Greetings SCORAI members!
Thank you as always to everyone who shared news and updates for this newsletter. We also want to thank you all for your patience and support following the cancellation of our October webinar and to provide the very good news that the webinar has been rescheduled for Monday, December 13! As a reminder, you can find all webinar information at: https://scorai.net/scorai-webinars-fall-2021/
Before that, however, we have another exciting speaker for our November webinar. Lewis Akenji of the Hot or Cool Institute speaking about his new report on 1.5 degree lifestyles, which launched on October 5. The webinar will be held on November 15th from 10:00AM - 11:00AM EDT.
Presenting "1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Towards a Fair Consumption Space for All"
November 15, 10:00AM - 11:00AM EDT
Speaker: Dr. Lewis Akenji
Changes in predominant lifestyles, especially in high-consuming societies, will determine whether we meet commitments in the Paris Agreement and avoid dire consequences of climate change, as warned by the IPCC. And yet…
…In a world with a limited and fast-shrinking global carbon budget, coupled with vast inequalities, how do we allocate the remaining carbon allowance in a manner that is fair while drastically decreasing our footprints within a limited timeframe to avoid irreversible ecological damage?
The new report, 1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Towards a Fair Consumption Space for All, analyses and presents data addressing the above question and more:
- what lifestyles targets are compatible with the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change?
- do we need behaviour change or systems change?
- what are priority areas for making changes?
- what types of policies are acceptable in an ecological emergency?
As Managing Director, Lewis oversees strategic development, program implementation, and staff management at Hot or Cool. Previously, Lewis has served as Executive Director of SEED, founded as a UN partnership at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development to promote entrepreneurship for sustainable development. Prior to that, he was Director for Sustainable Consumption and Production at the think tank Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.
He has consulted with organizations including United Nations agencies, the Asian and African Development Banks, the European Commission, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and has served as technical or science-policy adviser to several national government delegations, including Finland, Japan, Sweden, Indonesia, Hungary. Lewis conceived and led the 1.5-Degree Lifestyles project, analysing potential contribution of lifestyle changes to the aspirational 1.5 °C target under the Paris Agreement on climate change. He co-lead the United Nations One Planet programme on Sustainable Lifestyles and Education. He has an M.Sc. Sustainable Resource Management (Technical University Munich, Germany) and a Ph.D. Political Economy (University of Helsinki, Finland).
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Follow us @SCORAI_net to join our very interesting discussions! What do you think is the single biggest threat to human flourishing?
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Spotlight on:
Forum Visions in Action
Guest Contribution from Ginnie Guillen-Hanson, SCORAI Member
Forum Visions in Action (Forum ViA) is engaging young changemakers in making sustainable consumption happen.
Engaging young changemakers in actions for change normally comes in the shape of competition, and then what happens next? Our approach intends to go beyond the competition empowering changemakers to make their projects come true.
Forum ViA is an educational NGO that started in 2012 with the idea of using sustainability-focused storytelling and blended youth exchange formats as tools for Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education.
Since then, we've inspired, connected and empowered young people from around the world through unique learning experiences to co-create a livable common future in Virtual Youth exchanges with a purpose.
Just between August and October 2021. ViA collaborated with the German Cultural Goethe Institute in Beijing/China, the Swedish WinWin Organization and the European Commission to take their youth sustainability idea-competitions a step further and help the finalists of these competitions to build skills for long-term change.
How?
In virtual peer-learning journeys such as the Win-Win Sustainablity Adventure, we turn previous competitors into collaborators that learn from each other’s experiences and are encouraged to apply new skills such as design thinking and SDG storytelling for an increased, holistic impact of their ideas.
ViA is always excited to bring out the potential of youth-collaboration for SCP and invites all SCORAI members to think about the potential of bringing the power of youth to make the Action of research happen.
You can follow ViA on LinkedIn if you want to stay tuned about how our activities turn SCP visions into action; or, contact us directly at info@forum-via.org if you want to meet with us and explore opportunities together!
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Want to simplify the holidays?
The Center for Biological Diversity can help!
Between Thanksgiving and the New Year, many American households generate more waste than usual. And it’s not just the extra trash that’s a problem. All the fossil fuels, trees and other natural resources that go into producing unnecessary plastic toys, novelty gifts and wrapping paper make the winter holidays dreary for wildlife and the habitat they need to survive.
Simplify the Holidays is redefining holiday traditions and celebrations in ways that respect land, waters and wildlife and refocus on what really matters. When people talk about why they love the holidays, they usually describe spending time with family and friends, eating good food, having fun and relaxing.
Too often we feel trapped by all the shopping, spending, and frenzied preparations that accompany these celebrations. It’s time to think outside the (big) box. It’s time to celebrate holidays wrapped in more meaning and less stuff. It’s time for holidays with wildlife-friendly gifts and traditions that encourage creativity, increase connection, ease stress, save money, reduce waste and help the environment.
Join the Center for Biological Diversity for a webinar on Nov. 2, 2021, from 2:00-3:00 PM ET that includes tips, tricks and hacks for having a low-waste and less stressful holiday season. Register here: https://bit.ly/2QBkT8x |
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Special issue of the RAUSP Management Journal: The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Management Theory and Practice
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2022
This special issue of RAUSP Management Journal encourages new thinking and discussion about how Management Research addresses the numerous critical issues covered by the SDGs, and at the same time contributing to Management Theory and Practice.
Since its launch by the United Nations in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become a worldwide reference in discussing social, environmental and other related issues. The SDGs are an integrated framework comprising 17 goals, 169 objectives and more than 200 indicators, and based on five principles: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership (UN, 2015). By emphasizing the importance of the SDGs in Management Research (George et al., 2016; Chapman et al., 2020; Macht et al., 2020; Belmonte-Ureña et al., 2021), we welcome submissions from different geographical regions and methods (as experiments, structural equation modelling, system dynamics, agent-based modelling, ethnography and case studies, among others).
Guest Editors
Roberta de Castro Souza Piao (University of São Paulo/USP - Brazil)
Andrea Rossi Scalco (São Paulo State University/UNESP – Brazil)
Diego Vazquez-Brust (University of Portsmouth – UK)
Jose Antonio Plaza-Ubeda (University of Almeria – Spain)
María Elena Tavera Cortés (Instituto Politécnico Nacional – México)
Full submission guidelines:
https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/rausp/un-sustainable-development-goals-and-management-theory-and-practice
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Wondering how to promote sustainability locally?
Take action with this new action guide from Local Futures!
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The Localization Action Guide details 146 ways for individuals, communities and policymakers to make a real, hands-on difference in their local areas. It points to key resources, networks and examples to inform and inspire actions with a systemic impact, including:
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Tell us what you're doing to promote local sustainable consumption on Twitter! @SCORAI_net |
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Listed in chronological order, from coming-soon to farthest out on the horizon.
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26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26)
1-12 November 2021 | Glasgow, Scotland
The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The UK is committed to working with all countries and joining forces with civil society, companies and people on the frontline of climate change to inspire climate action ahead of COP26.
In 2015, in Paris, world leaders committed to a historic agreement to tackle climate change. They agreed to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 ℃ above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the rise to 1.5 ℃.
They also agreed to step up efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. By completing and implementing the Paris Agreement we can show that the world is able to work together to tackle this crucial challenge.
And by uniting behind a green recovery from coronavirus, which creates sustainable jobs and addresses the urgent and linked challenges of public health, climate change, and biodiversity loss, we can safeguard the environment for future generations.
Almost 400 young people aged between 18 and 29 from the 197 member-countries of the UNFCCC met in Milan from 28 – 30 September 2021, to elaborate concrete proposals on topics that affect the negotiation process of Pre-COP26 in Milan and COP26 in Glasgow.
Read the summary
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Book Launch: Herman Daly's Economics for a Full World
24 November 2021 | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM EST
This event—hosted by the University of Surrey (UK) in partnership with York University (Canada) as part of the 2021 ESRC Festival of Social Science—will launch Peter Victor’s new book on the life and work of Herman Daly. Speakers are: Herman Daly, Peter Victor, Katherine Trebeck, Ellie Perkins and Tim Jackson.
The USA and UK, like so many other countries, face a grave dilemma: how to regain pre-pandemic levels of economic activity and growth while reducing the already excessive environmental impacts of climate change, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, and contamination of air land and water. The ‘code red alert’ of the most recent IPCC report on climate change exemplifies the seriousness of these problems but it is only one of several globally significant environmental threats crying out for attention. The dilemma is that a return to unending economic growth, especially in advanced economies, is unlikely to be the answer.
Herman Daly is one of very few economists who has devoted his entire career to resolving this dilemma. His economics for a full world has been widely recognised through numerous national and international prestigious prizes and awards. His pathbreaking work on the steady-state economy provides the foundation for new approaches to economics finding favour especially among younger people such as well-being economics, doughnut economics, post-growth economics and degrowth. Daly, born and raised in southern Texas is admired for the clarity of his thinking and expression as well as his kindly manner. He is a founder of ecological economics which views the economy as embedded in and entirely dependent on the biosphere. Nothing in economics could be more relevant to advancing our understanding of and finding solutions for the climate crisis and sustainability.
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YHYS Colloquium: Sustainable Welfare
25-26 November 2021 | Aalto University, Finland
Welfare societies have evolved to pursue progress, distribute wellbeing, and build up institutional capacities to regulate and steer social development. Sustainability concerns present a double bind for such societies. While the key conditions of the development of welfare societies erode, including rampant acquisition of natural resources and rapid economic growth, crisis escalate and transformational sustainability challenges amount. In between such pressures, sustainability pursuits call for a broad constituency, new visions of welfare and wellbeing and creative articulation of transformational pathways to sustainability.
The YHYS 2021 colloquium will highlight the following aspects of sustainability transformations:
- Institutional lock-ins and the capacities of the welfare state
- Novel ideas about the actors, key processes, and structures in a welfare state context
- How environmental and social crises punctuate and build momentum for transformations
- Legitimacy, inclusiveness, and acceptance of sustainability transformations
- How global perspectives infuse in and inform societal change from personal and local to national processes
Full conference information here:
https://www.aalto.fi/en/sustainable-welfare
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Sustainable Consumption at COP 26: Implementing SDG 12
26 November 2021 | 1:15 to 2:45 PM EDT
The intensity of heatwaves, flooding, and wildfires going on right now underscores the steep challenges world leaders face at the November Conference of Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow. Few countries have made good on their 2015 climate promises made in Paris. Without more ambitious targets and credible actions to back them up, the world will fail to hold the increase in the global average temperatures to well below 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
Join SSF and the Global Electronics Council in partnership with the Global Council for Science and the Environment, to delve deeper into the role of sustainable purchasing at COP26. Learn how the global demand for sustainable and circular technology products & services mitigate climate change, increase the health and wellbeing of individuals worldwide, provide equitable economic opportunity, and transform the technology sector.
First, Gaya Herrington, author of the recent "Update to Limits to Growth," will present her findings from updated modeling. Then, Russian climatologist and IPCC contributor Oleg Anisimov will examine evidence of Arctic destabilization. Finally, Karim Ahmed will discuss accelerating adaptation, especially in island nations.
Panelists
- Gaya Herrington: Author "Limits To Growth: The 30-Year Update." Director, Advisory, Sustainability Services KPMG US
- A. Karim Ahmed, Secretary-Treasurer Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE) Board of Directors. Adjunct Professor Occupational & Environmental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center
- Oleg Anisimov, Department of Climatology, State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia, IPPC Working Group contributor
- Moderator: Nancy Gillis, Chief Executive Officer, Global Electronics Council
Learn more and register:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7323689039467941134
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Symposium of the International Research Network on Sustainable Fashion Consumption 2022
30 March - 1 April 2022 | Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin
Fashion consumption and production have doubled since the beginning of the 21st century, leading to fundamental changes in how we acquire, use, and dispose of our clothes. Consumption of fashion and textiles has been recognised as the fourth most polluting lifestyle domain in Europe, after mobility, food, and household energy use. Challenges of overconsumption and resulting post-consumer textile waste are becoming increasingly evident, especially in the urban context.
The first symposium of the international research network on Sustainable Fashion Consumption (SFC) aims to bring together academic scholars and practitioners to share and discuss ongoing research in the field in efforts to contribute to a transition towards more sustainable forms of fashion consumption.
We would like to invite abstracts (max. 300 words) for scientific studies that address one or several of the indicated themes. Papers can be at different stages of completion and research-in-progress is welcome. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed and selected contributions will be invited. After the end of the symposium, there is a possibility to publish presented research as an edited volume with PALGRAVE. Deadline for abstracts: 1 November 2021.
For more conference information & to register: https://sustainablefashionconsumption.org/symposium-on-sustainable-fashion-consumption/
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2022 GamiFIN Conference
26-29 April 2022 | Hybrid, Online and in Tampere, Finland
This year GamiFIN will be organised as a hybrid event, making it possible for all attendees to participate either live or remotely. The region of Tampere is the second largest urban area in Finland, and one of the greatest cultural and industrial centers of the nordic countries. Tampere is the home of several international gaming companies, a thriving gaming start-up scene and the city also hosts the Finnish Museum of Games. The city itself is situated between two lakes and surrounded by forests: Tampere is a shining example of the Finnish approach to combining Nature and Innovation.
GamiFIN is a leading international conference for gamification research, which is chaired by the professor of gamification, Juho Hamari and gamification scholar Jonna Koivisto. GamiFIN 2022 conference welcomes 1) paper submissions, 2) posters, and 3) doctoral consortium applications from a wide array of topics around e.g. gamification, serious games, VR/AR/MR, esports, streaming.
The conference is organized by the Gamification Group and past keynotes have included notable scholars from the field of gamification such as Lennart Nacke, Sebastian Deterding, Richard Landers, T.L. Taylor, Elisa Mekler and Kristian Kiili.
https://gamifinconference.com
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 From the suites to the streets: Examining the range of behaviors and attitudes of international climate activists
Jean Léon Boucher, Garfield T. Kwan, Gina R. Ottoboni, Mark S. McCaffrey
Science Direct
Inspired by previous protest movements, climate activists began taking to the streets in the fall of 2018, revitalizing and reshaping the three-decade-old climate activist movement. This metamorphosis in climate activism, which has led millions around the world to participate in climate strikes and protests, is reflected in the composition of the activists themselves, who the media frequently portray as primarily young and female. In order to better understand this new and evolving landscape, we surveyed self-identifying climate activists, obtaining results from 367 individuals across 66 countries. Our survey, augmented by seven individual interviews, provides an overview of current climate activists, their attitudes, priorities, and actions. Here we map our findings, delineating differences based on gender, age, and geography. Our results indicate that the media’s focus on young female activists is warranted—at least in Europe and North America. We find that while activists share a commitment toward rapid and substantial reduction of greenhouse gases, their attitudes and actions taken to address climate change can significantly differ by demographic group. Despite its limitations, this study provides a glimpse into the demographics, behaviors, and attitudes of climate activists across the globe.
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 Ten new insights in climate science 2021 – a horizon scan
Pascal Frank, Daniel Fischer, Laura Stanszus, Paul Grossman & Ulf Schrader
Global Sustainability
We summarize some of the past year’s most important findings within climate change-related research. New research has improved our understanding about the remaining options to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, through overcoming political barriers to carbon pricing, taking into account non-CO2 factors, a well-designed implementation of demand-side and nature-based solutions, resilience building of ecosystems and the recognition that climate change mitigation costs can be justified by benefits to the health of humans and nature alone. We consider new insights about wha to expect if we fail to include a new dimension of fire extremes and the prospect of cascading climat tipping elements.
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 The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future
Multiple Authors, including SCORAI member Dr. Ilan Kelman
The Lancet
The Lancet Countdown is an international collaboration that independently monitors the health consequences of a changing climate. Publishing updated, new, and improved indicators each year, the Lancet Countdown represents the consensus of leading researchers from 43 academic institutions and UN agencies. The 44 indicators of this report expose an unabated rise in the health impacts of climate change and the current health consequences of the delayed and inconsistent response of countries around the globe—providing a clear imperative for accelerated action that puts the health of people and planet above all else.
The 2021 report coincides with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), at which countries are facing pressure to realise the ambition of the Paris Agreement to keep the global average temperature rise to 1·5°C and to mobilise the financial resources required for all countries to have an effective climate response. These negotiations unfold in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic—a global health crisis that has claimed millions of lives, affected livelihoods and communities around the globe, and exposed deep fissures and inequities in the world's capacity to cope with, and respond to, health emergencies. Yet, in its response to both crises, the world is faced with an unprecedented opportunity to ensure a healthy future for all.
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 Greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia: Production versus consumption accounting from 2010 to 2015
Francisco Daniel Rentería Macedo, Jean Léon Boucher, Guillermina María Peragallo Ramonde, Omar E. Herrera, Walter Mérida
Sustainable Production and Consumption
As a result of carbon-pricing policies, a number of jurisdictions across the world claim to be decoupling their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their gross domestic product (GDP). In British Columbia (BC), Canada, in what appears to be decoupling from 2007 to 2018, GHGs with respect to GDP declined by 16% (BC Government 2020). This finding, however, is the result of a production-based method of accounting—the predominant global approach for allocating emissions—and not a consumption-based method. In this study, we compare these two accounting methods with respect to British Columbian decoupling. We calculate consumption-based emissions through a multi-regional input-output analysis from 2010 to 2015. In our results for 2015, we find total consumption emissions of 82.5Mt of CO2e; when compared to the total production emissions of 73.7Mt of CO2e, we find BC to be a net consumer of emissions by 8.8Mt of CO2e for 2015. Although BC has had this net consumer status since at least 2004 (Dobson and Fellows, 2017), this orientation is in decline primarily due to the decarbonizing trends of China and the USA. In short, for BC from 2010–2015, on a per capita basis, both production and consumption accounts of emissions declined (even as GDP rose), but per capita consumption accounts declined more than production accounts and mostly due to emissions reductions from trade partners. Finally, this study may be of interest to policymakers and scientists, and like other scholars, we recommend that consumption-based inventories accompany production-based accounts when designing and assessing global GHG mitigation policy.
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 Communicating water availability to improve awareness and implementation of water conservation: A study of the 2018 and 2020 drought events in the Republic of Ireland
Sarpong Hammond Antwi, Alec Rolston, Suzanne Linnane and David Getty
Science of the Total Environment
Public communication on water availability is pivotal in highlighting water conservation needs as droughts impact water resources for critical use, such as drinking water quality and accessibility. This paper presents the results of research into public communication on water availability and the implementation of water conservation measures in the Republic of Ireland. The paper analyses social media (Twitter and Facebook) communication and newspaper publications from 2018 to 2020 on water conservation and drought events, in addition, to undertaking six key stakeholder interviews made up of journalists, political representatives, and a water and communication expert. Based on our findings, we demonstrate the need for public engagement and collaborative efforts to communicate drought and water conservation measures led by An Fóram Uisce | The Water Forum. Recommendations made in this study also aim to influence decision-making and awareness among stakeholders regarding drought communication on water conservation and resources availability.
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 Alternative/Diverse Economies
Benedikt Schmid
International Encyclopedia of Geography
Alternative economies and diverse economies refer to the heterogenous ways in which humans organize and govern their common survival and wellbeing with an emphasis on processes that diverge (intentionally or not) from private accumulation of monetary value, market competition, and the commodification of essentials and life itself. This entry unravels the different lines of thought and practice that comprise the field(s) of alternative and diverse economies while maintaining an integrative perspective. It outlines alternative proposals with respect to six common points of contention – growth, property, markets, labor, heteronomy, and exploitation.
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We're very pleased to welcome 7 new SCORAI members who joined the network since our last newsletter, bringing our organization's total membership to 1,387 individuals. New members include:
- Iryna Bilohorka, Minerva University, San Francisco, USA
- M. Cenker Tuncer, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Charlotte Cecil, Thrivespring, Toronto, Canada
- Matthew Paterson, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
- Azhan Hasan, Turner and Townsend LLC Qatar & Qatar Rail/Ministry of Municipality Environment (MME) Qatar, Doha, Qatar
- Andrea Perez Porres, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
- Astrid Nilsson, SEI, Stockholm, Sweden
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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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