Sustainable production, consumption, and livelihoods: global and regional research perspectives
Introduction
This special issue is based on papers and discussions at the first global workshop “Global and Regional Research on Sustainable Production and Consumption Systems: Achievements, Challenges, and Dialogues”, organized in Rio de Janeiro by the Global Research Forum on Sustainable Production and Consumption, GRF-SPaC, June 13–15, 2012 (Lorek et al., 2013). The year 2012 was the 20th anniversary of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, more familiarly known as the “Earth Summit.” In June of that year world leaders from governments, business and civil society met once again in Rio de Janeiro (the UN Conference on Sustainable Development or “Rio + 20”) to reflect on progress with regard to past and current commitments to the aims of sustainable development articulated in 1992. Given the general acknowledgment of an “implementation gap” amid “worsening trends”, despite increase in public awareness and improvements in eco-efficiency, the need to better understand and promote sustainable production and consumption systems as well as the obstacles to this transition has become increasingly urgent.
The Global Research Forum on Sustainable Production and Consumption (GRF-SPaC) is a new initiative bringing together organizations and individuals from various regions of the world engaged in research and its applications in the transition to sustainable production/consumption (SPaC) systems. During the Rio + 20 conference, June 2012,research organizations, universities, practitioners and think tanks, supported by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment and other partner organizations, helped mount the official launch of GRF-SPaC in Rio de Janeiro. The launch involved several events, most notably a three-day workshop featuring about 90 researchers and practitioners from various regions of the world. The workshop, held at the Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM), had a focus on sustainable consumption and production research as well as its applications in practice.
This GRF-SPaC initiative builds on a 20 + year research tradition involving numerous researchers, institutes, and networks around the world, and on the many efforts and experiences applying research findings to policy, civil society activities, and business. The three-day workshop in Rio represented the official launch of the GRF initiative. The workshop aimed to achieve the following seven objectives:
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To identify some of the most critical research questions to be investigated in the next five to ten years, from the perspective of researchers as well as practitioners, educators, and policy makers.
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To review and assess the current state of knowledge on SCP around the globe, particularly in different regions.
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To create a bridge between researchers and practitioners from different regions around the world in a creative process of exchange of information, knowledge, and perspectives on sustainable production and consumption.
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To review the state-of-the-art concerning how change is achieved and what mechanisms are effective to achieve a switch to sustainable consumption and production patterns.
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To explore how to effectively communicate SCP research and findings to users and the general public, especially in different global regions.
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To formulate and send a clear message on the role of SCP research and practice as it applies to the global policy debate at the UN Rio + 20 conference.
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To examine and encourage research and efforts addressing well-being, inequality and alternative concepts and measures of prosperity, such as the Millennium Consumption Goals.
Workshop outcomes and plans were also discussed in a number of public panels in conjunction with Rio + 20 activities, including the Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development (International Council for Science), and the Brazilian Ministry Dialogue on Sustainable Consumption and Production.
At the time of writing (Sept 2013) GRF-SPaC has established itself as the global network of researchers and practitioners in the field of SPaC. It has organized a number of follow-up workshops and conference sessions in various places around the world (Beijing in 2012, Wuppertal, Stellenbosch, Davos, and Montreal in 2013). It has established a listserve and a website; conducted surveys among participants, reviewed existing SPaC literature, and is presently in the process of organizing its next global conference from June 8–11, 2014, in Shanghai. It has also started a research and policy project to develop frameworks for achieving absolute REDUCTIONS (Reducing Environmental Degradation & Unsustainable Consumption Trends & Impacts On Nature & Society). It closely collaborates with networks and institutions around the globe, like SCORAI in North America and Europe, and IGES in Japan.
Section snippets
On the scope of SCP research
No full agreement exists among scholars about what constitutes the SPaC research field. A distinction needs to be made between research on present (often unsustainable) production and consumption patterns and practices, and studies reflecting the aspiration of SPaC. Another distinction is between individual production and consumption practices and the collective act of production and consumption; which is associated with the cultural notion of a consumer society and consumerist lifestyles. A
Papers in this special issue
In this special issue the selected papers obviously do not cover all categories of Table 2. Still, at the Rio (2012) workshop a remarkable coherence was reached. The workshop papers were at that workshop clustered in the following categories: Southern perspectives (keynote); Long-term visions and trends; Inclusive economy (Keynote); Green innovation; Green economy or degrowth?; Grassroots innovations (keynote); lifestyles; culture; policy; education; and mapping knowledge, practice, and
Reflections and further research
This Special Issue reflects the diversity in the SPaC research field. Because of its global scope, it also highlights regional differences between various areas of the world, in particular how the stage of a country's economic development matters. It further illustrates the multiple perspectives on the question of how to analyze the present production and consumption system, and how to conceptualize (systemic) change. Research over the last decades actually has revealed a lot of the mechanisms
Acknowledgements
The authors thank their GRF-SPaC colleagues for suggestions and comments.
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