1st Edition

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Socioecological Challenges Sustainable Transformations Globally and in the EU

    376 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    376 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book explores interdisciplinary perspectives on socioecological challenges and offers innovative solutions at both a European and global level.

    This book critically reflects on the latest scientific knowledge regarding the increasing instability of the Earth System caused by human activities during the Anthropocene and the Great Acceleration. It focuses on the global and European challenges regarding climate, resources, bio-integrity, and environment. The authors assess the obstacles to overcoming these challenges and examine the risks posed by path dependencies, lock-ins, and trade-offs between global and regional goals. They also drill down into the complexities of the European Green Deal, specifically the similarities and differences between the scientific analyses and recommendations from the European Environment Agency and the content of the Deal. Finally, the book looks at the Just Transition put forward by the European Green Deal. The authors discuss this in a context of global and European ecological and socioecological challenges and put the question of equality, recognition, and democratization at the center.

    Outlining new pathways to broaden the scope of scientific collaboration between the natural and technical sciences and the social sciences and the humanities, this volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable development, environmental policy and governance, and environmental justice.

    List of contributors

    Introduction
    Anders Siig Andersen, Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen, Thomas Budde Christensen, and Lars Hulgaard 

    Part I: Global ecological and socioecological challenges and UN solutions 

    Chapter 1: Global ecological risks
    Anders Siig Andersen, Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen, Thomas Budde Christensen, and Lars Hulgaard

    Chapter 2: UN ecological risk governance
    Anders Siig Andersen, Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen, Thomas Budde Christensen, and Lars Hulgaard

    Chapter 3: Socioecological challenges and UN policies
    Anders Siig Andersen and Lars Hulgaard

    Chapter 4: Affirmative and critical perspectives on the 2030 Agenda of sustainable development and the sustainable development goals
    Anders Siig Andersen and Lars Hulgaard

    Part II: European ecological and Socioecological challenges, and EU Solutions 

    Chapter 5: The European Green Deal and the state of the European environment
    Anders Siig Andersen, Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen, Thomas Budde Christensen, and Lars Hulgaard

    Chapter 6: Climate Change-motivated development of the EU’s energy production and use systems
    Thomas Budde Christensen and Tobias Pape Thomsen 

    Chapter 7: Resources and the circular economy
    Thomas Budde Christensen 

    Chapter 8: The food system and agriculture
    Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen and Niels Heine Kristenen

    Chapter 9: Biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people
    Thorkil Casse and Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen 

    Chapter 10: Just Transition and the EU
    Lars Hulgaard and Anders Siig Andersen 

    Part III: Cross-cutting issues: governance, the “Anthropocene”, and interdisciplinary research

    Chapter 11: Ecological and socioecological governance in the UN and the EU
    Anders Siig Andersen, Thomas Budde Christensen, and Lars Hulgaard 

    Chapter 12: Decentering humanity: The Anthropocene and the perils of Anthropocentricity
    Anders Siig Andersen and Lars Hulgaard

    Chapter 13: Interdisciplinary research and knowledge creation

    Anders Siig Andersen, Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen, Thomas Budde Christensen, and Lars Hulgaard

    Index

     

    Biography

    Anders Siig Andersen is an Associate Professor at Roskilde University, Department of People and Technology. He holds a PhD in educational studies, is special advisor for the Rector of Roskilde University on socioecological sustainability issues, and is Study Director of the Master’s in Education and Learning at Roskilde University.

    Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen is a Professor at Roskilde University, Department of People and Technology. He is an agronomist with a PhD in agroecology. He works on demand-driven transitions within urgent climate and environmental problems, primarily focusing on agri-food systems.

    Thomas Budde Christensen is an Associate Professor at Roskilde University, Department of People and Technology. He works in the field of circular economy with special emphasis on research in sustainable consumption and production systems. His current research focuses on policy, strategies, and planning activities associated with recycling industrial waste, plastics waste, bio waste, and construction and demolition waste.

    Lars Hulgaard is a Professor at Roskilde University, Department of People and Technology. He is a sociologist and holds a PhD in public administration. He works on issues related to social change, social innovation, solidarity economy, and sustainability. He collaborates with scholars globally to understand better how social innovation, solidarity economy, and epistemologies of the South can inspire social change in the North.