Conference Themes and Objectives

Call for Papers: [PDF]

This conference takes place as this century's key challenges for human society become ever clearer and more entrenched: increasing levels of resource use and environmental impacts; threats to food, water and energy security; unequal distribution of economic and physical wealth; power imbalances and conflicts; new waves of political and economic migration; and the lack of international will to address the reality of planetary threats such as climate change and global biodiversity loss. In the face of these challenges, the very notion of universal progress is eroded. In this context, academic thinking beyond traditional disciplines is called upon to play a crucial role.

ESEE 2015 explores solutions for the transformation to a sustainable society. Research is needed which is both critical of the blindness of the past and visionary for the future. Ecological Economics contributes by shining a spotlight on the interdependency of economic activity and natural systems, and identifying options that prioritise human wellbeing within planetary boundaries. The conference will contribute to the dissemination of knowledge on these issues, foster future research collaborations between academics and stakeholders, and provide training and learning opportunities for younger researchers through an associated summer school which will feed into the main conference. Under the banner of Transformations, we invite contributions which aspire to go beyond academic excellence to guide the future on the following themes:

1. Post-growth economics

This theme addresses changes needed to economic systems to achieve a high level of human well-being for all people without relying on increasing consumption, including:

1.1. Degrowth and steady-state economics

1.2. Green economy and ecological macroeconomics

1.3. Work and employment beyond growth

1.4. Financial and monetary reform for sustainability

1.5. Stabilising population

1.6. Social metabolism, industrial ecology, and the new industrial revolution

2. Natural resources, ecosystem services and environmental quality

This theme encompasses empirical investigations into the systems, incentives, institutions and business models for natural resources, ecosystem services and environmental quality, including:

2.1. Economics, incentives and institutions for ecosystems and biodiversity

2.2. Natural resources: management, use and conservation

2.3. Ecosystem services: debating, valuing, preserving and providing

2.4. Economic issues in environmental quality and degradation

2.5. Environmental justice

3. Development, consumption and well-being

This theme addresses the challenge of enhancing human well-being within planetary boundaries, including:

3.1. Resource use, health and human well-being

3.2. Distribution, equality, and social justice, including the rural-urban divide

3.3. Developing resilience of systems, businesses and communities

3.4. Alternative development pathways for the Global South

3.5. Patterns of trade, production, and consumption

4. Power, politics, institutions and the reality of achieving change

This theme addresses political economy and institutional changes needed at local, regional, national and global scales, as well as linkages between these scales, including:

4.1. Power relations and overcoming vested interests

4.2. The role of social movements in the sustainability revolution

4.3. Getting there from here: viable frameworks for planetary problems

4.4. Interrelations between societal, cultural, and economic and political values

4.5. The role of cities and scale in achieving sustainability

5. New business models and understandings of human behaviour

This theme addresses the role of new business models and understanding of human behaviour in achieving a socially and environmentally sustainable economy:

5.1. Business models, organisations, and alternative valuation

5.2. Investment, finance and social welfare

5.3. Product-service systems and transition to a circular economy

5.4. Changing practices and patterns of human behaviour

5.5. Governing and managing interactions between stakeholders

6. Theory, methods and practice

This theme examines theoretical and methodological advances needed to address the above challenges, including:

6.1. Heterodox, post-Keynesian and ecological economics: connections and contradictions

6.2. Transdisciplinarity: post normal science, sustainability science, transdisciplinary research designs

6.3. Indicators and modelling approaches

6.4. Teaching ecological economics: curriculum development and practical experiences

6.5. Participation and engagement: ecological economics and stakeholder communities