SCORAI Webinars Fall 2021

Recordings

All webinars will be recorded and published on the website afterwards.

SCORAI continues to organize monthly webinars. From now on, registration is no longer necessary; the zoom link suffices to connect. We will operate in zoom call format; so all participants can see each other; and questions are more easily moderated. We hope this will also reinforce the social function of these webinars, i.e. SCORAI members meeting each other remotely.

Zoom link us02web.zoom.us/j/84479624608?pwd=MXl4VHpLTllLT3Qrdll0MXBaR3VVZz09

Pass Code 950206

We will send reminders as before, one day and one hour before the webinar begins.

Program (Mondays 10-11 am ET)

September 20: Neal Gorenflo

October 18: Arnim Wiek

November 15: SCORAI Board

September 20:

Neal Gorenflo, Exec Director Shareable: Turning Academic Insight Into Real-World Impact

Neal Gorenflo is Executive Director of Shareable and a SCORAI advisor. I write to introduce you to the nonprofit I co-founded, Shareable, and a new service we’re offering to academic researchers. Shareable is a nonprofit founded in 2009 to advance sustainable consumption with a special focus on sharing, the commons, and the solidarity economy. Our mission is to empower communities to share. We pursue this mission through three programs — publishing, campaigns, and consulting.

Neal Gorenflo

In this webinar, Neal Gorenflo will explore the new demands on academic research projects for more accessibility, public engagement, and real-world impact; how Shareable is working with researchers to meet them; and why meeting them will be of increasing importance in the climate change era. As you’re likely aware, how research is evaluated is changing in a world of open access, citizen science, and alternative metrics. This has broad implications for how academics design, fund, and communicate their research projects. Shareable’s work with NJIT, Lund University, Tufts University, and UNCG reveal a surprising and readily actionable opportunity to increase the quality, relevancy, and impact of research in sustainable consumption and production.

October 18:

Arnim Wiek, Arizona State University: The Cooperative Business Model for Sustainable Production and Consumption

Activists, scholars, politicians, entrepreneurs, and citizens express widespread concerns about unsustainable patterns of contemporary production and consumption, ranging from climate change and contamination to public health hazards and social injustices. In search of alternatives to the status quo, there is growing interest in sustainable business practices and models, including the cooperative business model. This talk provides an introduction into cooperative businesses, including worker and consumer cooperatives, and assesses opportunities and limitations for supporting sustainable production and consumption. Illustrative examples draw on multiple years of research and training for developing sustainable cooperative food businesses in Arizona.

Arnim Wiek

Bio

Arnim Wiek is professor in the School of Sustainability and director of the Sustainable Food Economy Lab at Arizona State University. He also holds guest professorships at Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the University of Freiburg. His team conducts solution-oriented research on sustainable business practices and models, including cooperative businesses and benefit corporations, as well as sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems and alternative economic development approaches. The topical focus in on food businesses and economies. The team’s projects are conducted in collaboration with entrepreneurs, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other stakeholders. Courses and training programs the team offers are oriented towards the key competencies in sustainability and adopt an experiential, project-based pedagogy.

November 15:

SCORAI Board: discussion on SCORAI activities, strategies; and the upcoming conference in 2023

Greetings SCORAI members!

Thank you to everyone who shared news and updates for this newsletter. I’m excited to introduce you to Joshua Lee, who will take the helm as SCORAI’s new newsletter editor! Josh is an Urban Planning & Policy Master’s student at Northeastern University, researching global urban climate governance and the impact of governance initiatives on local sustainability actions. Previously, Josh was an environmental analyst with a project management consulting firm primarily supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields & Land Revitalization program throughout the United States. He’s also active in the climate justice movement, organizing with the Sunrise Movement and Sierra Club.

Joshua Lee

The SCORAI Board wants to thank Liz Allen for her dedicated work on the SCORAI Newsletter in the last few years. Liz brought a persistent level of quality and beautiful lay-out; and was dedicated to accommodate last-minute wishes. She also found a very promising successor. We are very pleased to keep her as a Board member, hopefully for a long time. Be well, Liz!

Liz Allen

We’re also excited to announce the agenda for the Fall season of SCORAI’s monthly webinar series! For ease of connectivity, registration is no longer necessary to join; the zoom link is all that you will need to connect. We will operate in zoom call format so that all participants can see each other and questions are more easily moderated. We hope this will also reinforce the social function of these webinars, i.e. SCORAI members meeting each other remotely. We are looking forward to seeing you all at these three sessions this Autumn!

Turning Academic Insight Into Real-World Impact
September 20th, 10:00AM – 11:00AM EDT
Speaker: Neal Gorenflo

In this webinar, Neal Gorenflo, executive director of Shareable, will explore the new demands on academic research projects for more accessibility, public engagement, and real world impact; how Shareable is working with researchers to meet them; and why meeting them will be of increasing importance in the climate change era. As you’re likely aware, how research is evaluated is changing in a world of open access, citizen science, and alternative metrics. This has broad implications for how academics design, fund, and communicate their research projects. Shareable’s work with NJIT, Lund University, Tufts University, and UNCG reveal a surprising and readily actionable opportunity to increase the quality, relevancy, and impact of research in sustainable consumption and production.

Neal Gorenflo

The Cooperative Business Model for Sustainable Production and Consumption
October 18th, 10:00AM – 11:00AM EDT
Speaker: Arnim Wiek, Arizona State University

SCORAI Board discussion on SCORAI activities, strategies; and the upcoming conference in 2023
November 15th, 10:00AM – 11:00AM EDT

To learn more and sign up for these webinars: scorai.net/scorai-webinars-fall-2021/

Read the newsletter

New SCORAI book available

This book takes an in-depth look at Covid-19-generated societal trends and develops scenarios for possible future directions of urban lifestyles.

Sustainable Lifestyles after Covid-19 book cover Drawing on examples from Brazil, China, and Israel, and with a particular focus on cities, this book explores the short and long-term changes in individual consumers and citizen behavior as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. On the basis of extensive market and opinion research data, aggregate data, observational evidence, and news reports, the authors provide a detailed account of the transformations that have occurred as a result of a triple shock of public health emergency, economic shutdown, and social isolation. They also examine which of these behavioral changes are likely to become permanent and consider whether this may ultimately promote or restrain sustainable lifestyle choices.

Innovative and timely, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and professionals researching and working in the areas of sustainable consumption, urban and land use planning, and public health.

Get the book