The Year in Review and Looking Forward Frank Boons, Director

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Sustainable Consumption Institute

SCI Newsletter Autumn 2019 The Year in Review and Looking Forward Frank Boons, Director

As one of the key research institutes of We continue to build on the work of Alan, Frank inequality. For me this Fund, using small grants The University of Manchester, the SCI seeks and other SCI members, as we move towards a of £5000, is an example I would like to see to combine the excellence of individual situation where the SCI is no longer dependent replicated in other contexts within the researchers with effective group practices to on a single funder, but instead strategically University; as we have proven, such small deliver meaningful research that has academic seeks funding in an increasingly competitive grants, if awarded and then monitored in a as well as societal relevance. The items in this environment. coherent and contextualised way (a key newsletter, which reports on the academic This success comes out of hard work done by condition!), provide excellent value for money. year 2018-2019, shows how we have been all SCI members to develop the social practices These initiatives all contribute to our main succesfully doing this. I am very pleased to necessary to acquire funding without losing target for the coming academic year: the congratulate two SCI members, Frank Geels focus on academic excellence. Through an finalisation and presentation of our renewed and Alan Warde, on receiving recognition for internal competition we selected initiatives for research agenda. As the item on the SCI Festival their work. Both Alan and Frank have been key one year projects that we see as kernels of describes (p.12), we are working towards an in the development of core areas of research future research activity. As the report in this event that promises to create a lot of buzz, and within the SCI, and it is gratifying to see that newsletter shows, we have been able to generate which will allow us to cement our position as a such work is appreciated across the academic immediate outputs from this funding. Perhaps leading institute in the area of sustainable communities to which we seek to contribute. the greatest effort to do this has been our consumption and production in the years to come. Research and Internationalisation Fund (see p. 4). The ESRC-funded project Imagined futures One crucial result has been the development of of consumption is one of the early successes of our international networks around key areas of our new strategy (see p. 11). research such as digital urban platforms, social Contact: movements, consumption work, and social [email protected] KD506 SCI Newsletter 2019.qxp_Layout 1 06/09/2019 12:47 Page 2

PhD Congratulations

Ulrike Ehgartner Ulrike Ehgartner was awarded her PhD in April 2019, following a successful viva examined by Bente Halkier (Prof of Sociology, University of Copenhagen), and Alan Warde (Prof of Sociology, The University of Manchester). Ulrike’s thesis, titled “Environmentally and socially responsible consumption? A study on food sustainability discourses” analysed understandings of sustainability and consumption of food amongst UK expert stakeholders, including supermarket sustainability professionals, policy makers, NGO practitioners, and journalists. Dr Ehgartner has Joe Blakey already published on her research in the journal Congratulations to Dr Joe Blakey, who Sustainable Consumption & Production, as well successfully defended his PhD thesis on 19 as with fellow SCI doctoral researchers in Global February 2019. Joe’s thesis examines the Discourse. We are pleased that Ulrike continues Anna Wienhues relationship between carbon accounting and to work at the SCI as a Research Associate on Congratulations to Dr Anna Wienhues, who post-foundational approaches to ‘the political’. the ESRC funded “Imagined Futures of successfully defended her PhD thesis in May It considers how accounting and accounting Consumption” project (see p. 11). Her thesis 2018. Anna's thesis, ‘Life in Common: standardisation shape what (in)action is seen was co-supervised by former SCI Director, Distributive Ecological Justice on a Shared as legitimate through an auto-ethnography Dale Southerton (now Prof of Sociology of Earth’, develops an account of justice to of accounting for Manchester’s carbon Consumption, University of Bristol) and the nonhumans (ie, to animals, plants, etc), footprint and a series of interviews with SCI’s Dan Welch (Lecturer in Sociology). which sits at the forefront of current policy-makers, accountants and activists. posthumanist theoretical developments in The thesis was supervised by Dr Alison political thought. Her thesis was supervised Browne and Prof Erik Swyngedouw. It was by Sherilyn MacGregor (Politics/SCI) and examined by Prof James Evans (The John O’Neill (Philosophy), and it was University of Manchester) and Prof Scott examined by Carl Death (Politics, University Prudham (University of Toronto). Joe has a of Manchester) and Elizabeth Cripps (Politics, 2 year lectureship in Geography, and you University of Edinburgh). Two journal articles can read more about his work in The from her doctoral research were published Conversation https://theconversation.com/ while Anna was a member of the SCI: proﬁles/joe-blakey-454157/articles. Congratulations again Joe! Niki Hutson Wienhues, A. (2018) ‘Situating the Half-Earth Congratulations to Dr Niki Hutson, who was Proposal in Distributive Justice: Conditions awarded her PhD at the end of 2017 following for Just Conservation’ Biological Marc Hudson a successful viva examined by Prof Patrick Conservation , 228C, 44-51. Congratulations to Dr Marc Hudson, who Vermeulen from Nijmegen University Wienhues, A. (2017) ‘Sharing the Earth: A successfully defended his PhD thesis on (external) and Professor Jonatan Pinkse from Biocentric Account of Ecological Justice.’ 7 January 2019. The thesis was examined The University of Manchester (internal). Journal of Agricultural and Environmental by Prof Peter Newell from the University Niki’s thesis is titled ‘Exploring the Ethics, 30 (3), 367-385. of Sussex (external) and Prof Mat Paterson from Institutional Work of an Industry Association The University of Manchester. Marc’s thesis, in the Greening of Industrial Sectors’. The Since March 2019 Anna has been a “Enacted inertia: incumbent resistance to study focused on sustainability challenges Postdoctoral Researcher at the Ethics carbon pricing in Australia (1989-2011)" faced by the coatings industry and the role Research Institute of the University of examined the strategies and actions of industry that a key industry association played in Zurich, Switzerland, employed full-time on incumbents in the Australian coal sector as they shaping innovative responses. The research Anna Deplazes Zemp’s project ‘Peoples’ sought to defend the status quo in the face of was supervised by Prof Andrew McMeekin Place in Nature’ funded by the NOMIS attempts to introduce radical carbon reduction and Dr Paul Dewick. Niki now works as Foundation and the University Research policies. Prof Andrew McMeekin and Dr Mike project manager for GlobeScan, providing Priority Programme (URPP) on Global Hodson supervised the research. Marc has insight and strategy for sustainable change Change and Biodiversity. She also has a book published many articles in The Conversation, to help companies, NGOs and governmental manuscript based on her PhD thesis under drawing on his PhD research, which can be organizations address sustainable review with Bristol University Press. accessed at https://theconversation.com/ development goals. Congratulations again Anna! proﬁles/marc-hudson-180939. 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‘Come and let’s have tea together’: SCI researchers share ﬁndings from pioneering study of Somali perspectives on sustainability Catherine Walker, Sherilyn MacGregor and Tally Katz-Gerro

On 29 April 2019, Sherilyn MacGregor, In introducing the research, Sherilyn • The main reasons why participants said they Tally Katz-Gerro and Catherine Walker held a acknowledged the invaluable role of two Somali cared about these things were Islamic values, community engagement event at Claremont co-researchers, Salah Abdisamad and Safia care for others, saving money and awareness Primary School (CPS), Moss Side, to share Abdulrahman, who were unable to attend the that resources are scarce in many contexts, including Somalia. findings from their SCI-funded study event due to work commitments. She explained ‘Environmental Sustainability: Somali that the interest in the research among • Participants told us that they try to continue community members owed a great deal to Salah Perspectives’. The Somali phrase Kaalay Aan practices from Somalia, such as making daily and Safia’s enthusiasm for the topic, which they efforts to save water and electricity and Shaah Cabnee (‘come and let’s have tea both felt had been an overlooked area in relation cooking to portion. However, some things together’) summed up the informal to Somali communities. As expressed by Salah that they used do such as sharing food with atmosphere at this event, where Somali in a comment read by Sherilyn at the event: ‘I neighbours and growing food organically residents of Moss Side had a chance to hear was particularly looking forward to the response (or at all) are more difficult in Moss Side. and comment on findings from research the Somali community would give to the survey • Participants also told us how they had completed between August and October 2018. and was apprehensive if they were going to turn developed new practices in Manchester. The event was attended by 21 people, including up! But we were not disappointed, the response For example, whilst recycling was generally Somali parents/carers with children at CPS, was excellent’. not necessary in Somalia, in Manchester study participants, representatives from the Indeed, in a short time and with a relatively small participants said they try to recycle what they can. Somali Adult Social Care Association, the local budget, the study has produced excellent environmental group Upping It, the Al Furqan responses. In total, 56 Somali-origin adult • Most participants expressed frustrations mosque and Mahadi Hussein Sharif -Mahamed, residents of Moss Side completed a dual about local recycling systems not being well kept and being hard to dispose of waste Councillor for Moss Side and Assistant language survey, and 16 respondents agreed to be interviewed. These methods and our analysis suitably. They had lots of suggestions for Executive Member for Neighbourhoods for have led to important research findings, which how the system could be improved. Manchester City Council. help to debunk the myth that immigrants from The interest in the topic was seen once again at Sherilyn MacGregor introduced the background low income countries do not know or do not care the event as community members commented to the study, explaining that it was designed to about sustainability. These findings were on the findings presented (leading to a lively fill a research gap on what immigrants from low presented at the event by Catherine Walker, ably discussion about the difficulties encountered income countries think about sustainability, and translated into Somali by Mr Affi, a specialist with rubbish collection). ‘ The event closed with how they practice sustainability in everyday life. staff member at CPS. a reflection by Safia Abdulrahman, one of our co-researchers, whose words sum up this Sherilyn explained that the study also aimed to In sum, the research shows that: interest: ‘I never really knew if my parents help policy-makers become more aware of what • Although most participants were not very understood environmental sustainability yet can be learned from people who have come to familiar with the word 'sustainability', they have been practicing it all along and I failed to Manchester from contexts where they did not participants’ values and practices are see it […] I can’t express enough how many barriers live in over-consuming ways, for cultural and/or consistent with the concept of sustainability. these findings will eradicate – really excited to economic reasons. The study was conducted in • Specifically, participants care about using see what the future holds for this research.’ Moss Side, where Somali-origin residents are resources responsibly, try to teach their Contact currently the largest non-European group children to value resources, and want to keep [email protected] according to the last national census. their neighbourhood clean. [email protected]

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Projects funded by the Research and Internationalisation Fund 2018/19

The Tesco Investment Fund supported Title: Consumption Work in the Circular Economy Title: Building Bridges: Sustainability Education activities and assisted in developing and Team: Helen Holmes and Dan Welch (Co- in Brazil and Manchester st rengthening the o verall SCI agenda in the Investigators), Harald Weiser (Research Assistant) Team: Catherine Walker (SCI), Rachel Trajber period May 2018 to August 2019. This support Description: Current models of Circular (Education Director, Cemaden), Raichael Lock is particularly aimed at helping to generate Economy (CE) fall short in their understandings (Coordinator, Manchester Environmental high quality grant proposals and furthering of consumption and in lack of attention paid to Education Network), Alison Browne (SCI) international collaborations. the domestic sphere (Mylan, Holmes and Description: In March 2019 the Sustainable Applications from SCI staff members were Paddock 2016). A fertile entry point to this gap is Consumption Institute hosted Rachel Trajber, solicited for a range of activities directed at: Wheeler and Glucksmann’s (2015) concept of education lead of the Brazilian government (a) Strengthening and developing existing ‘consumption work’ - the distinctive form of research institute Cemaden (National Centre for lineages in research and ongoing labour ‘necessary for the purchase, use, re-use the Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural international collaborations. and disposal of consumption goods and Disasters, Brazil) for two weeks. Rachel worked services’. The project seeks to address what closely with Catherine Walker, the Manchester (b) Developing innovative new ideas that forms of consumption work are demanded by Environmental Education Network and local have the potential to become part of the models of CE and what is the significance of this schools to consider the ways that unsustainable SCI contribution to academic fields and for the ambitions of CE models and visions? consumption and production - historically and in society in the next 5 years. Outputs: Literature Review on Consumption the present - can create environmental hazards The following lists the projects that were Work and Circular Economy (Harald Weiser) for residents of cities. These events culminated supported by the Fund and provides in an intergenerational conference attended by Workshop 28 February/1 March 2019 attended information about outputs and future outputs. around 70 primary and secondary school students by the team plus Katy Wheeler (CRESI, Essex) and teachers, along with environmental and Kersty Hobson (Geography, Cardiff) researchers, activists and members of the Title: Exploring Lost Property Outputs in progress: Wheeler and Hobson have Greater Manchester Fire Service. Team: Helen Holmes (PI), Ulrike Ehgartner (RA) agreed to collaborate on a major funding bid Outputs: Intergenerational conference, with Holmes and Welch – next steps is a bid Description: This novel and interdisciplinary attended by around 80 people in total, two development workshop planned for September. research project explores material loss and what internal seminars at SCI, SCI blog, two An agenda setting journal paper will be that means for issues of sustainability. Working established research partnerships with a local developed from the literature review. with members of the public, lost property and an international organisation working in offices and cultural institutions it seeks to Title: Endangered Practices - Maintenance areas of interest to the Global Challenges understand what it means to lose something, and Repair Research Fund Outputs in progress: the value judgments which surround loss and - Small-scale data collection in a local school how a better understanding of our relationships Team: Helen Holmes, Wouter Spekkink, Dan Welch that presented at the intergenerational with material things may enable us to tackle (Co-Is); Ulrike Ehgartner (Research Assistant) conference issues of overconsumption and accumulation. Description: Sustainability is often framed in - Submitted abstract with local school to Outputs: Nov 2018 One day public engagement terms of innovation and change. Arguably, what's more important is the preservation of present at an event celebrating 30 years of event Manchester Museum including the United Nations Convention on the Rights Exploring Lost Property Pop-up Exhibition sustainable everyday activities in danger of being replaced by more resource-intensive of the Child at UCL Institute of Education Jan 2019 One day public engagement event alternatives. The project focuses on in November John Rylands Library including the Exploring endangered everyday practices of mending and The Cultural Politics of Household Lost Property Pop-up Exhibition recent grassroots initiatives to preserve and Title: April 2019 Presentation at the British revitalise such skills, such as Repair Cafés. Ulrike Sustainability Sociological Association Conference Ehgartner has conducted 9 interviews with Team: Sherilyn MacGregor, Tally Katz-Gerro, June 2019 Invited talk at Keele University organisers of Repair Cafés in the UK. Catherine Walker, Salah Abdisamad, Safia Abdulrahman Business School Outputs in progress: The project will serve as a Description: Pilot study conducted from August Outputs in progress/forthcoming: pilot contributing to the development of a research funding bid, potentially with an existing to October 2018 by researchers from the AHRC Early career standard grant Exploring consortium of international collaborators in Sustainable Consumption Institute at the Material Cultures of Loss Finland and Estonia, which will address a wider University of Manchester, and Somali Paper in preparation set of endangered practices, such as local food community researchers. The main aims of this August 2019 presentation at the European practices (foraging and preserving) and mobility research were to find out about the Sociological Association Conference (such as children walking to school). Analysis of environmental concerns of Somali-origin the interviews will also feed into a journal paper. residents of Moss Side, a ward within the City of SCI Newsletter page 4 Autumn 2019 KD506 SCI Newsletter 2019.qxp_Layout 1 06/09/2019 12:47 Page 5

Manchester, and to explore how cultural Title: The coordination of grassroots innovation Outputs: Hodson, M., and McMeekin, A., perceptions, values, practices and relations networks: a pilot study (journal article under development) ‘If someone xshape pro-environmental environmentally- Team: Wouter Spekkink (Principal Investigator), would just give us a city and put us in charge’: experimenting with systemic digital platforms friendly household practices among diverse Malte Rödl (Research Assistant), Martin Charter as new urban infrastructures of control, city residents. (External Advisor) (potentially for) Environment and Planning A. Outputs: New survey and interview data, Description: For this project we conducted findings from research presented at internal Invited talk, Hodson, M., and McMeekin, A., small surveys among two grassroots innovation seminar at SCI, British Sociological Association (2019) ‘If someone would just give us a city and networks, which are the Repair Café network, and Annual Conference 2019, Nordic Geographers' put us in charge’: experimenting with systemic the Precious Plastic network. A distinguishing Meeting 2019 and an invited seminar at UCL digital platforms as new urban infrastructures of feature of these networks is their 'franchise-like' Institute of Education, journal article submitted, control, Centre for Regional and Economic structure, where individual initiatives are community engagement event held in a local Research invited seminar, Sheffield Hallam school and attended by around 20 Somali explicitly recognised as being part of the University, 15th May. community members, a local councillor and network, and where some form of 'coordinating Research Funding, Hodson, M., and McMeekin, representatives from the local mosque and the body' exists, such as the Repair Café A., Open Research Area (to be submitted Somali Adult Social Care Agency International Foundation and the Precious September 2019), with collaborators in Toronto Plastic team. Through our surveys we map when and Toulouse, as PI. Outputs in progress: Report for policy-makers and how initiatives that constitute the networks (English/Somali), Abstracts accepted to present Hodson, M., and McMeekin, A., ‘Is there a role for were started, and we explore their diversity in on research at European Sociological digital platforms in achieving urban sustainable terms of both their organisational setup and Association Conference 2019 and Royal mobility?’ AMBS Doctoral student – Awarded their activities. We also explore how the January 2019. Geographical Association Annual Conference initiatives in the networks relate to each other, 2019. Hodson, M., Boons, F., and McMeekin, A., (2018) to the coordinating bodies of the movements, Innovating urban ecologies of business models: Title: The Intergenerational Transmission of and to organisations outside their movement. the role of digital platforms, AMBS Research Environmental Behaviours Finally, we examine what visions there exist in Support Fund, £8,638.20. To support strategic the movements about their future. Team: Tally Katz-Gerro project collaboration with Lund University. Outputs: The results of the surveys will be used Awarded November 2018. Description: Two collaborators on an as basis for one academic publication, as well as international project, Dr Itay Greenspan from Kevin Ward (University of Manchester), Theresa the Hebrew University and Prof Femida Handy publicly available reports for the Repair Café Enright (University of Toronto), Michael Hodson from the University of Pennsylvania, spent one network and the Precious Plastic network. (University of Manchester), Hamil Pearsall week at the SCI in February 2019. Our project Anonymised versions of the data will be shared (Temple University), Jonathan Silver (University titled “A Cross-National Analysis of the with the networks as well. Finally, the results of of Sheffield) and Alan Wiig (University of Massachusetts, Boston), ‘Infrastructural futures Intergenerational Transmission of the survey will be used as a basis for a proposal across cities of the global north’, application to environmental Habitus,” is based on data for further research on the topic of franchise- Urban Studies Foundation Seminar Series, collection conducted in 2016-2018, which like grassroots networks. £19,516. Awarded November 2018. included three nationally representative surveys in South Korea, Israel, and the US, and group Title: Decentralised energy and ‘smart cities’ interviews in the same countries. During the Team: Julia Kasmire International workshop visit we engaged in an intensive write up of the Outputs: International visit (Andrew Bollinger), We organised, with colleagues in the SCI and results for two papers and met with the Social SCI seminar, this collaboration has become the Manchester Urban Institute, an international Inequalities and Sustainable Households basis for a Presidential Fellowship application, workshop, ‘Urban platforms and the future city: working group who also study households and international visit (J. Kasmire to Zurich). Transformations in infrastructure, governance, daily practices. knowledge, and everyday life’, between 28 Outputs: Findings from research presented at Title: Agent-based modelling for transition February – 1 March (see p.10). The focus of the internal seminar at SCI, International visitors: towards the circular economy workshop was on the role of urban platforms in Femida Handy and Itay Greenspan, Journal Team: Julia Kasmire the production of new ways of understanding article submitted. and shaping urban futures, and how more Outputs: International visitors (Igor Nikolic, democratic configurations of platform urbanism Outputs in progress: Two journal articles in Jaco Quist), SCI seminar, this collaboration has preparation. might be possible. The workshop brought become the basis for a Instagram Research Fund together leading scholars from across the globe application, the topics were presented (by Title: Social Movements, Everyday Life and the – including from India, Australia, the US, Canada Politics of Sustainable Consumption J. Kasmire) at the SAMS workshop on and various European countries - for a focused Responsible Innovation. set of paper sessions organised around four Team: Luke Yates, Simin Fadaee, Kevin Gillan, core themes: infrastructure, governance, Sherilyn MacGregor Title: Urban platforms: corporate or civic digital knowledge, and everyday life. The workshop Description: We are interested in how economic transformation? was organised by the SCI’s Mike Hodson, activity has become increasingly moralised in Team: Mike Hodson and Andy McMeekin Julia Kasmire, Andy McMeekin and John Stehlin, and outside of academic work, often with ideas alongside MUI’s Kevin Ward and involved about sustainability popularly invoked in Description: This project supports research contributions from SCI Fellows Richard Heeks discussion of ‘alternative’ commodity chains, visits to Toronto and London, in 2018-2019. The and James Evans. products and modes/means of provisioning. aim of the visits is to undertake fieldwork on digital platforms in two different urban contexts. We’re also interested in exploring the politics of Contact Digital platform development in Toronto by everyday activity beyond the ‘usual suspects’ [email protected] and the usual contexts, thinking about the forms Google represents a corporate view of the of collective action, civic initiatives, subcultures future of the city, transformed by digital and practices (e.g. Bayat 2009) where political platforms. By contrast, in London, work by activity intersects with ordinary life. Much has Transport for London appears to suggest been written in these areas, but we want to attempts to build a more civic understanding of unpack some of the assumptions and make the role of urban platforms in transforming the theoretical and inter-disciplinary connections to city. The focus on digital platforms matters as advance and inform future research. The contemporary cities and processes of purpose of these events is to explore ideas for production and consumption are being cutting edge new research, and perhaps to transformed through new digital infrastructures. foster new collaborations. Who is governing these processes, for what Outputs: Two workshops of 1.5 days each. purpose and with what effects are critical issues. This work contributes an innovative new idea in Outputs in progress: Shared writing projects the context of the SCI’s developing agenda on (as yet not finalised). cities and (post-)sustainability. SCI Newsletter page 5 Autumn 2019 KD506 SCI Newsletter 2019.qxp_Layout 1 06/09/2019 12:47 Page 6

Interview with Manisha Anantharaman about #climate #justice #intersectionality A short interview with Associate Professor Manisha Anantharaman, keynote speaker at the SCI sponsored Healthy Cities 2019 conference.

b) You were talking earlier about Berkeley their commitments to thinking beyond their students responding to the whiteness of the immediate communities. This also involves US environment movement – could you recap being very attentive to history and educating on that? oneself on the histories of imperialism and its contemporary manifestations. The Students of Color Environmental Collective created an amazing campaign and wrote a letter d) what do you think Minority World/Western speaking to the environmental research and activists could or should learn from struggles teaching community at UC Berkeley (where I got in the majority world? my PhD), calling out the “whiteness” that I don’t feel like I am equipped to answer this pervades the movement and articulating a set question, but I believe that movements should of demands around fore-fronting questions of be lead by those most oppressed by the racial justice in the environmental movement. situation. This doesn’t mean responsibilizing the You can read the letter here: people of the majority word or indigenous https://serc.berkeley.. A recap of the campaign people or people of color to fix the problem, but here: https://emalis6.wixsite. rather being willing to listen and be in solidarity. We (people like me, elites) have to practice a) What do you research? c) your thoughts on the current state of the environment/climate justice movements (in humility. Solidarity for me is about struggle and radical love, and this is something that liberatory My work examines questions of representation, which ever countries you choose to answer? inclusion and power within “sustainability” activists in the majority world have long scholarship and movements, primarily within I’m going to reflect on the movement in Geneva, emphasized. and from Indian cities. Sustainability researchers where I am based right now. When I am at some Contact and proponents have to be very attentive to of the climate protests and saw signs about [email protected] these questions, given the exclusive and “protecting the future of our kids and exclusionary histories of elite-led environmental grandkids”, I always want to ask the sign- movements. In a recent publication, I call on holders, who is the “our” here? I sincerely hope researchers in the field of sustainable that they are thinking about the kids and consumption to pay more attention to the grandkids in India and other parts of the majority conditions of oppression that make world, where climate change will compound unsustainable consumption possible and already existing suffering in terrible ways. I think normal, and to examine the ways in which the environmental/climate justice movement sustainability initiatives reproduce or dismantle should not assume that inclusion is implicit or raced, classed and gendered oppression. “given”, but rather activists should make explicit

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Healthy Cities Discussion Session Manisha Anantharaman

Across a two week visit in April and May 2019 It was this paper that Manisha presented as the work. During this session we discussed SCI sponsored keynote speech to the Healthy questions such as “What does it mean to adopt a Dr Manisha Anantharaman (Assistant Professor in Justice, Community and Leadership at Cities 2019 Conference. The Healthy Cities critical perspective to sustainable consumption Saint Mary’s College, California) visited the conference, hosted by Dr Deljana Iossifova (and production) in our own work?”, “What is the Sustainable Consumption Institute to (Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies University of significance of looking at relational and structural participate in exchanges and discussions Manchester) and Dr Alison Browne, focused on power within sustainable consumption research with our research staff at the SCI, as well as research and policy approaches that place and policy?”, and “What would it mean to delivering a SCI sponsored keynote lecture everyday life at the centre of accounts on urban, ‘decolonise’ or create ‘anticolonial’ sustainable at Healthy Cities 2019. This visit was hosted infrastructural and environmental consumption and production scholarship, theory, empirical research, methods and scholarly praxis by Dr Alison Browne (Senior Lecturer, Human transformations. Manisha presented alongside including teaching?”. Throughout the visit Geography, SCI), alongside the SCI researcher, other eminent keynote presenters such as Prof Clara Greed (Emerita Professor of inclusive these discussions continued with Manisha early career and PhD research community. Urban Planning, University of the West of participating in Shut Up and Write sessions Manisha’s work examines questions of England), Professor Nikolas Rose (Prof of with the Society Environment Research Group representation, inclusion and power within Sociology, Department of Global Health and (Geography) and SCI colleagues, as well as “sustainability” scholarship and movements, Social Medicine, King’s College London), Prof making space for writing on collaborative primarily within and from Indian cities. Michael Keith (Director of the Centre on projects between Dr Ali Browne (Manchester), Sustainability researchers and proponents have Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Dr Manisha Anantharaman (St Mary’s) and Tullia Jack (Lund). to be very attentive to these questions, given Oxford, and co-ordinator of the ESRC Urban the exclusive and exclusionary histories of Transformations portfolio) and Prof Diane Mitlin Manisha will also feature in the new large MOOC elite-led environmental movements. Recently (Director, Global Development Institute, Prof of style University College of Interdisciplinary Manisha published a paper entitled “Critical Global Urbanism, The University of Manchester). Learning (UCIL) course “Creating a sustainable sustainable consumption: A research On the 30th April Manisha also took part in an world: 21st century challenges and the agenda” which has been of substantial SCI ‘open space’ workshop where we came sustainable development goals”. This course will interest to colleagues within the Sustainable together as an SCI community to discuss the be available to students from the 2019/20 Consumption Institute and across sustainable significance and importance of engaging with academic year, and Manisha’s reflections on consumption and production research and critical sustainable consumption perspectives critical approaches will be included in module on policy communities. within the Institutes research, writing and policy Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG Goal 12) led by Dr Alison Browne & Cecilia Alda Vidal (both in the SCI and Geography). About Dr Manisha Anantharaman: Manisha received her PhD from the Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley in 2015. She is a founding member of the Global Research Forum on Sustainable Consumption and Production. In Spring 2019 she was also the Alba Viotto Visiting Professor in Sociology at the University of Geneva. Healthy Cities 2019 was generously supported by the Hallsworth Conference Fund, Sustainable Consumption Institute, and the Confucius Institute at The University of Manchester; Complexity Planning and Urbanism at the Manchester School of Architecture; and Beijing Normal University. Contact [email protected]

Dr Manisha Anantharaman Keynote Presentation at Healthy Cities 2019

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Education for sustainability, action-oriented research and the value of building bridges

In March 2019 the Sustainable Consumption centres in regions where increasingly overlays on these maps to show alternative Institute held a series of activities around unpredictable weather is resulting in flooding scenarios: one overlay showing the risks that sustainability education. The SCI hosted and landslides. Much of MEEN’s recent work has could be heightened by climate change, another Rachel Trajber, education lead of the Brazilian centred on working with pupils to research their showing ways that the communities can government research institute Cemaden school’s soil quality, which often reveals become more resilient to climate risks. The (National Monitoring and Early Warning and contamination and impoverishment. Heavy three schools are in dialogue about similarities Centre of Natural Disasters) and used Rachel’s rains, which experts predict will be one outcome and differences in risks and potential responses visit to build bridges with the Manchester of climate change, could expose impoverished that the mapping is helping them to see. Environmental Education Network. soils and this is one reason why MEEN is At an intergenerational conference on climate simultaneously delivering a social action project Rachel’s visit was initiated by SCI Research change, risk and resilience on 22 March 2019, on climate change through intergenerational Associate Catherine Walker and builds on a carbon classrooms. students from all three schools presented (live series of international research interactions or through a video-link up) their work-in- around Education for Sustainability (EfS), Cemaden and MEEN share an understanding of progress and discussed some of these emerging described by Rachel, Catherine and others in an climate-related hazards as socio-environmental, similarities and differences. article for a recent special issue of Action Research requiring responses ‘from top down and bottom Is the city a context for deliberation or a site journal on Climate Change Transformations. up, involving multiple stakeholders in dialogue and collaboration at every stage of the process’, that innovation gets done to? In the special issue, Rachel, Catherine and co- as argued by Rachel Trajber and colleagues. For This question, part of a series of questions authors call for researchers to ‘create conditions MEEN this works as a three-stage process: orienting the SCI’s Cities and for public educational policies – and educators – learn, act, share. Both organisations seek to (Post)Sustainability working group, provided a to become part of strategies for realising cultivate spaces for intergenerational learning: transformations for sustainability and resilience platform to discuss with the working group the taking young people’s concerns and knowledge in the face of climate change, disaster[s] and ways that young people are frequently affected seriously without making them solely resource insecurity.’ At just such a time when by city innovations – for good or ill – yet are responsible for action, as MEEN Coordinator much less frequently consulted on these international youth climate activism is raising Raichael Lock writes with Susan Brown. critical questions, Rachel’s visit enabled SCI innovations. Recently, there have been researchers to engage our research on Having called the collaboration between the proposals to build schools in Greater un/sustainable consumption with EfS, as a SCI, Cemaden and MEEN ‘Building Bridges’, we Manchester and elsewhere on reclaimed land research area in its own right and a means of reflect on the bridges built and those remaining (which, as former waste collection or industrial disseminating research. to be built through a series of questions that sites, may contain harmful contaminants). It is have grown out of our work together. worth considering what suggestions young From the outset, Rachel’s visit was envisaged as people - who will spend the most time in these an opportunity for the SCI to build bridges with ‘Do people in Brazil have climate change like ‘sites of innovation’ – might make if they were and between Cemaden Education’s Network of we have climate change?’ consulted in a meaningful way on such plans. Schools and Communities for Disaster Risk This question, raised by a pupil at a primary Prevention and the Manchester Environmental school where we planted trees to offset Rachel’s Our social cartography work offers one way to Education Network (MEEN). The work of both flights, sums up the enquiry at the heart of our build bridges between classrooms and decision- organisations - in geographically-distant collaboration. Rachel responded that we making spaces. Our aim is that, in addition to contexts and in response to differing (humanity) are in the same boat, but on different building bridges between young people in manifestations of socioenvironmental parts of the boat, some of which are more different geographical contexts, the work will vulnerabilities – is consistent with the action- vulnerable than others. prompt schools to contact local politicians, oriented transformations approach set out by This is being illustrated through the social community groups and researchers to propose the editors of Action Research. Cemaden cartography work that we are undertaking with actions for more resilient communities. Student Education’s work aims to contribute to more schools in Manchester, Santarém (Pará, Brazil) social cartographers at the Manchester school sustainable and resilient societies by building and São José dos Campos (São Paulo, Brazil). are keen to show their work to MP Afzal Khan, curriculum skills and research competencies in Students are mapping hazards, areas of risk and and to tweet photos of their map, overlays and schools. The team has equipped schools to vulnerable populations onto aerial maps of the action plan to the Mayor of Greater Manchester, become micro-risk monitoring and prevention areas around their schools. They are creating Andy Burnham.

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Workshop on ‘Consumption Work in the Circular Economy’

A two day workshop (28 February and 1 March changes in consumption practices will be 2019) was held at the SCI to examine the place defused and normalised. of consumption in models and visions of the The workshop – the first of two – was funded Circular Economy. In 2015 the European by the SCI as part of a scoping project to lay Commission reframed its commitments to the groundwork for agenda setting research Nonetheless, events such as the young people’s sustainable consumption and production platform at the Manchester Mayor’s Green into the role of consumption work in the largely in terms of the Circular Economy, Circular Economy, led by the SCI’s Helen Summit and the Strike for Climate – both of centred on moving away from the current, Holmes (Research Fellow, Sociology) and which happened during Rachel’s visit – suggest linear economy of “make, use, dispose”, and Dan Welch (Lecturer, Sociology). As part of the that it is when young people go outside of closing “material loops” through innovations project, SCI doctoral researcher Harald Weiser school that they have the greatest impact. As in production, provision and consumption. adults at these youth-led events, we were on produced an extensive literature review which However, current models of Circular Economy formed the basis for discussion at the the receiving end of a bridge extended by young fall short in their understandings of workshop. Helen, Dan and Harald were joined people, a rallying call to action, much of which consumption and in lack of attention paid to by Katy Wheeler (Co-director, Centre for must be led by adults as young people’s poems the domestic sphere, where so much from the strike make clear. Economic Sociology and Innovation, University consumption takes place. A fertile entry point of Essex), and Kersty Hobson (Senior Lecturer Is it enough to learn together? How do we to this gap is Miriam Glucksmann and Katy in Human Geography, Cardiff University), as build together? Wheeler’s concept of “consumption work” – well as the SCI’s Tally Katz-Gero (Sociology), the distinctive form of labour “necessary for In institutional terms, our collaboration bridges Wouter Spekkink (AMBS) and Sherilyn the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of an academic institution (SCI), a government MacGregor (Politics). Following the success of research institution (Cemaden) and a non- consumption goods and services” (Wheeler and Glucksmann 2015: 37). Models and visions the workshop, Katy and Kersty will be returning governmental institution (MEEN). As individuals to the SCI in September for a follow on we have different ways of positioning ourselves of the Circular Economy commonly assume workshop, with the goal of developing a major as researchers, activists and practitioners and more arduous or engaged forms of research project on ‘Consumption work in the how we see ourselves depends on the contexts consumption work in order to complete Circular Economy’. in which we work. Our work together and the “material loops” between production and range of activities carried out (seminars with consumption, often with limited Contact academics, tree planting and assemblies in understanding of how these significant [email protected] schools, supporting after-school eco-clubs, hosting an intergenerational conference, participating in a climate strike, attending a policy summit) have perhaps blurred boundaries as much as they have built bridges. Frank Geels As those privileged with the vocation of working with knowledge, our responsibility to bridge research, action and practice takes on a new Researcher urgency at a time of climate crisis. As the authors of the Action Research editorial calling for action- oriented research for transformations write, ‘the times demand it’. Our collaboration enables us of the Year to think together about how we build critical understandings and responses to the climate Congratulations to Frank Geels, Professor crisis with those who are not only the subjects of System Innovation and Sustainability, of our research but also fellow (global) who has been named as one of The University community members. of Manchester’s researchers of the year for Catherine Walker is a Research Associate his outstanding performance and at the Sustainable Consumption Institute. significant contribution. Rachel Trajber leads the education work He received the award at the University's 2019 of the Brazilian government research institute Distinguished Achievement Awards. The Cemaden (National Monitoring and Early criteria against which nominations are judged Warning and Centre of Natural Disasters). state that the nominee should be "someone Raichael Lock is the co-ordinator of the whose most recent research has successfully As his citation remarked: "His work is highly Manchester Environmental Education Network. challenged dogma, created a new field of cited and his research has generated broad research, elucidated a new paradigm, made a impact to the academic community and society. Further reading fundamental change in thinking, or impacted His reach is clearly truly global." Trajber, R., Walker, C. et al. (2019) “Promoting significantly on society". Commenting on his award he said: "I am truly climate change transformation with young Professor Geels was described as having honoured to receive this award and see my work people in Brazil: participatory action research demonstrated himself to be a "transformative praised in this way. Changing energy, mobility through a looping approach” Action Research intellectual", being the chief proponent of the and agro-food systems in sustainable, low- Volume: 17 issue: 1, page(s): 87-107 so-called 'socio-technical transition theory' carbon directions is one of today's grand https://doi.org/10.1177/1476750319829202. which covers large scale system changes in challenges, and to bring my work to the Contact energy, food and transport that involve technical, attention of a wider audience and to [email protected] socio-economic, political and cultural processes. policymakers is extremely important to me."

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Urban platforms and the future city workshop

From the 28 February to 1 March, the powered by rent-seeking and market capture – The final session examined how these issues Sustainable Consumption Institute, with and urbanisation – a mode of constructing materialised in everyday life and labour, among support from the Manchester Urban Institute human environments driven by the conversion both platform users and platform workers. Here and the University of Lund, hosted an of space into property. This overarching the paradoxes of platformisation became international workshop entitled, Urban question manifested across a number of apparent, as they generate new (and sometimes platforms and the future city, organised by different discussions. more inclusive) forms of sociality, such as in the Michael Hodson, Julia Kasmire, Andrew WeChat “super app” profiled by Yujie Chen, McMeekin, John Stehlin, and Kevin Ward, with The infrastructure session posed both the ways political participation, and economic essential support from Katrina Farrugia. The in which digital platforms form a new kind of opportunity, for instance among women Uber workshop brought in seventeen participants infrastructural overlay, based on the capture of drivers in India previously excluded from taxi from institutions in six countries (UK, US, CA, data, onto existing urban spaces, such as the NL, IN, and AU), working in field sites across South Lake Union district of Seattle where work, as Anurag Mazumdar discussed. But this Latin America, East and South Asia, Africa, and Amazon is headquartered, profiled by Dillon still occurs within a platform architecture that the North Atlantic, to discuss and debate the Mahmoudi. At the same time, they highlighted projects these forms of sociality into a future emerging phenomenon of platform urbanism, the disjunctures of how these infrastructures that is disembedded from present attachments a term coined by Sarah Barns and others to connect, and the “glitches,” as Agnieszka like polity, community, and kinship. The second describe the co-constitution of digital platforms Leszczynski put it, that have become day concluded with a light lunch and excitement and urban space. increasingly endemic to the platformised city. about upcoming collaborations. The goals of the workshop were twofold. First, The governance session stressed how the We are currently in the internal peer review we wanted to stimulate a set of conversations largely private ownership of platforms means a stage of an edited collection for Routledge around the urbanisation of platform capitalism, shift toward proprietary interfaces to access the containing a number of contributions from bringing in both key thinkers and early-career data required to govern, whether this is data on workshop participants, and edited by members researchers in the fields of digital geographies, a user’s location, consumption patterns, or of the SCI, the MUI, and the Department of media studies, innovation studies, and urban Geography. Along this same direction of work, planning. Our second goal was to feed into the political discourse. Simultaneously, with the Mike Hodson and Andy McMeekin are finalizing emerging work programme on digital coming move to 5G networks and blockchain, two major funding proposals to support a three- transformations and urbanisation within the the collection of information has become more year programme of work building both on SCI, focusing specifically on urban platforms, horizontal and distributed. Clancy Wilmott and in concrete terms to produce an edited argued that this raised the importance of conversations and collaborations fostered by volume of workshop papers informed by the proximity rather than Cartesian location, and the workshop. More broadly, the workshop conversations that occurred there. “ambient participation,” in Maroš Krivý’s words, contributed to raising the SCI’s profile in scholarship at the intersection of digital Based on their current research, we recruited rather than top-down hierarchical ordering. This transformation and urbanisation, two important participants according to four main themes – introduces new quandaries regarding processes infrastructure, governance, knowledge, and of biopolitical government. These threads of the SCI’s future research agenda. everyday life – and requested short conversations continued more informally We would like to conclude with a final note on presentations on these themes. At the same through a guided tour of Manchester’s industrial inclusion. In designing the workshop, we were time, a core aim of the workshop was also to history and the curry dinner that followed. explicit about working toward improving gender stage a conversation about the varying Day two deepened these themes, beginning balance and ethnic, racial, geographic, and meanings of “platform urbanism” itself. With with a session on how platformisation has career-stage diversity. We feel we were this in mind, we opened the workshop with a changed how urban knowledge is organised, relatively successful in terms of gender balance more informal roundtable featuring a participant and career-stage diversity, and less so in our from each subsequent paper session, with the and, for Richard Heeks, how “data justice” might other diversity goals. Nevertheless, several prompt of “What does platform urbanism mean be enacted. One key issue cutting across these conference participants noted the positive in your own research?” This more papers was the role of data – how it is gathered, impact of our efforts, which shows that such conversational opening set a convivial tone that who controls it, and how it is used – as a field stimulated more wide-ranging discussions, of (asymmetrical) political struggle in which clear, intentional pursuits yield an improved fostered by ample coffee breaks, over the large corporate actors like Airbnb, which workshop experience, while also highlighting course of the two days. David Wachsmuth analyzed, the local state, the need to consistently work toward more inclusive scholarly spaces. At the core of these discussions was the discussed by Scott Rodgers and Susan Moore, relationship between the platform – a mode of and “bottom-up” actors like informal settlement Contact digital intermediation of economic activity, dwellers, in Andrés Luque Ayala’s work, [email protected] political debate, and social interaction that is are engaged. [email protected]

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Imagined futures of consumption

Last year SCI researcher Dan Welch (Lecturer in This data has been collected Sociology) won a £300,000 funding award from through collaborating with the the Economic and Social Research Council to Mass Observation Archive conduct a two-year project on “Imagined (MOA) based at the University Futures of Consumption”. The project – running of Sussex. In December 2018 until September 2020 – explores how the future the MOA sent out a ‘directive’ of the consumption of goods and services is on ‘The Future of Consumption’ imagined by both the general public and by to its panel of 400 volunteers. experts, such as professional practitioners of MOA ‘directives’ consist of forecasting or ‘futures’ techniques. questions and prompts The project’s starting point is that concerning an area of research representations and expectations of the future that elicit written responses play a critical role in the present. Imagined from the volunteers. The data futures can come to serve as visions guiding provides rich reﬂections from public or corporate policy, channelling funding volunteers on everything from and inﬂuencing technological design, or can the future of the high street, to motivate political activists and orient social future environmental movements. Visions of collective futures constraints on consumption, to embody expectations of future states, expectations of the next pragmatic beliefs about the way the world generation’s living standards, to the future of food and fears and works, and beliefs about the nature of ‘the h s a

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and public bodies. t on Anticipation, in Oslo o Radio controlled vacuum cleaner, American National Exhibition, Moscow 1959 h Today, in the wake of the ﬁnancial crisis and in in October 2019. P the context of climate change, the central promises of twentieth century consumer In the second phase of the project Dan and Southern Denmark, Odense, and to the society – of prosperity for all and ever rising Ulrike intend to work alongside professional University of Bristol’s School of Economics, living standards – have been fundamentally ‘futures’ practitioners, to explore how think Finance and Management. Dan has also teamed challenged. With the loss of faith in one tanks, corporations and futures consultancies up with project advisor Prof Giuliana Mandich, dominant imagined future of consumption, produce and circulate visions and models of the an expert in sociology of the future at Cagliari cultural and political space has been opened up future of consumption. In preparation for this University in Sardinia, to organise a Research for competing imagined futures of work, Ulrike has recently undertaken an Stream at the European Sociological Association’s consumption. It is within this social and political- intensive week long training course on “Futuring 2019 Conference on ‘Practicing the Future’. The economic context that the project will explore for Sustainability” at the Urban Futures Studio, Research Stream received the highest number of how such futures shape, and are shaped by, University of Utrecht, learning ‘futures’ abstract submissions of any of the conference social processes. techniques such as scenario building and Research Streams, and saw 24 papers presented backcasting. over six panels. Dan Welch is working on the project with Ulrike Ehgartner as Research Associate. Ulrike was Dan has presented on the ideas behind the Phase two of the project promises knowledge awarded her PhD with the SCI earlier this year project to the European Sociological exchange workshops with professional futurists, (see page 2). In the current, ﬁrst phase of the Association’s Consumption Network public engagement through an exhibition and an project Dan and Ulrike are analysing data on conference in Copenhagen last August, and international academic workshop on the individuals’ expectations and imagination about earlier this year was invited to present on the sociology of the future. the future of consumption – their own, that of project to the Consumption, Culture and Contact future generations, and of society as a whole. Communication group at the University of [email protected]

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Visitors

Sacha Manik is a PhD fellow at the Centre for Health Promotion Research, Roskilde University, Denmark, where she has been affiliated to the PhD program “Health and Society” since December 2017. Sacha’s research is exploring the challenges people face in the process of change towards a sustainable diet with low or no meat, seen in a sociological and critical food consumption perspective. Sacha is visiting Manchester University for three months as part of her PhD education with the purpose of Filippo Oncini (PhD) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Sociology and Social Research, enhancing her qualifications as a food consumption University of Trento. His research interests lie in the fields of consumption, health and cultural researcher. Her aim is also to get acquainted sociology, with attention to social stratification dynamics, food inequalities and urban poverty. He is with the research environment at the SCI, as currently working on project PLATEFORMS, which aims to produce in-depth knowledge on how food well as to create a network with likeminded practices are affected by innovations in food provisioning. From October he will be joining the researchers. Dr. Alan Warde will be Sacha’s Sustainable Consumption Institute for two years as a Marie Curie fellow with a mixed method project supervisor during her visit at the institute. on food poverty and food bank use in Greater Manchester. Alan Warde Save the date: SCI Festival December 5, 2019

The Sustainable Consumption Institute will hold a half-day event to celebrate over a decade of cutting edge research and to launch a new research agenda for our new phase as an institute. The theme is 'Materialising sustainabilities, reimagining futures', which captures our aims to both deepen and extend our thinking about the urgent socio-technical and political challenges of our time. The event will involve a series of short talks about ideas, practices, strategies and innovations for changing dominant modes of provision and moving towards more sustainable societies. The speakers will include academics working in the SCI and high profile guests drawn from policy, enterprise and activist sectors. Confirmed external speakers include: Corin Bell (Lead, Plastic Free Greater Manchester and Prof Alan Warde was awarded this year’s British Director of Open Kitchen MCR), Euan Mills (Head of Digital Planning at Connected Places Sociological Association’s Distinguished Catapult), Martine Postma (Founder of the Repair Café Movement) and Magid Magid Service to British Sociology award. (former Lord Mayor of Sheffield and Green Member of European Parliament). Their talks will Prof Warde, was given the award by the be pitched to an interested lay audience and designed to provoke discussion and debate. President of the BSA, Prof Susan Halford, at its The event will be followed by a wine reception. annual conference in Glasgow in April 2019. Contact Prof Halford said Prof Warde’s contribution to [email protected] sociology “stretched across all areas of academic endeavour” including an “increasingly powerful analysis of consumption and environmental change.” SCI, The University of Manchester, Also, she said, “Alan has been generous with his time and his ideas to the people he works with.” Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK www.sci.manchester.ac.uk Prof Warde said he was “honoured, surprised @ManchesterSCI and pleased” to receive the award.

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