Bulletin of the ISEE April 2019
ISEE Bulletin,
April 3d 2019
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
Call for Papers for a Sustainability Conference in France
Paradigms, Models, Scenarios and Practices for more Sustainability
University of Clermont Auvergne (UCA)
Jean Monnet Excellence Center on Sustainability (ERASME)
4 – 5 – 6 December 2019
Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Clermont-Ferrand, France
While the notion of sustainability continues to be associated with the Brundtland Report (1987) and the concept of sustainable development, it is increasingly seeking to emancipate itself in order to provide a representation of the world that is consistent with the aspirations of the moment. Everything must be sustainable; agriculture, food, natural resources, biodiversity, water, energy, cities, territories, tourism… At the risk of falling into overkill and excess, our social model must be part of a strong sustainability and refuse any compromise with possible cover-ups (we can mention here green growth, green washing, decoupling or even the latest creation, sustainable innovation).
This enthusiasm and its expectations for more sustainability go beyond the environmental framework. Indeed, if reducing our ecological footprint is a necessity, it is associated with other objectives (the famous SDGs) that claim a certain legitimacy. The eradication of poverty, the reduction of inequalities, access for all to education, electricity and water, the development of 100% renewable energy… are part of a political discourse, targets of major international institutions, but also demands from the world’s citizens. The recent events in France, the movement of yellow vests, is an excellent illustration of this. Motivated by the increase in the domestic consumption tax on energy products, this movement has gradually been extended to other social demands (increase in purchasing power, maintenance of public services, improvement of democracy, etc.), and then spread to a large number of countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom, etc.).
The call for papers intends to use these facts and expectations to question the paradigms, models, scenarios and practices that embody this thirst for sustainability. As curious as it may seem, subjects such as renewable energies, participatory democracy, organic farming and eco-cities did not wait to be driven by the wave of sustainability to claim certain practices or propose alternative representations. As a result, one may wonder what meaning should be given to the very idea of sustainability and the representations it conveys.
The organizers of the symposium intend to focus on the following themes, however, any proposal that raises debate or questions about sustainability will be carefully considered:
1 How do the different sciences approach the question of sustainability, are there important differences between the Social Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Life and Earth Sciences? Do the Social Sciences have a unanimous and universal vision of sustainability or should we distinguish Economics (and their approach in terms of weak and strong sustainability) from the Communication Sciences or other Social Sciences (geography, sociology, anthropology…). This first theme aims to propose a collection of representations on sustainability and to initiate debates around an interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approach to sustainability.
2 What are the dimensions and themes that embody or on the contrary escape the discourse on sustainability. This second theme also raises the question of new fields of sustainability (urban agriculture, sustainable cities, education for sustainability, sustainable mobility, gender, etc.) or measures reflecting a certain idea of sustainability (universal income, complementary currency, zero unemployment territories, etc.).
3 What are the paradigms that embody today the very idea of strong sustainability? By paradigm, we mean here a representation of the world or a way of seeing things based on a disciplinary matrix, a theoretical model, a current of thought, or even a set of so-called citizen practices. Should we position strong sustainability at the level of so-called alternative paradigms, such as Social and Solidarity Economy, Collaborative Economy, Economy of sharing, Ecodevelopment, Degrowth, Complexity’s theory, Buen vivir, Ecological Economics, Political Ecology, Industrial Ecology, Bioeconomy, Bio-baised Economy… or is it rather the simple return of utopias to the ideology of growth and technological progress?
4 What are the models, methods and scientific tools that leave in off space for strong sustainability? The latter refers to the modelling of complex and dynamic systems. System thinking or system dynamics are often presented as appropriate methods to address system complexity (feedback loops, time effects and timelines) and sustainability at the global level (within the boundaries of the system under study). Tools such as Life Cycle Analysis, Material Flow Analysis Input-Ouput Analysis, Circles of Sustainability are also used in engineering and social sciences to define the notion of sustainability. Finally, some model such as World Model and Integrated Assessment Models (IAM) or propose to integrate energy, economic, climate and environmental issues (air quality, biodiversity, etc.) in order to suggest mitigation/ adaptation strategies to policy makers or long term scenarios (population, food, agriculture, natural resourceS). How do these models fit (or not) into a strong sustainability framework?
5 Which scenarios by 2025, 2050 or 2100 most embody the idea of strong sustainability? Should scenarios such as green growth, steady state, degrowth or collapse be seen as ways of thinking (or not) about sustainability? What place should we give to the so-called utopian scenarios (100% renewable energies) and describing what we would like for the future in the face of the so-called pragmatic scenarios (the energy mix) and embodying an energy transition? Doesn’t the idea of transition finally move us away from a strong sustainability scheme? It could even be seen as an abuse of weakness, distilled by lobbies that are not ready to make the radical changes necessary to move towards a better life society.
6 How to finance this sustainability? If governments and major international institutions are investing in renewable energies, organic farming, positive energy buildings and sustainable mobility, the question arises today as to how to finance these actions and strategies. Taxes and subsidies (and more generally taxation), public spending (at national or European level), the reform of financial markets… or the implementation of an active monetary policy could all be tools that commit our societies to greater sustainability.
7 How to assess sustainability? The latter is often put in tension, between scientific discourse, political debates and field practices. A sustainability assessment raises a set of questions and issues: What can be assessed (in terms of sustainability objectives)? Who can evaluate (in the sense of expertise)? How to evaluate (in terms of procedures, methods and indicators)?
Proposals for papers in English or French should include a 250-350 word abstract, a title, the names of the authors and their institutions, their emails. They must be sent to us before july 15th, 2019. The final texts must be sent by 15 November 2019. A publication of papers will be proposed via two journals (Revue Francophone du développement durable and European Review on Sustainability and Degrowth) and a collective book.
Two prices will be awarded at the end of the Symposium: «Jean Monnet Prize for Sustainability» for an expert researcher and «Donella Meadows Prize for Sustainability» for a young female researcher.
The conference is labelled Eurasmus +, it is part of the activities of the Jean Monnet Excellence Center on Sustainability (ERASME), located at the UCA (Polytech Clermont Ferrand).
Organizing Committee: David Collste, Patricia Coelho, Arnaud Diemer, Florian Dierickx, Johanna Gisladottir, Ganna Gladkykh, Jennifer Hinton, Faheem Khushik, Manuel Morales, Eduard Nedelciu, Abdourakhmane Ndiaye, Maartje Oostdijk, Timothée Parrique, Marie Schellens, Nathalie Spittler, Julian Torres.
Scientific Committee : Belaïd Abrika (UMMTO, Algeria), Christian Adamescu (Research Centre in Systems Ecology and Sustainability, University of Bucarest, Romania), Eric Agbessi (UCA, France), Gerd Alhert (GWS, Germany), Aleix Altimiras Martin (UNICAMP, Brazil), Najet Aroua (Ecole Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme, Algeria), Virginie Baritaux (VetAgro Sup, France), Cécile Batisse (UCA- CERDI), Salim Belyazid (Stockholm University, Sweden), Eric Berr (University of Bordeaux, Gretha, France), Simone Bertoli (UCA, CERDI, France), Jérôme Blanc (SciencesPo Lyon, Triangle, France), Dominique Bourg (UNIL, Switzerland), Nicolas Buclet (University Grenoble Alpes, France), Pascal Carrère (INRA, France), Derek Chan (Millenium Institute, USA), Eric Dacheux (UCA, France), Guillaume Deffuant (Irstea, France), Arnaud Diemer (UCA, CERDI, France), Ali Douai (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, GREDEG, France), Nicolas Duracka (CISCA, France), Gilles Dussap (Polytech Clermont Ferrand, France), Suren Erkman (UNIL, Lausanne, Switzerland), Etienne Espagne (CEPII, France), Marie Fare (University of Lyon 2, Triangle, France), Sylvie Ferrari (University of Bordeaux, Gretha, France), Catherine Figuière (University Alpes Grenoble, CREG, France), Gérard Fonty (GREFFE, France), Geraldine Froger (University of Toulouse, France), Giorgos Kallis (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain), Rafia Halawany-Darson (VetAgro Sup, France), Paul James (Western University of Sydney, Australia), Jean-Marc Lange (University of Montpellier, France), Elisabete Linhares (Santarem, Portugal), Salma Loudiyi (VetAgro Sup, France), Jean- Philippe Luis (MSH Clermont-Ferrand, France), Gilles Mailhot (UCA, FRE, France), Sébastien Marchand (UCA, CERDI, France), Jean Denis Mathias (Irstea, France), Paulo Marques (University of Sao Paulo, Brazil), Aurélie Méjean (CIRED, France), Mark Meyer (GWS, Germany), Antoine Missemer (CIRED, France), Jenneth Parker (Schumacher Institute), Matteo Pedercini (Millennium Institute), Francine Pellaud (HEP Fribourg, Switzerland), Lydia Prieg (Cambridge University, United Kingdom), Laurent Rieutort (IADT, France), Laurence Roudart (ULB, Belgium), Lucie Sauvé (UQAM, Canada), Valeria Jana Schwanitz (Norway University, Norway), Anne Snick (KU Leuven, Belgium), Raffaela Taddeo (University G. d’Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Italy), Ariane Tichit (UCA-CERDI), Sebastian Toc (Research Institute for Quality of Life, Romanian Academy, Romania), Laurent Trognon (AgroParisTech, France), Franck-Dominique Vivien (University Reims Champagne Ardennes, France), Dmitry Ymashev (Lancaster University, United Kingdom), Jean Paul Vanderlinden (University Paris Saclay – University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France), Tommaso Venturini (CNRS, France), Videira Nuno (New University of Lisbon, Portugal), Peter Victor (York University, Canada).
Contact
Arnaud Diemer: arnaud.diemer@uca.fr
Julian Torres: Julian.torres@live.it
Information: https://www.erasme-uca.fr
Registration and send the abstract: https://sustainability.sciencesconf.org
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