On 29 February, the book presentation of Growth in Transition will take place at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU in Brussels. The book was edited by SERI researchers Fritz Hinterberger and Elke Pirgmaier in collaboration with Elisabeth Freytag and Martina Schuster from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management.

Stimulating growth through adjusting macroeconomic conditions remains the principal policy response to pressing problems of unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation. However, the current growth trajectory has neither led to a reduction of our overall resource use – as we use resources and energy more efficiently we consume more – nor created the conditions for full employment and increasing wellbeing.

Growth in Transition presents detailed key arguments for reconsidering the conditions for sustainable economies, with an international cast of commentators from politics, administration, civil society, business and science.

For detailed information on the book presentation, please click here.

Signing up for this event is mandatory. To register, please send an e-mail to growthintransition@seri.at by 23 February.

In October 2010 the book „Sustainable Development: Capabilities, Needs and Well-being“ co-edited by two SERI colleagues (Ines Omann and Johannes Frühmann) and Felix Rauschmayer has been published by Routledge. Contributors besides the editors are Paul-Marie Boulanger, Ivonne Cruz, Ortrud Lessmann, Manfred Max-Neef, Tell Muenzing, John O’Neill, Luc Van Ootegem, Sophie Spillemaeckers, and Gerben J. Westerhof.

Sustainable Development (SD) is most prominently defined with respect to the needs of current and future generations. Political and scientific discussion, though, refrains from this concept, even though much can be gained by referring to needs. This book brings together chapters that clarify the concept of needs directly or relate it to other scientific approaches. On the one hand, there is the capability approach which is widely used by human development studies and politics and can thus be utilized for bringing the Brundtland definition of SD into practice. On the other hand, meeting needs is intrinsically linked to well-being which is the main driver for human action.

The book is now published by Routledge in paperback!

The book can be ordered at the Routledge website.
The executive summary can be found here.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

Content of the project “Environmental Pressure Index” is the construction of a composite indicator that describes the pressure for the environment on EU territory. It will comprise the major strands of European environmental policy: climate change and energy use, nature and biodiversity, air pollution and health impacts, water use and pollution, waste generation and use of resources.

The purpose and scope of the index are focused on environmental pressures and harm to the environment, bound by the EU political territory and closely linked to evaluating the effects of environmental protection policies. It should concern all major areas of EU environmental policy and reflect decreases of such pressures as a decline in the index value.

During the project decisions will be taken concerning the themes and subthemes of the index as well as the involved indicator and the methodological approach for the calculation of the composite indicator. An expert workshop will help elaborting the best-suited decisions and spreading the concept of the indicator. All choices and decisions made will be incorporated in a detailed report that should function as a handbook for the construction of composite environmental indices.

For more information click here.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

Food is a fundamental necessity of life. It is also one of the consumption areas with the greatest environmental impacts. The debates over sustainable food production and consumption, both in academia and politics, have spurred over the last decade. Growth policies in the food and agriculture sector pay attention to increasing productivity and providing enough food for an increasing population in a globalized world. Nevertheless, progress has been uneven and growth has been unsustainable in some regions, leading to escalating pressures on ecosystems.

In the course of the EU project RESPONDER, our partners in Portugal are organizing a high profile workshop on 25-27 January in Lisbon. RESPONDER promotes sustainable consumption by exploring novel ways of knowledge brokerage that help to improve the management of potential political, social and economic contradictions with economic growth.

To get more information and to apply for participation please click here.

The One Planet Economy Network EU project (OPEN:EU) has just launched a unique new tool for mapping ecological carbon and water footprint data across all the 27 EU member states.

Over the past 2 years the project, in which SERI was one of 8 partners, has carried out evidence gathering, software tool design and network dialogue activities to explore how policy makers can achieve a clear understanding of the effects of policies (or the lack of policy) on the environment, so they can make responsible decisions at national and EU government level.

One of the main outcomes of the project, the EUREAPA tool (EU Resource and Energy Analysis Programme Application), a decision making support tool, is now available for free online, aimed at EU and national government policy makers, NGOs and academics. It is based on the integration of the Footprint Family of indicators with an economic model so that the impact of the EU’s trade on the environment can be demonstrated.

The tool can be used to help inform policy making across several of the policy areas identified as key components of the framework for delivering the Flagship Initiative for a Resource-efficient Europe under the Europe 2020 Strategy, such as agriculture, climate and energy, sustainable consumption and production, transport and water.

The EUREAPA tool can be accessed at www.eureapa.net.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.

This entry is only available in Deutsch.