By Antonietta Di Giulio, University of Basel
Questions to guide discussions
- How can we identify needs? How to distinguish needs, desires, satisfiers and resources? What happens when this distinction is not made?
- Can needs claim a universal validity? And to what extent does it make sense to talk about needs of future generations?
- How does the distinction of needs and desires relate to consumption corridors defining sustainable consumption?
Biography
Dr. Antonietta Di Giulio is senior researcher at the Program Man-Society-Environment (MGU) (Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland). She is leading the Research Group Inter-/Transdisciplinarity. Until 2014 she was senior researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for General Ecology (IKAÖ) at the University of Bern (Switzerland). Her primary research and teaching interests are sustainable consumption, the theory and methodology of inter- and transdisciplinary teaching and research, and education for sustainable development.
Recommended reading (English)
Costanza R. et al. (2007): Quality of life: An approach integrating opportunities, human needs, and subjective well-being. Ecological Economics 61: 267-276.
Di Giulio A., Brohmann B., Clausen J., Defila R., Fuchs D., Kaufmann-Hayoz R., Koch A. (2012). Needs and consumption – a conceptual system and its meaning in the context of sustainability. In: Defila R., Di Giulio A., Kaufmann-Hayoz R. (eds.): The Nature of Sustainable Consumption and How to Achieve it. Results from the Focal Topic “From Knowledge to Action – New Paths towards Sustainable Consumption”. München: oekom. S. 45-66.
Di Giulio A., Fischer D., Schäfer M., Blättel-Mink B. (2014). Conceptualizing sustainable consumption: toward an integrative framework. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy (SSPP). Volume 10, Issue 1. pp. 45-61. Published online May 19, 2014. http://sspp.proquest.com/archives/vol10iss1/1209-041.digiulio.html.
Fischer D., Michelsen G., Blättel-Mink B., Di Giulio A. (2012). Sustainable consumption: how to evaluate sustainability in consumption acts. In: Defila R., Di Giulio A., Kaufmann-Hayoz R. (eds.): The Nature of Sustainable Consumption and How to Achieve it. Results from the Focal Topic “From Knowledge to Action – New Paths towards Sustainable Consumption”. München: oekom. S. 67-80.
Nussbaum M. (2006). Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership. Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Robeyns I., van der Veen R. J. (2007). Sustainable quality of life: Conceptual analysis for a policy-relevant empirical specification. Bilthoven, Amsterdam: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and University of Amsterdam.
Thompson S., Marks N. (2008): Measuring well-being in policy: issues and applications. o.O.: nef – new economics foundation.
Recommended reading (German)
Di Giulio A., Brohmann B., Clausen J., Defila R., Fuchs D., Kaufmann-Hayoz R., Koch A. (2011): Bedürfnisse und Konsum – ein Begriffssystem und dessen Bedeutung im Kontext von Nachhaltigkeit. In: Defila R., Di Giulio A., Kaufmann-Hayoz R. (Hrsg.): Wesen und Wege nachhaltigen Konsums. Ergebnisse aus dem Themenschwerpunkt “Vom Wissen zum Handeln – Neue Wege zum nachhaltigen Konsum”. München: oekom. S. 47-71.
Fischer D., Michelsen G., Blättel-Mink B., Di Giulio A. (2011): Nachhaltiger Konsum: Wie lässt sich Nachhaltigkeit im Konsum beurteilen? In: Defila R., Di Giulio A., Kaufmann-Hayoz R. (Hrsg.): Wesen und Wege nachhaltigen Konsums. Ergebnisse aus dem Themenschwerpunkt “Vom Wissen zum Handeln – Neue Wege zum nachhaltigen Konsum”. München: oekom. S. 73-88.
Blättel-Mink B., Brohmann B., Defila R., Di Giulio A., Fischer D., Fuchs D., Gölz S., Götz K., Homburg A., Kaufmann-Hayoz R., Matthies E., Michelsen G., Schäfer M., Tews K., Wassermann S., Zundel S. (Syntheseteam des Themenschwerpunkts “Vom Wissen zum Handeln – Neue Wege zum nachhaltigen Konsum”) (2013): Konsum-Botschaften. Was Forschende für die gesellschaftliche Gestaltung nachhaltigen Konsums empfehlen. Stuttgart: Hirzel Verlag.
Di Giulio A. (2008): Ressourcenverbrauch als Bedürfnis? Annäherung an die Bestimmung von Lebensqualität im Kontext einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung. In: Wissenschaft & Umwelt INTERDISZIPLINÄR. Nr. 11, Energiezukunft, S. 228-237.
Di Giulio A., Defila R., Kaufmann-Hayoz R. (2010): Gutes Leben, Bedürfnisse und nachhaltiger Konsum. In: Umweltpsychologie, Nachhaltiger Konsum Teil 1 14 (2): 10-29.