scholarly journals Corporate Power in the Bioeconomy Transition: The Policies and Politics of Conservative Ecological Modernization in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6952
Author(s):  
Mairon G. Bastos Lima
Keyword(s):  
Local Development ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Food Governance ◽  
Food Diversity ◽  
Strategic Framing

The bioeconomy transition is a double-edged sword that may either address fossil fuel dependence sustainably or aggravate human pressures on the environment, depending on how it is pursued. Using the emblematic case of Brazil, this article analyzes how corporate agribusiness dominance limits the bioeconomy agenda, shapes innovation pathways, and ultimately threatens the sustainability of this transition. Drawing from scholarship on power in agri-food governance and sustainability transitions, an analytical framework is then applied to the Brazilian case. The analysis of current policies, recent institutional changes and the case-specific literature reveals that, despite a strategic framing of the bioeconomy transition as a panacea for job creation, biodiversity conservation and local development (particularly for the Amazon region), in practice major soy, sugarcane and meatpacking conglomerates dominate Brazil’s bioeconomy agenda. In what can be described as conservative ecological modernization, there is some reflexivity regarding environmental issues but also an effort to maintain (unequal) social and political structures. Significant agribusiness dominance does not bode well for smallholder farmers, food diversity or natural ecosystems, as major drivers of deforestation and land-use change (e.g., soy plantations, cattle ranching) gain renewed economic and political stimulus as well as greater societal legitimacy under the bioeconomy umbrella.

In Search of Sustainability

2005 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Sustainable Society ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Key Issues

What must we do to achieve a sustainable society? There is no one answer. The first steps towards sustainability cover a whole spectrum of economic, social and environmental issues. In this volume Australian leaders from a wide range of fields discuss the key issues we must address if we are to move towards a more just and sustainable future. They identify the major concerns and challenges for achieving sustainability in the areas of: human health, water resources, land use and natural ecosystems, energy, equity and peace, economic systems, climate change, labour forces and work, urban design and transport, and population. Achieving sustainability will require major changes in our current approaches. The thought-provoking chapters in this book provide a solid introduction to the issues in the search for a genuine path to sustainability.

scholarly journals Unravelling the role of green entrepreneurs in urban sustainability transitions: A case study of China’s Solar City

Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (14) ◽  
pp. 2901-2917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Yu ◽  
David Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Urban Sustainability ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Solar Water Heater ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Water Heater ◽  
Solar Water ◽  
Institutional Contexts

This paper aims to understand the role of green entrepreneurs in urban sustainability transitions. We propose an analytical framework combining transition approaches and green entrepreneurship from a relational lens. It includes four processes: emergence of green entrepreneurs, multi-scalar interest coordination, empowering through anchoring, and struggling with the regime at the urban scale. This framework is illustrated through an empirical analysis of the role of green entrepreneurs in the development of the solar water heater industry in China’s Solar City. The analysis unravels how the local institutional contexts and multi-scalar relations empowered local green entrepreneurs to become system builders for urban transitions.

scholarly journals TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK TO MAP SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS IN FOOD SYSTEMS

AGROFOR ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid EL BILALI ◽  
Lorenz PROBST
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Innovation System ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Transition Management ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
The Social

Transitions to sustainable food systems are considered necessary to addresssustainability challenges in industrial food systems – but also to achieve food andnutrition security especially in countries of the South. To facilitate such transitions,we need a thorough analytical understanding of change processes in food systems.Different transition frameworks have been suggested in the literature, with theMulti-Level Perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions being the mostprominent. While MLP has proven to be a useful heuristic, earlier studies haveidentified weak points (e.g. regarding agency, power, landscape factors andinstitutional innovations) calling for the integration of complementary concepts.This paper proposes a framework for the analysis of sustainability transitions infood systems that integrates elements of the Social Practices Approach, TransitionManagement, Strategic Niche Management and Innovation Systems. The startingpoint of the suggested analytical process is to map emerging sustainable foodsystems along the MLP levels of niche, regime and landscape. To better understandprocesses of creating and developing initiatives in food systems, our mapping relieson Innovation System approaches (e.g. identifying actors and their networks),Transition Management (e.g. niche stabilization and expansion processes) andStrategic Niche Management (e.g. breakthroughs). As wider transitions require areconfiguration of relevant regimes, interactions across levels are of particularinterest. The Social Practices Approach helps to make niche-regime interactionsexplicit. Finally, by looking at the impacts and outcomes of change initiatives, wecan make statements about the type of transition pathway taken – and whether aninitiative has transformative potential or is an incremental adaptation. Further workis needed to refine and test the framework in different contexts.

Inclusive productive value chains, an overview of Indonesia’s cocoa industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 439-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diederik de Boer ◽  
Gigi Limpens ◽  
Amzul Rifin ◽  
Nunung Kusnadi
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Institutional Voids ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Dependency

Purpose The inclusiveness of smallholder cocoa farmers in the international cocoa value chain is addressed in the context of institutional voids through linkages with different business models in the region of Bali, West-Sumatra and West-Sulawesi. Being the third highest producer of cocoa, local farmers have a high dependency on cocoa cultivation; however, they lack policies that foster and reward sustainable high-quality cocoa according to international standards. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach An explanatory multiple-case study design assessed the relevance of partnerships in contributing to sustainable local development and inclusiveness for smallholder farmers. The selected business models, business supported, NGO supported and government supported, are evaluated through improved access to finance, training, technology, subsidized inputs and markets. Findings The paper found that a linkage with a business-supported model, here BT COCOA, achieves the best results in terms of improved yields, quality and farmer’s welfare, indicating improved inclusiveness via successful process upgrading. Yet, future cooperation between stakeholders should improve on access to information and finance. Research limitations/implications The research is a relative research, comparing three models of inclusiveness within one sector (cocoa) in predefined regions of Indonesia. Future research should test the proposed propositions in other agricultural sectors. Practical implications The paper showcases the effect of support model affiliation for smallholder farmer inclusiveness and the circumvention of institutional voids. It selects the business model as best suitable to achieve smallholder inclusiveness, as well a need to prioritize institutional voids. Originality/value The research is assessing three models addressing inclusiveness applying value chain assessment tools to measure inclusiveness.

Greening the black box: integrating the environment and management control systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 620-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Sundin ◽  
David Andrew Brown
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Environmental Objectives

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to adopt an agency theory approach to investigate the integration of environmental issues into management control systems (MCS). Prior environmental accounting research has focussed on increasing organisations’ environmental accountability by “monitoring” through external reporting to stakeholders. However, this overlooks the alignment of agents’ interests within the firm. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study is undertaken in a large Australian listed property trust to investigate how agents’ interests may be integrated with environmental objectives through the use of MCS. Findings From the case an analytical framework is developed to illustrate how environmental issues are incorporated into organisational behaviour through MCS. The findings include, single objective environmental MCS; multiple objective MCS, which include priorities that specify environmental and economic trade-offs; and balancing MCS, which provide overarching decision-making principles without priorities. Practical implications The findings provide examples of how an organisation may integrate environmental issues across a range of MCS and the things to consider in doing so. Originality/value This paper draws on an agency perspective as an approach to incorporate environmental issues into MCS and to align behaviour. It explains a new way in which tensions can be managed. This study is one of the first to adopt the control package approach in investigating the incorporation of environmental issues in MCS.

scholarly journals Mapping the Research Landscape of Nature-Based Solutions in Urbanism

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3876
Author(s):  
Lei Li ◽  
Ali Cheshmehzangi ◽  
Faith Ka Shun Chan ◽  
Christopher D. Ives
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Innovative Concept

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are an innovative concept that mimics the processes of natural ecosystems, popularized principally in the European Union. With a substantial body of literature amassed since the term’s inception in 2015, there is a need to systematically review existing literature to identify overarching gaps and trends, according to disciplinary focus, geographic scope, and key themes, and direct future research inquiry and policy recommendations. This review consists of bibliometric analysis and thematic analysis for NBS studies in urbanism. NBS studies were found to relate strongly with other concepts of ‘Ecosystem Services’, ‘Green Infrastructure’, ‘Climate Change’, and ‘Risk management and Resilience’, which align with four major thematic goals set by the European Commission. Within NBS scholarship, various sub-themes have emerged, namely, ‘Greening’, ‘Urban Development’, ‘Water’, ‘Wellbeing’, and ‘Governance’. Furthermore, we illustrate that the amount and thematic focus of NBS research have been unevenly distributed worldwide. Analysis of emerging trends shows a recent increase in topics, such as adaptive governance of NBS, and the incorporation of social justice in sustainability transitions. Based on an assessment of extant NBS literature, we offer some recommendations for the future direction of the research fields.

scholarly journals Village Morphology and the Construction of Place Identity in the Aihui Area along the Heilongjiang River, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Wei ◽  
Yang Yani ◽  
Dong Yu
Keyword(s):  
Local Development ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Place Identity ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Subjective Perceptions ◽  
Comprehensive Framework ◽  
Construction Of Place ◽  
The Village

Place identity is the emotional connection between people and a place. It is significant for local development and people’s satisfaction and happiness in where they reside. The physical environment is one of the most important factors affecting people’s emotions toward a place. In order to clarify the theoretical analytical framework of the process from village space morphology to place identity, this study takes the area of Aihui along the Heilongjiang River, China, as an example. The research was conducted regarding two aspects: First, we analyzed the space morphology of the villages in the Aihui district and interpreted their locality. On this basis, we conducted a survey of villagers’ subjective perceptions of the village space and their place identity through in-depth interviews. From the collected interview texts, we extracted, verified, and analyzed the role of morphological constituents in the construction of place identity. Finally, a comprehensive framework was established. The features of space morphology are the projections of locality in physical space. People use morphological constituents to construct an image of the village and scenes of local life; morphological constituents with local characteristics can help enhance people’s place identity.

Susceptibility in Development

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Jakimow
Keyword(s):  
Local Development ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Direct Relation ◽  
Emotion Development ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Global North ◽  
Development Agents ◽  
Comparative Ethnography

Susceptibility in Development offers a novel approach to understanding power in development through theories of affect and emotion. Development agents—people tasked with designing or delivering development—are susceptible to being affected in ways that may derail or threaten their ‘sense of self’. This susceptibility is in direct relation to the capacity of others to affect development agents: an overlooked form of power. This book proposes a new analytical framework—the capacity/susceptibility to affect/be affected—to enable new readings of power relations and their consequences for development. These barely perceptible forms of power become visible through ethnographic attention to local level development. Susceptibility in Development offers a comparative ethnography of two types of local development agents: volunteers in a community development programme in Medan, Indonesia, and women municipal councillors in Dehradun, India. Ethnographic accounts that are attentive to the emotions and affects engendered in encounters between volunteers and ‘beneficiaries’, or municipal councillors and voters (for example) provide a fresh reading of the relations shaping local development. Local development agents may be more ‘susceptible’ than workers and volunteers from the global North, yet the capacity/susceptibility to affect/be affected orders relations and shapes outcomes of development from the local to the global. In theorizing from the local, Susceptibility in Development offers fresh insights into power dynamics in development.

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