Environmentally sustainable houshold consumption: From aggregate environmental pressures to indicators for priority fields of action

During the UNCED conference in Rio de Janeiro 1992 unsustainable consumption and production patterns were identified as one of the key driving forces behind theunsustainable development of the world (Agenda 21, chapter 4). These consumption and production patterns are based on the European model of industrialisation, spread around the globe in the age of colonisation and brought toextremes by the upper-class of industrialised societies, in particular in the United States, but also in a number of countries in the South. Therefore, all states of theworld share the task of developing sustainable consumption and productionpatterns, while particular responsibility rests with the industrialised nations of Europe, North America and Japan. They, and the thriving but small rich elite in the transition countries and in the South, form a global consumer society, with shared products, lifestyles and aspirations. As it is essential to support the transition towards sustainable development byproviding the proper information in an operational manner, the UNCED conference has called for the development of suitable means of information, and in particular for the development of sustainability indicators applicable throughout the world (Agenda 21, chapter 40). The UNDESA set of indicators for changingconsumption and production patterns offers helpful advice in this regard but stilllacks the theoretical underpinning needed to consistently complete it by definingthe few still missing indicators.This paper undertakes to suggest such a methodology based on the environmental space concept. It derives a set of science based indicators from this approachwhich are easily applicable in everyday life and analyses the environmentalrelevance of the consumption clusters chosen for analysis as well as the relevanceof the phenomena characterised by the indicators suggested. As households arejust one actor in the field of consumption, a qualitative assessment of influences isperformed and the result depicting the key actors for each environmentallyrelevant consumption cluster is presented as an actor matrix. --

Sustainability indicators: A compass on the road towards sustainability

--

Towards integrated long-term scenarios for assessing biodiversity risks

From a policy point of view, the rapid loss of biodiversity (how ever measured) constitutes an urgent need to improve the ability to forecast possible changes in biodiversity. Scenario development and modelling are essential tools for studying changes of biodiversity and their impacts in order to provide well-founded policy options. However, so far no comprehensive model has been developed integrating the diverse relevant ecological, economic, individual and societal processes. Instead socio-economic, climate and biodiversity models exhibit a wide range of assumptions concerning population development, economic growth and the resulting pressures on biodiversity. The paper summarises the efforts undertaken in the framework of the ALARM project by an interdisciplinary team of economists, climatologists, land use experts and modellers. It describes the challenges of such a kind of work, bringing together different world views unavoidably inherent to the different fields of investigation

Nachhaltigkeit für Deutschland

Welche Möglichkeiten und Grenzen einer nachhaltigkeitsorientierten sozial-ökologischen Reformstrategie gibt es für Deutschland? Hierzu hat die Hans-Böckler-Stiftung der deutschen Ge­werkschaften 1996 das Forschungsprojekt "Arbeit und Ökologie" initiiert und bis zum Jahre 2000 begleitet und finanziert. Zwei darin entwickelte Reformszenarien, die qualitative Analysen mit Modellsimulationen verbinden, geben unterschiedliche Antworten

Towards integrated long-term scenarios for assessing biodiversity risks

From a policy point of view, the rapid loss of biodiversity (how ever measured) constitutes an urgent need to improve the ability to forecast possible changes in biodiversity. Scenario development and modelling are essential tools for studying changes of biodiversity and their impacts in order to provide well-founded policy options. However, so far no comprehensive model has been developed integrating the diverse relevant ecological, economic, individual and societal processes. Instead socio-economic, climate and biodiversity models exhibit a wide range of assumptions concerning population development, economic growth and the resulting pressures on biodiversity. The paper summarises the efforts undertaken in the framework of the ALARM project by an interdisciplinary team of economists, climatologists, land use experts and modellers. It describes the challenges of such a kind of work, bringing together different world views unavoidably inherent to the different fields of investigation

50 Jahre Stabilitäts- und Wachstumsgesetz

Als Reaktion auf die erste nennenswerte Krise im Wirtschaftswunderland Deutschland wurde am 8. Juni 1967 das Stabilitäts- und Wachstumsgesetz (StWG) verabschiedet. Damit war der Siegeszug des Keynesianismus auch in Deutschland ange kommen. 50 Jahre nach der Einführung ist es Zeit für eine Bilanz

Arbeit und Ökologie: Ein neues Forschungsprogramm

Die Gewerkschaften haben im DGB-Grundsatzprogramm von 1996 die Gestaltung einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung zu einer wichtigen Aufgabe erklärt. lhre Suche nach einer sozial-ökologischen Reformstrategie steht unter der Prämisse, daß ökonomische, ökologische und soziale Nachhaltigkeitsziele gleichwertig verfolgt werden müssen, wobei erhebliche Defizite bei der Berücksichtigung der sozialen Dimension von Nachhaltigkeitskonzepten konstatiert werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund haben sich die drei Forschungsinstitute DIW, WI und WZB mit ihren jeweils spezifischen fachlichen Kompetenzbereichen zum Forschungsprojektverbund "Arbeit und Ökologie" zusammengetan. Dessen Hauptziel ist es, soziale und arbeitspolitische Aspekte in ihrer Wechselwirkung mit zentralen Elementen von unterschiedlich akzentuierten Nachhaltigkeitskonzepten zu untersuchen. Damit soll die Diskussion in Deutschland mit neuen Aspekten belebt und den Gewerkschaften eine fundierte Grundlage für ihren Strategiebildungsprozeß geboten werden. Dabei wird sich das Forschungsprojekt auf drei Leitfragestellungen konzentrieren: (1) das Verhältnis zwischen den sozialen Implikationen von Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien und gewerkschaftlichen Zielen, (2) die Bausteine einer sozial-ökologischen Reformstrategie und (3) die Rolle der deutschen Gewerkschaften in einem gesellschaftlichen Nachhaltigkeitsdiskurs. Das Projekt ist in die folgenden drei, zeitlich gestaffelten Phasen gegliedert: Querschnittsanalysen: Sie dienen der Erfassung und Klärung der vielfaltigen Wechselbeziehungen zwischen Nachhaltigkeit und Arbeit, die sich aus ökonomischer, sozialer und ökologischer Sicht ergeben. Hierbei wird es auf der Makroebene etwa um Fragen von Wirtschaftswachstum, Beschäftigungsentwicklung, sozialer Sicherheit und Ressourcenverbrauch gehen; auf der Mikroebene werden neue Arbeitsverhältnisse und Arbeitszeiten, das Verhältnis von formeller und informeller Arbeit, sowie sozialökologische Innovationspotentiale untersucht. Die Analyseergebnisse sollen Grundlagen für die Beurteilung von Szenarien schaffen und die Formulierung von Strategien unterstützen. Szenarioanalysen: Um dem Spektrum verschiedener Positionen in der Nachhaltigkeitsdiskussion gerecht zu werden, sollen zwei unterschiedliche Nachhaltigkeitsszenarien entwickelt und analysiert werden. Das sogenannte ökonomisch- soziale Szenario geht von der ökonomischen Kritik an der vorherrschenden Wirtschaftspolitik aus, während das sogenannte ökologisch-soziale Szenario auf der ökologischen Kritik vorherrschender umweltrelevanter Politikmuster basiert. Als Hintergrundfolie für die Beurteilung dieser beiden Nachhaltigkeitsszenarien dient ein sog. angebots orientiertes Kontrastszenario, das auf einer Fortschreibung bisher dominierender wirtschaftspolitischer Konzepte beruht. Erarbeitung von Strategieelementen: Die Bewertung der Szenarien nach (aus den Querschnittsanalysen gewonnenen) ökonomischen, ökologischen und sozialen Kriterien soll Zielkonflikte und - Synergien aufdecken und damit der Strategieformulierung dienen. Diese können - gemeinsam mit weiteren Strategieelementen, die aus der Analyse von Konfliktpotentialen und aus den Querschnittsanalysen gewonnen wurden - einen Beitrag für die Entwicklung einer gewerkschaftlichen sozial-ökologischen Reformstrategie liefern. -- In its Basic Programme published in 1996, the German trade union movement declared the shaping of a sustainable development to be an important task. The trade unions seek to pursue a social-ecological reform strategy that takes account of the need to strike a balance between economic, ecological and social sustainability objectives, while serious deficits in the consideration of social dimension of concepts of sustainable are being stated. Against this background, three research institutions (DIW, WI and WZB) with their complementary specialist qualifications and know-how in the relevant disciplines have joined to the Research Network Project "Work and Ecology". Their major objective is to analyse social and labour-related aspects in correlation with central elements of various sustainable development concepts in different perspectives. This aims at stimulating the German discussion with new arguments and establishing a solid base for strategybuilding-process ofthe trade unions. The research project will concentrate on three guiding questions: (I) The relationship between the social implications of sustainability strategies and trade union goals; (2) possible building blocks in a social-ecological reform strategy and (3) the role of German trade unions in a social discourse on sustainability. The project is planned to be accomplished in three main broadly successive working phases: Cross-sectional analyses: The aim of the cross-sectional analyses is to determine and specify the various linkages and interrelationships between sustainability and work seen from an economic, social and ecological perspective. This implies e. g. focussing on questions such as economic growth, the development of employment, social security and resource use on a macro-Ievel, and questions of new labour relations and working time, the relation between formal and informal work and social-ecologial innovation potentials on a micro-Ievel. The cross-sectional analyses are both to provide a basis for drawing up and evaluating the scenarios and to generate findings that can help directly in formulating social-ecological strategy elements. Scenario analyses: In order to take account of the spectrum of positions held in the debate on sustainable development concepts, the research project is to develop and analyse an economic-social and an ecological-social sustainability scenario. The so-called economic-social sustainable development scenario takes up the economic critique of the predominant one-sided orientation of economic policy to the supply side, while the socalled ecological-social sustainable development scenario is based on the critique of the prevailing policy approach regarding the environment. A supply-side scenario based on an extrapolation of the supply-side economic policy concepts, that have been predominant in German politics, will serve as the background evaluationpattern for the two sustainabilty scenarios.

Rethinking sustainability: Questioning old perspectives and developing new ones

The concept of sustainability is still progressing, being complex and contested, and is therefore under continuous discussion and research. This special volume comprises 29 articles exploring recent developments of sustainability concepts, approaches, strategies, policies, and practices, as well as their roles and applicability in different geographic, socio-cultural and economic contexts. The majority of the articles were presented at the 22nd conference of the International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS), held in Lisbon, Portugal, in July 2016. The articles address six overarching themes: i) global perspectives on sustainability challenges, policies and models; ii) the next frontiers of sustainability for corporations, iii) integration of non-traditional aspects and new forms of knowledge in sustainability research, iv) planning for sustainable development and sustainable cities, v) (higher) education for sustainable development and vi) human resources and sustainability. A summary of each article is given in this editorial, showing the diversity of themes, from theoretical and practical perspectives, and the broad range of different methods and research formats. The research presented in the articles was carried out in more than 17 countries on five continents. Notwithstanding the many efforts around rethinking sustainability research and practices, there are still many challenges to face and further opportunities for research on the topic

Investigating potential transferability of place-based research in land system science

Much of our knowledge about land use and ecosystem services in interrelated social-ecological systems is derived from place-based research. While local and regional case studies provide valuable insights, it is often unclear how relevant this research is beyond the study areas. Drawing generalized conclusions about practical solutions to land management from local observations and formulating hypotheses applicable to other places in the world requires that we identify patterns of land systems that are similar to those represented by the case study. Here, we utilize the previously developed concept of land system archetypes to investigate potential transferability of research from twelve regional projects implemented in a large joint research framework that focus on issues of sustainable land management across four continents. For each project, we characterize its project archetype, i.e. the unique land system based on a synthesis of more than 30 datasets of land-use intensity, environmental conditions and socioeconomic indicators. We estimate the transferability potential of project research by calculating the statistical similarity of locations across the world to the project archetype, assuming higher transferability potentials in locations with similar land system characteristics. Results show that areas with high transferability potentials are typically clustered around project sites but for some case studies can be found in regions that are geographically distant, especially when values of considered variables are close to the global mean or where the project archetype is driven by large-scale environmental or socioeconomic conditions. Using specific examples from the local case studies, we highlight the merit of our approach and discuss the differences between local realities and information captured in global datasets. The proposed method provides a blueprint for large research programs to assess potential transferability of place-based studies to other geographical areas and to indicate possible gaps in research efforts