resolution. The resolution, unanimously adopted at the 5th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) on March 2, 2022 requests the UNEP Executive Director to produce a report in close collaboration with WHO, FAO and OIE and the One-Health High-Level expert panel on the nexus between animal welfare, the environment, and sustainable development. This Resolution will help develop a greater understanding on the causal relationship that exists between improving animal welfare and mitigating the drivers of biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution and pandemic disease emergence and how improving animal welfare can assist UNEP in delivering on its mandate and streamline its efforts to promote sustainable consumption and production while strengthening action for Nature and people to thrive.
What the story behind Latin Americans leading the world in climate change concern and lagging behind in claiming policies and taking action? Using data from the annual 2021-2022 WIN (World Independent Network of Market & Opinion Research Agencies) survey that interviewed 33.320 adults in 39 countries, and zooming in over the tensions and paradoxes survey findings reveal about Latin Americans’ reactions (8 countries covered with over 6.700 interviews completed), SCORAI Brazil co-founder and Market Analysis director Fabián Echegaray published an article discussing these topics on the leading Argentinean newspaper, Clarín. The article was reproduced in the online version of Brazilian top newspaper site, Folha de São Paulo, and several other media outlets in the region. Fabián tackles the apparent contradiction in public views by recognizing that higher than average optimism about the addressability of climate issues, the exoneration of responsibility of both governments and corporate actors, and the relatively high self-responsabilisation of individuals for positive environmental outcomes contribute to dehydrating public mobilization in favor of pro-active climate leadership.
Read the news in spanish: Contradicciones frente al cambio climático.
In portuguese: Contradições no mundo diante das mudanças climáticas
The state of maternity and paternity leaves in Brazil Partnering with advocacy group FamilyTalks and thinktank and specialized media outlet 4Daddy, SCORAI Brazil co-founder and director of Market Analysis, Fabián Echegaray , co-authored a major report on the state of parental leaves in Brazil and the role of companies in leveling up SDG#5 (gender equality) through a stronger commitment to maternity. The study was presented on April 7 through a 2 hours webinar with over 400 subscribers with main findings being thoroughly discussed by commentors from leading human resources organizations like Great Place to Work, ABRH (Brazilian Association for Human Resources), UN Global Pact, Ethos Institute, and the 360 Women Movement. The study is based on 1,153 interviews with adults from general population and 472 interviews with workers from medium and large companies, plus a major desk research and expert consultation process that began 2 years ago, in April 2020.
The final report presentation can be found here in the original Portuguese language.
The Youtube taped presentation can be accessed in Portuguese language here.
The research group DESCOR coordinated by Professor Danilo de Oliveira Sampaio, from SCORAI Brazil, recently promoted a seminar on sustainable consumption. On the occasion, nine master’s degree research projects from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil, were stablished in partnership with the University of Lima, Peru, regarding themes related to management and UN’s 17 SDGs.
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Call for Papers for a topical collection, "The Role of Education in the Implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – How Sustainability Education Influences Consumption and Production Systems and Contributes to Achieving Sustainable Development Goals" in the journal Discover Sustainability
Submission deadline: 31 March 2022
Submit Abstracts and Learn More
The consumption and production systems impact economies, the environment, and societies significantly worldwide and in all sectors. Apart from the significant environmental degradation, the high levels of resource use and the waste and pollution associated with both production and consumption phases of the lifecycle, including resource extraction, the production of intermediate inputs, distribution, marketing, use, waste disposal and re-use of products and services are paralleled by inefficient, polluting, and ultimately costly phases of development. These vary from the traditional decision-making and policies to scarcity, volatility, and pricing levels unaffordable for our economy’s manufacturing base. Impacts of consumption and production patterns reflect the ability of many economies and societies to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Based on the perceived need to drive markets in the direction of innovation and sustainability, thereby enabling the transition to a green economy, The special issue “The role of Education and UN Sustainable Development Goals – How Sustainability Education influence consumption and production systems and contribute to achieving sustainable development goals” is proposed as part of the journal “Discover Sustainability”.
This Topical Collection has two main focuses. Firstly, it welcomes submissions based on scholarly research, analyses, and reflections on how sustainability education affects consumption and production systems. Secondly, it invites scholars to introduce and discuss innovations, tools, and instruments to evaluate teaching and learning and pedagogical approaches, different disciplinary practices that can be integrated to deliver transdisciplinarity education, transition design research framework – from research to practice and practice to research, collaborative research, transnational research, and the mechanisms of systems that are external to the education system but are related to, the role of career counselling for the marginalised communities as a socio-economic and environmental mechanism for challenging and transforming current education inequality for sustainable development in the context of climate change, covid19, 4IR, and SDG’s, all in context of how we can harness innovation in Sustainability Education, and overcome the challenges of sustainable consumption and production, in a way that the achievement of the SDGs is not compromised. There is a vast awareness that through effective collaboration and communication and sharing experiences and insights, the world may be better able to cope with real-world challenges.
Collection editors:
Dr Renuka Thakore, Dr Kushal Adhikari, Dr Isa Elegbede, Dr Jos Eussen, Dr Mahwish Ali, and Dr Ewa Duda; if you have any queries, contact r.thakore@ucem.ac.uk
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Call for Papers for special research topic in Insights in Sustainable Consumption: 2022
Deadline for manuscripts: 15 April 2022
Submit Manuscripts and Learn More
We are now entering the third decade of the 21st Century, and, especially in the last years, the achievements made by scientists have been exceptional, leading to major advancements in the fast-growing field of sustainability research. Frontiers has organized a series of Research Topics to highlight the latest advancements in research across the field of sustainability, with articles from the Associate Members of our accomplished Editorial Boards. This editorial initiative of particular relevance, led by Prof. Sylvia Lorek (Specialty Chief Editor of the Sustainable Consumption section), together with Dr. Henrike Rau, is focused on new insights, novel developments, current challenges, latest discoveries, recent advances, and future perspectives in the field of sustainable consumption.
The Research Topic solicits brief, forward-looking contributions from the editorial board members that describe the state of the art, outlining, recent developments and major accomplishments that have been achieved and that need to occur to move the field forward. Authors are encouraged to identify the greatest challenges in the sub-disciplines, and how to address those challenges.
The goal of this special edition Research Topic is to shed light on the progress made in the past decade in the sustainable consumption field, and on its future challenges to provide a thorough overview of the field. This article collection will inspire, inform and provide direction and guidance to researchers in the field.
Guest Editors
Sylvia Lorek, Sustainable Europe Research Institute, Köln, Germany
Henrike Rau, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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Call for Papers for Organizational and Consumption Perspectives on Sustainable Food Culture
Deadline for manuscripts: 15 June 2022
Submit Abstracts and Learn More
In debates on sustainable production and consumption, all actors in food supply chains, food and eating are increasingly problematized as one of the major contributors to issues such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, and degradation of land and water resources. There is an urgent need for a more sustainable food culture, i.e., addressing sustainability in food and eating and order to diminish the ecological impacts of food production and consumption while paying attention to their economic, social and cultural dimensions. Although food sustainability has been investigated from different aspects, there has been little research on sustainable food culture as an endeavor that connects organizations and consumers together from multiple perspectives. Culture refers to the system that produces and co-ordinates meanings and knowledge and is characterized by more or less shared practices, identities and values. Culture is thus present in all aspects of daily lives of individuals, organizations, and societies. It comprises of knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits, and is affected by various economic, political, legal, religious, linguistic, educational, technological and industrial environments and is researched via a range of theoretical frameworks. Research to date concludes that culture is paramount in driving sustainable societies.
This Research Topic (RT) will provide insights into a sustainable food culture through both organizational and consumption lenses and will do so by covering topics such as (but not limited to):
- Sustainable dimensions in food companies (i.e. economy, environment, society, and food safety) and their inter-relations
- Contributions of organizations to developing a sustainable food culture (including consumption, habits and behavior, procurement, production, and management)
- Sustainable food supply chains
- Sustainable food and catering procurement
- Education, training and awareness for a sustainable food culture
- International, national and other legal contexts for promoting sustainable food production and consumption
- Dimensions of sustainable food consumption (ecological, economic, social, cultural and ethical) and their inter-relations
- Sustainable food practices in different cultural contexts
- Sustainable triggers in food purchasing patronage
- Critical analysis and approaches to fade out unsustainable food consumption and production
- Role of UN SDGs in achieving a global sustainable food culture
- Sustainable culture of food production / consumption in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and after
We welcome empirical, methodological, and theoretical papers, as well as reviews that provide insights into the area of sustainable food culture via consumption and organizational lenses. The papers may focus on a particular geographical area, food system, stakeholder group, policies and laws, or include comparative analyses (e.g. between countries, cultural contexts, food supply chains, or social groups). The papers should contribute to perspectives pertaining to sustainable food organizations and food consumption, such as (but not limited to) those originating in sociology, organizational theory and behavior, social psychology, geography, political studies, food technology, philosophy, marketing and consumer studies, or (food) sustainability science.
Editors
Ilija Djekic, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Mari Niva, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Peter Glavič, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
Diana Gregory-Smith, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Olawale Olayide, Faculty of Multidisciplinary Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Cheryl Desha, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia
Roberto Caranta, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Federica Murmura, University of Urbino, Carlo Bo Urbino, Italy
Steven McGreevy, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan
Sylvia Lorek, Sustainable Europe Research Institute, Köln, Germany
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Call for Papers in Focus on Intergenerational Sustainability
Deadline for submissions: 31 August 2022
Submit Manuscripts and Learn More
Anthropogenic impacts to Earth's systems have placed humanity in a precarious position in which our gross consumption could lead to nonlinear changes to Earth Systems which could be non-conducive to societal development as we know it. As humanity's knowledge of Earth's planetary boundaries, and our transgression of them continues, it is of increasing importance that we begin to place our environmental research and assessments within the context of a 'safe operating space for humanity'. This is needed to ensure global sustainability research results work towards the definition, and transformation to, an intergenerational sustainable state as opposed to sustainable development focused solely on rate of change. This means understanding and obeying the boundaries and carrying capacity limits of the natural environment, whilst providing good life for everyone. Therefore, we should not focus on (potentially marginal) incremental improvements, but on understanding the environmentally safe operating space, and searching for ways to return from the current ecological overshoot to living within this space with just and good life for everyone.
This paradigm shift presents an opportunity to consider novel development pathways across sectors and regions, as well as the reconsideration and repurposing of previous research to place a focus on how the developments align with intergenerational sustainability. Thus, in this special issue we welcome research across spatial and temporal scales that provide quantitative or qualitative environmental research/assessments of product(s), systems, sectors, consumption profiles, relevant policies, or economic structures which integrate intergenerational environmental sustainability into the research/assessment.
This broad topic stretches across fields, and we welcome submissions covering (although not limited to):
- 'Safe and just operating spaces'
- Doughnut economics
- Sustainable consumption corridors
- Sustainable lifestyles
- Degrowth and economic reconfiguration
- Planetary boundaries
- Environmental economics
- Global carbon budget allocations
- Sustainable cities in the context of localized planetary boundaries
- Technological and behavioural change pathways
- Life cycle assessment/use of LCA studies in the context of sustainable consumption
- Rebound effects and/or systemic interconnectedness which could potentially hinder sustainable consumption
- System-level and individual lock-ins potentially hindering from reaching an environmentally sustainable society
The Guest Editors encourage the addition of social and justice perspectives within research articles. Particularly those that add perspectives of potential positive or negative social impacts (and feedbacks) associated with certain environmental developments, and universal basic services/needs to ensure a 'good life' while remaining within the Earth's carrying capacity.
Guest Editors
Jukka Heinonen, University of Iceland
Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir, University of Iceland
Kevin Joseph Dillman, University of Iceland
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Call for Papers in Sustainability marketing and sustainability management: Exploring new perspectives on sustainable development
Opening Date for Submissions: 1 September 2022
Closing Date for Submissions: 15 October 2022
The main aim of this special issue is to explore new perspectives on sustainability and sustainable development by inviting studies focusing on sustainability-related topics in marketing and management, as well as encouraging interdisciplinary research in these areas.
Historically, the global attention to sustainable development arose when the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in their report “Our common future” proposed the concept of sustainable development, that is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”, and called for international efforts needed for addressing sustainability challenges (WCED 1987). More than three decades later, in 2022, the agenda of achieving sustainable development is far from being attained in our contemporary society that faces a deepening ecological crisis and widening social and economic inequalities. In the challenging times of the global pandemic, researchers across different disciplines continue the debate on how to achieve a better and more sustainable future, as well as explore novel approaches to attaining this vision. For example, green recovery, a perspective viewing economic recovery after the pandemic as an enabler of sustainability transition, represents an important new impetus for sustainable development (Gusheva and de Gooyert 2021; Lahcen et al. 2020). Although green recovery and other emerging perspectives on sustainable development (e.g. social-ecological systems (Reyers et al. 2018); systems of sustainable consumption and production (Schröder et al. 2019); social-ecological networks (Felipe-Lucia et al. 2021) provide critical insights and can potentially serve as catalysts for establishing sustainable organizations and transforming current business practices, they are still under-investigated in extant research.
In the disciplines of marketing and management, the interest towards research on sustainability and sustainable development has remarkably increased over the years. Prior research on sustainability marketing evolved from focusing on sustainable products and other elements of the marketing mix to addressing sustainable lifestyles and behavioral changes, and consequently to exploring transformative actions in relation to norms and institutions, among other topics (Kemper and Ballantine 2019). Management and organization studies on sustainability progressed from examining the impact of organizations on the natural environment to considering managerial issues in relation to environmental concerns, then to assessing corporate sustainability and sustainable organizations, and consequently to investigating socio-ecological wellbeing, the nature–human ecosystem, and alternative approaches to organizing for sustainability, among other topics (Ergene et al. 2021). Despite a continuously growing number of studies addressing sustainability-related topics in marketing and management, both disciplines still provide limited insights, which would have a transformational nature required for achieving a global agenda of a sustainable future (Davies et al. 2020; Ferns and Amaeshi, 2021; Nyberg and Wright 2020).
This special issue aims to advance the current state of research on sustainability and sustainable development in marketing and management by calling for contributions across the disciplines of marketing and management, and also interdisciplinary research including marketing and/or management perspectives. The special issue invites manuscripts based on empirical studies (utilizing quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods) or literature reviews. The manuscripts are expected to have strong conceptual and methodological rigor, and make both theoretical and practical contributions. Examples of possible topics of relevance for this special issue include, but are not limited to the list below. If in any doubt about a manuscript's fit with this special issue, do not hesitate to contact the Corresponding Guest Editor, Galina Biedenbach, at galina.biedenbach@umu.se.
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://preflight.paperpal.com/partner/emerald/balticjman/submit
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/bjm#author-guidelines
Guest Editors
Galina Biedenbach, Umeå University, Sweden, galina.biedenbach@umu.se
Johan Jansson, Umeå University, Sweden, johan.jansson@umu.se
Virginija Poškutė, ISM University of Management and Economics, Lithuania, virpos@ism.lt
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War and Sustainability: Dispelling the Renewable Energy Illusion
Bill Rees in the Frontier Series
The Frontier Series is a collaboration between SCORAI and the Hot or Cool Institute that brings you lessons learned, personal experiences and insights from the cutting edge of climate and sustainability research and practice.
Just a few weeks ago, climate change re-emerged to jostle with the pandemic for top spot in the public’s list of ‘things to worry about’. Mainstream media were again urging ordinary citizens to limit their use of fossil fuels– walk, cycle, or take transit to work; fly less; insulate your houses, etc., etc. Concerned individuals re-committed to low-carbon lifestyle choices; electric cars, bicycles and even skate-boards seemed more evident on the streets. Environmental and student organizations became yet more strident in petitioning universities, businesses, and banks to divest from fossil fuels providers and vilifying insurance companies for underwriting oil and gas exploration/development projects.
And why not? We are, after all, in climate crisis and proponents of so-called green renewable energy tell us that a global transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 is not only technically possible, but also cost-effective. Who needs carbon-emitting fossil fuels? All we lack for the renewable energy techno-miracle to happen is political will. Little wonder that civil society organizations were outraged that world governments again failed to adopt the policy changes necessary to wean society from fossil fuels at the COP26 conference last November.
That was then; it isn’t now. With Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the world tipped into an inverted parallel universe. Other nations’ shocked response to Russia’s aggression quickly blocked 3% of global oil supplies from reaching markets (Russia accounts for ~10% of world production). Panic set in. By mid-March UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was off hat-in-hand to persuade Saudi Arabia to open the oil tap to ease Europe’s potential energy pain (The EU gets a quarter of its petroleum and 40% of its gas from Russia). US President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau were soon in Europe promising to help by increasing their own exports of oil and gas. The US was even negotiating lifting trade sanctions on the previously-shunned Venezuelan regime in exchange for a portion of anticipated increased oil exports.
The war has rudely reminded the world that everything is energy-dependent—prices for fossil fuels, even coal, have surged; inflation stalks the world economy; just-in-time global supply chains are further stressed; commodity and goods shortages are increasing; fertilizer markets, heavily dependent on Russian and Ukrainian fossil fuels feed-stocks, balloon ever-higher, raising concerns about global food security and even geopolitical stability.
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Listed in chronological order, from coming-soon to farthest out on the horizon.
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One Planet Network Forum
31 May - 1 June 2022 | Stockholm, Sweden & Virtually
The One Planet network is a global community of practitioners, policymakers and experts, including governments, businesses, civil society, academia and international organisations, that implements the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production and works towards achieving SDG 12: ensuring sustainable patterns of consumption and production.
It is comprised of thousands of individual members; six thematic programmes and their partner organisations; numerous working groups; and over 140 national focal points for sustainable consumption and production within country governments. Serving as the secretariat of the 10YFP, the United Nations Environment Programme facilitates the One Planet network.
Collectively, the One Planet network holds enormous experience and expertise on sustainable consumption and production, and houses a global repository of projects, policies, tools and resources.
The One Planet network inspires a global movement for sustainable consumption and production, facilitating collaboration, cooperation and coordination to increase our combined knowledge, effectiveness and impact.
Learn More and Register Here
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Stockholm+50
2-3 June 2022 | Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm+50 will be held to commemorate the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment and celebrate 50 years of global environmental action. Towards Stockholm+50 has the aim to engage the widest variety of non-state actors – globally – to raise awareness about the legacy of 50 years of implementing environmental policies, with a series of lectures. Only by being well-informed, can you be fully engaged to plan, prepare, implement, and follow up on the Stockholm+50 conference.
By recognising the importance of multilateralism in tackling the Earth’s triple planetary crisis – climate, nature, and pollution – Stockholm+50 aims to act as a springboard to accelerate the implementation of the UN Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, including the 2030 Agenda, Paris Agreement on climate change, the post-2020 global Biodiversity Framework, and encourage the adoption of green post-COVID-19 recovery plans.
The Stockholm+50 project is a joint initiative by Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future and Forum for utvikling og miljø (the Norwegian Forum for Development and Environment) ForUM. Towards Stockholm+50 is a stakeholder-led initiative funded by the United Nations Environment Programme’s Civil Society unit with support from the Government of Sweden.
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Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference (NESS): Emergency and Transformation
7-9 June 2022 | University of Gothenburg, Sweden
If global environmental changes, including climate change, have taken decades to build up to an emergency, last year saw the almost instantaneous spread of a fatal virus that in a matter of weeks pushed global society into a humanitarian crisis, and soon also into a deep economic crisis. The Covid-19 emergency will most definitely be a watershed in modern history, but where the rain will flow is too early to tell. The 15th Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference (NESS), will be a chance for environmental social scholars to meet and discuss where the crises have brought us.
- What are the urgent contributions of environmental social science to these emergencies?
- Is the crisis an opportunity for accelerating since long necessary green transformations or a moment for patience, where resources should be directed toward the most urgent needs?
- Either or – what are the lessons learned by the Covid-19 crisis for a green transformation?
- Is the ‘strong society’ now back on the arena after decades of liberalizations, marketizations, and ‘just in time’?
- What are, then, the implications for democracy, governance, economic policies, and public discourses?
While the interconnectedness of emergency and transformation will gain special attention during the conference, we welcome contributions in areas related, but not restricted, to climate change, biodiversity, food, water, energy, natural resource extraction, bio-economy, rural and urban sustainability, and conservation. The conference workshops will cover various aspects of environmental social science, from the local to the global, from empirical papers over policy-relevant papers to conceptual and theoretical contributions. As is the tradition of NESS, the workshops are at the center of the conference, with plenty of time devoted to presentation and discussion of submitted papers.
Register to attend or submit your paper: https://www.gu.se/en/globalstudies/ness-nordic-environmental-social-science-conference-emergency-and-transformation#NESS-Conference-2022
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Up-scaling Co-benefits Of Sustainable Consumption For Development
13-14 June 2022 | Bonn, Germany
Deadline for abstract submission (max. 600 words): 7 April 2022
The conference is jointly organized by the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) and the Climate Change Center Berlin Brandenburg.
Environmentally sustainable consumption is now high on the agenda of researchers and policymakers in rich countries. In contrast, in developing countries the consuming middle classes are just emerging, mostly in cities, and concerns about the environmental footprint of consumption are only slowly entering the policy agenda. Given the unprecedented fast expansion of middle classes with increased spending capacity especially in emerging economies, however, it is crucial to encourage sustainable consumption here as well, avoiding emulation of unsustainable patterns of the past. Sustainable consumption is de facto already practiced in various contexts in low and middle income countries, for instance when it comes to energy saving, shared mobility, decentral digital markets, (informal) repair and recycling services or innovative plastic re-use start-ups. Yet, such pratices are often realized in settings of poverty, precarious working conditions and enviornmental hazards.
The challenge is thus to chart a pathway to sustainable consumption that is aligned with the economic aspirations of growing urbanizing middle classes, and at the same time creates economic benefits in terms of viable business innovations, decent work and good health conditions. Put differently: To unleash a virtuous cycle in which sustainable consumption and production reinforce each other and improve well-being.
Researchers and policymakers will discuss innovative insights on sustainable consumption and the role of the demand-side in the green transformation of economic systems. The conference also marks the end of the 5-year research project "Sustainable Middle Classes in Middle Income Countries: Transformation of Carbon Consumption Patterns (SMMICC)". Scientific contributions to the conference are welcome. Selected papers will be published in a special issues.
Please find more information in the Call for Papers
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Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress 2022
20-24 June 2022 | Online and onsite in Pretoria, South Africa
SRI2022 will be a hybrid meeting, bringing together sustainability professionals and practitioners from all over the world, to attend both online and onsite. Similar to SRI2021, organizers anticipate an interactive meeting with significant opportunities for mixing and exchanging information – dialogues, training sessions, workshops, and innovation demonstrations, with plenty of space for sponsors and cyber-enabled engagement. SRI2022 will be designed to service a more diverse group of participants from different geographies, language groups and across sectors. For a global transformation to sustainability, we need a broad coalition of experts and change-makers.
An important objective of SRI2022 is to amplify the voice of sustainability science and innovation in the Global South, specifically for the African continent, through raising awareness and propelling discussions about sustainable priorities for Africa. Africa has much to offer to the global discussion on sustainability, and SRI2022, together with its host Future Africa, will provide a critical platform for collaboration with local, African and international partners.
Learn more or submit your paper: https://sri2022.org
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ReSToRE 2 - Researching Social Theories, Resources, and Environment International Summer School
4-8 July 2022 | University College Dublin, Ireland
After the success of ReSToRE 1 in the summer of 2019, the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG) and International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) have decided to organise ReSToRE 2 on July 4-8th, 2022, in University College Dublin.
Run under the patronage of UNESCO, ReSToRE 2 aims to nurture an interdisciplinary and experiential learning environment for geoscientists and social scientists to address cross-cutting topics and to create a network for all participants and contributors. Specifically, the summer school seeks to bring early-career academics and professionals from developing and developed countries together in the same physical space to foster conversations at the nexus of Earth Sciences and Social Sciences.
We encourage all early-career academics and professionals who are interested in exploring these topics to apply to spend a week with us at the ReSToRE 2 summer school. You can find more information about ReSToRE and how to apply at this website. If you have any questions, please contact: restore@icrag-centre.org.
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2022 Toronto Conference on Earth System Governance
21-23 October 2022 | Toronto, Canada
The conference is hosted by the University of Toronto, and the University of Waterloo together with the Earth System Governance Project. This year’s conference theme is: Governing accelerated transitions: justice, creativity, and power in a transforming world.
Important Dates:
- Final Registration Deadline for Presenting Authors: 1 September 2022
- Full papers due: 1 October 2022
The 2022 Toronto Conference will be organized around the five analytical lenses structuring the new earth system governance research agenda, as captured in the Earth System Governance 2018 Science and Implementation Plan; and a sixth stream focusing on specific issues and challenges that emerge as efforts are made to accelerate the social, political, and technological shift towards more fundamentally sustainable and inclusive social-ecological systems, societies and polities.
The Earth System Governance Project is a longstanding global research alliance that seeks to mobilise research at the interface of global environmental change and governance, across local to global scales. The project brings together a highly interdisciplinary research community spanning disciplines such as international relations, political science, human geography, urban studies, development studies, and sustainability science, among others.
Learn More and Register
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 Only Radical is Realistic Now: International Carbon Rationing in a Climate Emergency
Hot or Cool Think Piece
Joachim H. Spangenberg
Climate disruption and biodiversity collapse are but two symptoms of the environmental crisis caused by ever-growing resource consumption. Multiple overshoots of Earth’s planetary boundaries have pushed our natural systems close to or even beyond critical tipping points. Effective reduction of resource consumption, in particular fossil fuels, is now an immediate necessity for civilisation to survive and must be reached within less than a decade. Since traditional policies have failed, and the time pressure is extreme, new instruments for immediate reduction of consumption are required. We suggest that rationing of fossil fuel consumption is such a measure, capping the resource input to national economies while permitting trade between them. Nationally, new allocation mechanisms based in justice, resilience, and social sustainability are suggested.
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 Advancing the circular economy through dynamic capabilities and extended customer engagement: Insights from small sustainable fashion enterprises in the UK
Business Strategy and the Environment
Patrick Elf, Andrea Werner, Sandy Black
The circular economy holds the potential to significantly reduce resource use. However, attempts to fully utilize its potential have fallen short so far. Based on a longitudinal interview-based study, we examine how micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the UK fashion industry advance the circular economy (CE). Whereas the dynamic capabilities framework is mostly used for medium and large businesses, our findings advance the current literature, demonstrating how the distinctive development and use of dynamic capabilities enable MSMEs to act in agile ways, allowing them to introduce, test and advance CE solutions, while providing them with more resilience during times of crises. Our study further shows that fashion MSMEs adopt circular economy business models (CEBMs) by going beyond conventional, technology-focused approaches currently dominating business thinking. The research highlights MSMEs' ability to engage in circular practices through an extension of existing business models in the form of close interactions with their customers demonstrating the importance and potential of extended business-customer engagement in businesses' attempts to adopt CE practices.
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 Evolution of entrepreneurs’ expectations using instagram as a business practice: A transformative learning perspective in the case of sustainable fashion entrepreneurs in Mexico
World Development Sustainability
Jorge Gustavo, Rodríguez Aboytes, Matthias Barth, Daniel Fischer
Sustainability entrepreneurs act based on expectations about how products will be received by consumers, in which directions markets and demand will develop, or which business models and innovations will prevail. Through their action-guiding function, expectations play an important role in how sustainability ventures develop in and out of niches. However, little attention has been paid to how new communication media, especially increasingly important social media, affect the way entrepreneurs articulate and change their expectations. This paper addresses this research gap using transformative learning theory to examine the communication of Mexican sustainable fashion entrepreneurs on Instagram. We used snowball sampling to select a representative sample of fashion brands operating in the sustainable fashion niche in Mexico. We used a mixed-methods approach: To analyze entrepreneurs' expectations, their use of social media and other learning outcomes, we employed semi-structured interviews. To track the evolution of entrepreneurs' expectations and their activity on Instagram, we scraped content (posts) from their respective brands' pages. Fashion brands in Mexico with business models based on sustainable fashion are a mixture of market-based and grassroots initiatives. Although sustainability concerns drive the ventures of sustainability entrepreneurs, Instagramhas played a crucial role in the evolution of entrepreneurs' expectations towards innovation with products and business growth. This change in expectations can be understood as a transformative learning process that underscores different phases, action engagement, disorienting dilemmas and discourse. We contribute to opening and exploring the black box regarding the learning processes in the articulation and evolution of expectations.
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Desertification, a Condition That Involves People, Soil And the Ways of Being in the World
ResearchGate
André Francisco Pilon
The 15th Conference of the Parties, taking place in Côte d’Ivoire, will count with environment ministers, private sector and civil society representatives in view of the global land restoration agenda, future-proof land use and tackle the growing impacts of drought. After more than three decades of scientific reports and international meetings, it is clear that there is no consistent progress towards an integrated worldwide approach in the public and private arena to climate change, to food insecurity, and access to non-pollutant fuels. As a global community, the world can no longer rely on incremental reforms within traditional planning and development frameworks to address the profound environmental challenges facing human survival, which intertwine economic, political and cultural issues.
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 The Problematic Role of Materialistic Values in the Pursuit of Sustainable Well-Being
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Amy Isham, Caroline Verfuerth, Alison Armstrong, Patrick Elf, Birgitta Gatersleben, Tim Jackson
Strong materialistic values help to maintain consumer capitalism, but they can have negative consequences for individual well-being, for social equity and for environmental sustainability. In this paper, we add to the existing literature on the adverse consequences of materialistic values by highlighting their negative association with engagement in attitudes and actions that support the achievement of sustainable well-being. To do this, we explore the links between materialistic values and attitudes towards sufficiency (consuming “just enough”) as well as mindfulness (non-judgmental awareness of the present moment) and flow (total immersion in an activity), which have all been linked to increased well-being and more sustainable behaviours. We present results from three correlational studies that examine the association between materialistic values and sufficiency attitudes (Study 1, n = 310), a multi-faceted measure of mindfulness (Study 2, n = 468) and the tendency to experience flow (Study 3, n = 2000). Results show that materialistic values were negatively associated with sufficiency attitudes, mindfulness, and flow experiences. We conclude with practical considerations and suggest next steps for tackling the problematic aspects of materialism and encouraging the development of sustainable well-being.
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 Just Transitions in context: A universal framework for comparing transition pathways and policy mixes in terms of inclusivity
Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Anna Berka, Christina Hoicka, Karl Sperling, James Turner, Julie MacArthur, Karen Hytten
Inclusive innovation, defined by wider and deeper forms of civic engagement in socio- technical change processes, is often seen as an effective and underutilised pathway to accelerate a transition to a low carbon society. However, evidence suggests that its role in energy transitions has been limited as well as unique to specific material-economic, actor-institutional and discursive contexts. Here we characterise inclusive versus exclusive transition pathways in relation to governance and policy. First, we characterise policy mixes that can be used to analyse and compare inclusive climate change and energy policy across regional or country context, by drawing on existing innovation policy frameworks and the rich literature analysing the barriers and enabling policies for civic energy. Second, we develop ideal type pathways and policy predictions for inclusive versus exclusive governance contexts by synthesising existing theoretical and empirical contributions on participation in transitions, inclusive innovation, and the politics of institutional change, showing how inclusivity of the policy mix is likely to shape the emergence and diffusion of different forms of civic energy. We outline a research agenda enabling translation of best-practice policy across contexts and understanding the relationship between the inclusivity of low carbon innovation and the political viability and speed of transitions.
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 The role and potential of tripartite partnerships to promote strong sustainable consumption in the context of Brazil: an evaluation of possibilities and risks
Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability
Veronica M. Oliveira, P. Elf, S. É. N. Correia & C. R. P. Gomez
The growing concern about persisting environmental problems caused by overconsumption in the context of Brazil must be understood as an issue of democratic character. However, there is a gap in research examining models that can drive change of sustainable-related issues such as sustainable consumption. Critically evaluating existing literature, we discuss the potential of tripartite partnerships (TPPs) to advance sustainable consumption practices. We argue that multi-sector partnership approaches such as TPPs involving multiple actors can strengthen a socio-political basis for the advancement of public policies and inter-sectorial dynamics offering mechanisms that can foster sustainable consumption. By applying a TPP model as analytical lens, we explore prevalent possibilities and risks of promoting sustainable consumption in the context of Brazil.
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 Toward Sustainable Wellbeing: Advances in Contemporary Concepts
Sustainable Consumption and Care
Tag O'Mahony
Sustainability and wellbeing are two key global policy priorities, which despite considerable overlap, are invariably isolated. In wellbeing, the importance of social dimensions is an emergent conclusion, but recognition of the environment and nature is embryonic. In sustainability, wellbeing remains poorly characterized. Despite some procedural advantages, in practice, a continued ambiguity risks compromising both goals, and improved conceptual integration is therefore necessary. In this review article, key contemporary wellbeing accounts are considered, including preferences, needs, capabilities, happiness, psychological wellbeing, and physical wellness. Wellbeing literature suggests that a holistic multidimensional account is strongly supported, that is context- and value-dependent, with a prominent role for social and relational dimensions. A transdisciplinary systems thinking approach is appropriate to integrate from the individualism characteristic of wellbeing, to the interdependent human and environmental systems of sustainability. It is recognized that both wellbeing and sustainability are complex and value-laden, requiring the surfacing of values and ethics. A synthesis of the two branches of literature asserts four fundamental lenses: the framing of growth and change; social justice; the ethics of freedom; and the value of nature. The conceptual synthesis both platforms the relational approach of “care,” and underlines the imperative to reconsider the place of consumption. An integrated “sustainable wellbeing” offers the potential for win-win outcomes, in transformation to a flourishing of human wellbeing and the natural world.
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 Does Sharing with Neighbours Work? Accounts of Success and Failure from Two German Housing Experimentations
Housing, Theory and Society
Andreas Huber
This paper analyses the normalization of everyday sharing practices in two exemplary German neighbourhoods, which both provide numerous opportunities for sharing spaces, stuff, food and mobility carriers, but differ regarding their “philosophy”. The first case belongs to the increasingly popular “collaborative housing” model, the second one is a developer-driven, service-based project. Inspired by core ideas from Social Practice Theory, the guiding questions of this research are then 1) to which extent have sharing practices become a normal part of residents’ lives in these neighbourhoods and 2) what may explain observed differences? Evidence shows that residents in the collaborative housing case share more frequently, more regularly and over longer timespans than their counterparts in the developer-driven neighbourhood. I argue that this is due to a higher share of fitting practice configurations and a better integration of sharing practices into tenants’ typical patterns of everyday life.
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We're very pleased to welcome 15 new SCORAI members who joined the network since our last newsletter, bringing our organization's total membership to 1,402 individuals. New members include:
- Alain Duchene, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
- Agnontcheme Abiola, Cinno Consulting Ltd, Cotonou, Benin
- Christopher Newman, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
- Soniya Billore, Linnaeus University, Department of Marketing, Växjö, Sweden
- Jessica Zaphiropoulo, Pacte, Grenoble, France
- Lena Siepker, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
- Daniela Cialfi, University of Studies Gabriele d'Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy
- Noam Luvaton, Holon, Israel
- Patty Ramirez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
- Marina Gattas, WEAll, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Sonya Ahamed, Michigan Technological University, Chester, USA
- John Liu, MIT, Cambridge, USA
- Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
- Massilia Ourabah, UGent, Gent, France
- Gaelle Bargain-Darrigues, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, USA
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About SCORAI
SCORAI (Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative) is an international knowledge network of researchers and practitioners committed to building a flourishing and ecologically-sound society by changing the way we consume. We advance research, disseminate knowledge, impact policies and support campaigns. SCORAI recognizes that technological innovation alone is insufficient to address climate change and environmental threats. Therefore we support transformative changes in the economy, institutions and culture.
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