SCORAI explores sustainable consumption and the impact of changing household patterns of consumption. The international financial collapse and the global climate crisis both persuasively demonstrate that the prevailing neoliberal model of economic growth is highly unsustainable. To initiate transformation it will be necessary to formulate a new economic paradigm that is both sustainable and equitable and that is able to fulfill individual and societal aspirations for a “good and ethical life.” Details about SCORAI are available at http://www.scorai.org.
Worcester, MA – October 17, 2009 – Scientists, academics, and practitioners from across North America met at Clark University on October 15-17 to explore approaches and the potential impact of sustainable consumption at the individual and household level. The Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI) evaluates and encourages new pathways to sustainability at the interface of material consumption, human fulfillment, lifestyle satisfaction, and technological and macroeconomic change. The network seeks to facilitate the production and diffusion of theoretical and practical knowledge and to forge connections between scholars and communities of practice in North America in order to contribute to the policy dialogue on sustainable consumption.
A central conclusion of the workshop was that because of the scale and the urgency of the changes needed, households cannot significantly advance sustainable consumption on their own, but require systemic solutions and coordinated actions by many stakeholders, including grassroots initiatives, institutional changes, government policies, and political reforms.
Another conclusion was that life fulfillment and well-being are not dependent on economic growth and continual increases in Gross National Product (GDP), but could be better achieved by shortening the work week, encouraging more leisure time, and switching to less energy- and material-intensive lifestyles.
The SCORAI Network aims to engage with various policy programs, including the Marrakech Process led by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the North American Regional Consultation on Sustainable Consumption and Production, and other national and local efforts. Creation of this initiative is partly inspired by the Sustainable Consumption Research Exchanges (SCORE)<http://www.score-network.org/score/score_module/index.php?doc_id=386>, a project funded by the European Union under its Sixth Framework Programme, and by the Great Transition Initiative launched by the Boston-based Tellus Institute (http://www.tellus.org).
KEY CONTACTS:
Dr. Phillip Vergragt
Tellus Institute and Clark University
Phone: +1-617-266-5400
Email: pvergragt@tellus.org
and
Dr. Maurie Cohen
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Phone: +1-973-596-5281
Email: mcohen@adm.njit.edu
BACKGROUND
Because of contemporary emphasis on continuous economic growth and ever-expanding volumes of material and energy throughput, the social and technological dimensions of sustainable consumption have to date received little attention within academic research and often constitute a fringe consideration for both nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and policy makers. Especially in North America, questions of consumption are generally cast as matters of individual sovereignty or as outcomes attributable to the fact that consumers are “locked into” prevailing cultural norms or suboptimal patterns and infrastructures. Some scholars and NGOs have in recent years begun to question these assumptions and to suggest that a “good and ethical life” is attainable not by consuming in greater abundance, but by consuming differently. Examples of such initiatives are the “slow food movement” and other appeals for “conscious consumption.”
Technological innovation is generally recognized as playing an important role in helping to reduce individual and collective consumption of materials and energy. This emphasis is especially prominent in the context of global climate change where attention has focused on limiting the use of carbon-based fuels, on improving the efficiency of product manufacturing, and on various engineered approaches that encourage the adoption of new consumer practices. These strategies have considerable public appeal, largely because they seem to be substitutes for the more complicated challenge of changing individual consumer practices. However, technology alone cannot resolve the deeper problems associated with unsustainable patterns of consumption. Untoward impacts can be expected due to rebound effects from energy efficiency improvements and from the failure to address the relentless demand for continuous economic growth. Moreover, an exclusive focus on technological solutions sidesteps discussion about well-being and systemic societal transformation. The SCORAI Network aims to open up new avenues and to move beyond promises of “technological fixes” while at the same time remaining cognizant of overly exuberant conceptions of social change.
Financial support for the inaugural SCORAI workshop has been provided by the ProQuest-U.S. Geological Survey Partnership, the Tellus Institute, and the following Clark University units: Provost’s Office; Department of International Development, Community, and Environment; Graduate School of Geography; Graduate School of Management), and George Perkins Marsh Institute.
