1st Edition

Social Innovation and Sustainable Consumption Research and Action for Societal Transformation

    190 Pages
    by Routledge

    190 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book showcases strategic policies for and processes of societal transformation, which are required to address the challenge of sustainability. Based on the latest thinking at the interface of social innovation, sustainable consumption and the transformation of society, the book provides:

      • in-depth discussions at the nexus of sustainable consumption, social innovation and social transformation, highlighting their significance to sustainability-related policy and practice;
      • detailed case studies of social innovation in energy, food, housing and policy which illustrate emerging practice and promising policy, business and civil society interventions; and
      • critical reflections and commentaries on the contribution of social innovation to societal transformation.

    Bringing together aspiring scholars and leading thinkers on this topic, this book leads to compelling new insights for an international audience into the potential of social innovation for sustainable consumption and the transformation of society. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable consumption, sustainable development, (social) innovation studies and environmental sociology.

    Chapter 1 – Introduction: the Nexus of Social Innovation, Sustainable Consumption and Societal Transformation, Julia Backhaus, Audley Genus, and Julia Wittmayer  Chapter 2 – Conceptualising the Role of Social Innovation in Sustainability Transformations, Alex Haxeltine, Flor Avelino, Julia Wittmayer, Iris Kunze, Noel Longhurst, Adina Dumitru, and Tim O’ Riordan  Chapter 3 – The Idea(l) of a ‘Sustainable Sharing Economy’: Four Social Science Perspectives on Transformative Change, Julia Backhaus, Harro van Lente, and René Kemp  Chapter 4 – Societal Transformation, Social Innovations and Sustainable Consumption in an Era of Metamorphosis, Michael Jonas  Chapter 5 – Local Authorities and their Development of New Governance Approaches: Distilling Lessons from a Social Innovation Project, Marcelline Bonneau and François Jégou  Chapter 6 – Hitting a Policy wall: the Transformative Potential and Limitations of Community Pick-Up Point Schemes, Keighley MacFarland and Julia Wittmayer  Chapter 7 – Community Energy as a site for Social Innovation , Iain Soutar  Chapter 8 – Community Agriculture and the Narrative Construction of Change, Emese Gulyás and Bálint Balázs  Chapter 9 – Towards Sustainable Practices: a Practice-theoretical Case Study of a Cohousing Project, Michaela Leitner and Beate Littig  Chapter 10 – The Search for Social Innovations that are within Ecological Limits as well as more Just, Edina Vadovics and Simon Milton  Chapter 11 – North-American Perspectives of Societal Transformation, Philip J. Vergragt  Chapter 12 – Commentary from a Japanese Perspective: Tapping into Traditions for Transitions and Societal Transformations, Satoru Mizuguchi  Chapter 13 - Conclusions: How Social Innovations Become Transformative and Help Increase Sustainability, Edina Vadovics and Sylvia Lorek

    Biography

    Julia Backhaus, Edina Vadovics

    "This is a timely and important collection of papers on social innovation and sustainable consumption from leading researchers from across Europe. The thirteen chapters explore in different ways the relationships between and potential contributions of social innovations to sustainable consumption across a range of areas. But what comes across most strongly for me is that at a time when it is very easy to feel despondent about ‘our leaders’ really getting to grips with the issues, and in many cases just reworking old formulae, this book shows us that social innovations open up possibilities and opportunities, are happening now and are involving citizens themselves taking control and acting. Moreover, their potential impact extends beyond the environmental to a radical rethinking of social and economic relations."  David Uzzell, Professor of Environmental Psychology, University of Surrey, UK

    "This edited collection works well by connecting the all-important details of social innovation with the powerful structures in everyday consumption. Through attentive and engaged research, the contributors articulate the many ways that social innovators are overcoming seemingly unfavourable conditions and help mobilise more sustainable futures today." Adrian Smith, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, and co-author of Grassroots Innovation Movements, UK