A UACES Collaborative Research Network since 2009.

 

The challenges surrounding the development and implementation of Sustainable Development (SD) policy are being debated almost daily. This is especially true within the policy making circles of the European Union (EU), where policy makers grapple with the relationships between diverse issues such as energy security, climate change, fisheries and the Lisbon Strategy. 

 

Despite the fact that sustainability is one of the fundamental objectives of the EU, research suggests that the polity has often struggled to cope with the sheer breadth and depth of the concept. The ‘slipperiness’ of the idea, whilst allowing a wide range of actors to subscribe to it, also leads to numerous interpretations and difficulties in building a coherent set of policies. Within the EU there are particularly striking ambiguities about the relationship between the economic, social and environmental dimensions of Sustainable Development.

 

This network aims to explore the tensions and ambiguities surrounding sustainability using a cross-cutting and multi-disciplinary approach. It brings together doctoral students, early-career as well as more established academics, and practitioners from across a range of disciplines such as environmental studies, political studies, management studies, history, geography, legal studies, and economics.

 

The network’s discussions will be framed around a number of specific topics. These include:

• The economic dimension of sustainable development, with a particular reference to energy markets, climate change and competition policy;
• The relation between governance for sustainability and carbon control, specifically analysing governance approaches to broaden the constituency of engagement with climate/energy issues,
• Multi-level governance and the challenge of sustainable development;
• Corporate Social Responsibility and the sustainability;
• The link between energy, the environment, the external policies and the identity of the EU.

For the first year of the network (2009-10) two main events have been planned:

• July 2009 - A two-day Research Workshop with the presentation of research papers at the University of Bradford in the UK.
• September 2009 – Two conference panels at the UACES Annual Conference in Angers, France.  (Panels now complete)

In years two and three of the network we will be focussing on publication projects and applications for further funding.

 

Co-ordinators

• Jenny Fairbrass (Senior Lecturer, Strategy, University of Bradford: j.fairbrass@bradford.ac.uk )
• Thomas Hoerber (Associate Professor, Centre for European Integration, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers : thomas.hoerber@essca.fr)
• Simon Lightfoot (Senior Lecturer in European Politics, University of Leeds: s.j.lightfoot@leeds.ac.uk)

Our network aims to run panels at the 2010 UACES Annual Research Conference in Bruges. We invite panel proposals/research papers on any topic associated with the CRN (see below) from doctoral students, early-career as well as more established academics, and practitioners from across a range of disciplines such as environmental studies, political studies, management studies, history, geography, legal studies, and economics.

 

The CRN sets out to explore:
•The economic dimension of sustainable development, with a particular
reference to energy markets, climate change, and competition policy;
•The relationship between governance for sustainability and carbon control,
specifically analysing governance approaches to broaden the constituency of
engagement with climate/energy issues,
•Multi-level governance and the challenge of sustainable development;
•Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability;
•The link between energy, the environment, the external policies and the
identity of the EU.

 

Please send an abstract of 150-200 words to the network organisers named below by
Monday 14th December 2009.

 

We will then put together coherent panels in time for the UACES deadline of 22/01/2010

 

Please contact the co-ordinators if you require further information about the
research workshop.

 

•Jenny Fairbrass (Senior Lecturer, Strategy, University of Bradford:
j.fairbrass@bradford.ac.uk )
•Thomas Hoerber (Associate Professor, Centre for European Integration, Ecole
Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers : thomas.hoerber@essca.fr)
•Simon Lightfoot (Senior Lecturer in European Politics, University of Leeds:
s.j.lightfoot@leeds.ac.uk)