Thematic Group:
Ethics, Sustainability and Accountability
News
Inaugural ESA conference announcement
Sam Mansell writes:
"I'm pleased to announce that the inaugural ESA conference will take place on Monday 15 July and Tuesday 16 July 2013 in the Gateway Boardroom. Unfortunately none of the suggested dates suited all the group members, so my apologies to those who cannot make these dates.
"The idea at present is for this to be an opportunity for group members to discuss not only their particular projects but also their broader research agenda, with the hope that this will spark ideas for collaboration across the group and also within the School. I'm aware that PhD students will have recently presented as part of the upgrade/review process, but the conference is also open to them to present their work if they wish. Of course, these ideas may well evolve during our various meetings this semester."
23 January 2013
A sustainability science reading group
St Andrews Institute for Sustainability (SASI) is supporting a reading group in sustainability science for the academic year 2012-13. We plan to have four meetings in Semester One and Semester Two followed by a workshop exploring the relevance of sustainability science for the University of St Andrews at the end of Semester Two.
The group meets Fridays from 1-3pm in weeks 2, 5, 8 and 10 of Semester One (concurrent with eating our lunch). The group is open to all interested staff and PhD students and will be open to MSc (Sustainable Development) students if there is space.
The aim for the group is to undertake a sustained investigation of a potentially relevant intellectual field which relates to sustainable development.
Potential outcomes that might arise from this activity include:
- Develop a shared understanding of the nature and complexity of the field of sustainability science
- Explore the relevance of sustainability science for teaching and research activities
- Build skills in discussing papers and ideas in a group setting
If you would like to join the group please let Rhona McLaren know. We are looking forward to seeing as many folk there who are interested and can make it.
Semester One
First session
Kates, R.W., Clark, W.C., Corell, R., Hall, J.M., Jaeger, C.C., Lowe, I., McCarthy, J.J., Schellnhuber, H.J., Bolin, B., Dickson, N.M., Faucheux, S., Gallopin, G.C., Grübler, A., Huntley, B., Jäger, J., Jodha, N.S., Kasperson, R.E., Mabogunje, A., Matson, P., Mooney, H., Moore, B., O'Riordan, T., & Svedin, U. (2001). Sustainability Science. Science 292, 641-642. Komiyama, H., & Takeuchi, K. (2006). Sustainability science: building a new discipline. Sustainability Science 1, 1-6.
Second session
Goeminne, G. (2011). Has science ever been normal? On the need and impossibility of a sustainability science. Futures 43, 627-636.
Third session
Kajikawa, Y. (2008). Research core and framework of sustainability science. Sustainability Science 3, 215-239.
Fourth session
Quental, N., Lourenço, J., & da Silva, F. (2011). Sustainability: characteristics and scientific roots. Environment, Development and Sustainability 13, 257-276.
Semester Two
Fifth session
Wiek A., Withycombe L., Redman C., (2011) Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development. Sustainability Science 6,203–218.
Sixth session
Kastenhofer, K., Bechtold, U., & Wilfing, H. (2011). Sustaining sustainability science: The role of established inter-disciplines. Ecological Economics 70, 835-843.
Seventh session
Jerneck, A., Olsson, L., Ness, B., Anderberg, S., Baier, M., Clark, E., Hickler, T., Hornborg, A., Kronsell, A., Lövbrand, E., & Persson, J. (2011). Structuring sustainability science. Sustainability Science 6, 69-82.
Eight session
Geels, F (2010), Ontologies, socio-technical transitions (to sustainability), and the multi-level perspective. Research Policy, 39, 495–510.
Symposium papers first pass (others will emerge over the year)
Müller, A. (2003). A flower in full blossom?: Ecological economics at the crossroads between normal and post-normal science. Ecological Economics 45, 19-27.
Miller, R., (forthcoming). Constructing sustainability science: emerging perspectives and research trajectories. Sustain Science
On 6 June 2011, scholars from the School of Management's Ethics, Sustainability and Accountability theme group met together in their first annual gathering. They were joined by colleagues from other theme groups as well as visitors to the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR), colleagues from the Department of Social Anthropology and colleagues from beyond the University to debate where the leading edge of research for sustainability and organisations might be. In addition, the UN's initiative on Principles for Responsible Management Education (see http://www.unprme.org/ and "School endorses PRME") was discussed. Furthermore, considerable debate about how to engage with practice and how research results might be communicated outside of academic circles emerged with a focus on thinking how to move from a knowledge transmission to a co-creation approach – drawing from the expertise of the Knowledge and Practice theme group.
Please see Seminars for details of research seminars organised by the group from autumn 2010.