International sustainability conference to feature four free keynote addresses
The Second International Conference of the Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative, June 15–17 at the University of Maine, will feature four keynote addresses by international experts. The presentations are free and open to the public.
The Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI) is an international network of scholars and practitioners focused on furthering understanding of the drivers of the consumerist economy in technological societies. Its mission includes formulating and analyzing options for post-consumerist lifestyles, social institutions and economic systems; and providing knowledge for emergent grassroots innovations, social movements and public policies.
All the public addresses at the UMaine conference, presented by SCORAI members, will be held in Wells Conference Center:
- “To Transform Consumption, Throw Out the Modernist Concept of Human Nature,” by John Ehrenfeld, editor of the Journal of Industrial Ecology, and former executive director of the International Society for Industrial Ecology and former director of the Program on Technology, Business, and Environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 1 p.m. June 15.
- “Political Ecological Economics,” by Giorgos Kallis, an ecological economist, political ecologist and professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology in Barcelona, Spain; coordinator of the European Network of Political Ecology and editor of the book, “Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era;” 9 a.m.June 16.
- “Getting Serious About Urban Sustainability,” by William Rees, a bio-ecologist, ecological economist and professor emeritus of the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia; 1:30 p.m. June 16.
- “Implementing Sustainable Consumption: The Science Policy Interface,” by Lucia Reisch, a professor of consumer behavior and policy at the Copenhagen Business School, editor of the Journal of Consumer Policy; member of the German Council for Sustainable Development, consulting the German Chancellery, and chair of the National Council of Advisors on Consumer Issues; 9 a.m. June 17.
For more information, contact Cindy Isenhour, assistant professor of anthropology, cynthia.isenhour@maine.edu.
Conference organizers collaborated with UMaine Conference Services to plan the event.