Building a Sustainable and Desirable Economy-in-Society-in-Nature : Report to the United Nations for the 2012 Rio+20 Conference

Costanza, Robert; Alperovitz, Gar; Daly, Herman E.; Farley, Joshua; Franco, Carol; Jackson, Tim; Kubiszewski, Ida; Schor, Juliet B.; Victor, Peter A.

doi:10.26530/oapen_462196

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…On the one hand, research suggests that RWH can have positive employment effects (through job sharing and job creation) that will reduce unemployment and the uneven distribution of work hours (Ashford and Kallis, 2014; Hayden, 2006; Trumbull, 2002), and encourage greater labour force participation for women (Lehndorff, 2014). RWH may help to reduce or prevent layoffs and “serve as a stabiliser” in periods of economic slowdown or recession (Costanza et al , 2013, p. 59). However, much debate – informed by France's 35-h work week – contests whether or not RWH weakens firm competitiveness, increases labour costs and yields lower tax revenues (Askenazy, 2013; da Paz Campos Lima, 2015; Hayden, 2006; Lehndorff, 2014).…”

Section: Reduced Work Hours Initiatives In Contemporary Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The promise of a four-day week? A critical appraisal of a management-led initiative

Delaney

Casey

2021

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PurposeThis article critically investigates a management-led experiment to institute a four-day work week with stated intentions of improving productivity and worker wellbeing. The article analyses the framing and implementation of the reduced work hours (RWH) trial, the responses of employees and the outcomes and implications of the trial. It raises concerns regarding the managerial appropriation of employee aspirations for more autonomy over time and improved work life.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a qualitative case study of a medium-sized company operating in the financial services sector in New Zealand. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 employees.FindingsOur study finds that the promise of a four-day week attracted employee favour and individualised benefits. However, entrenched managerialist practices of performance measurement, monitoring and productivity pressures were intensified. Pro-social and collective interests evident in labour-led campaigns were absent. We urge greater critical scrutiny into seemingly advantageous “business case” initiatives for reduced work hours.Originality/valueLittle is known about what happens to concern for social and employee interests entailed in reduced working hours initiatives when a management-led initiative is implemented. Indeed, the majority of research focuses on the macro-level rather than interrogating the “black box” of firms. Our inquiry contributes to these debates by asking, how does a management-led RWH initiative affect employees?

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Section: Reduced Work Hours Initiatives In Contemporary Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The promise of a four-day week? A critical appraisal of a management-led initiative

Delaney

Casey

2021

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“…Evidence needs to be generated for multiple interventions implemented at different points in transformed supply and demand chains within the complex systems that comprise the multi-dimensional environments in which we live. The kinds of transformations being called for include action in seven dimensions (science, law, technology, money, democracy, culture and behaviour) [ 1 ], a circular economy in which prosperity is privileged over growth [ 2 ], and where the most sustainable product is the one never bought in the first place [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards environmentally sustainable human behaviour: targeting non-conscious and conscious processes for effective and acceptable policies

Marteau¹

2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

114

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Meeting climate change targets to limit global warming to 2°C requires rapid and large reductions in demand for products that most contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These include production of bulk materials (e.g. steel and cement), energy supply (e.g. fossil fuels) and animal source foods (particularly ruminants and their products). Effective strategies to meet these targets require transformative changes in supply as well as demand, involving changes in economic, political and legal systems at local, national and international levels, building on evidence from many disciplines. This paper outlines contributions from behavioural science in reducing demand. Grounded in dual-process models of human behaviour (involving non-conscious and conscious processes) this paper considers first why interventions aimed at changing population values towards the environment are usually insufficient or unnecessary for reducing demand although they may be important in increasing public acceptability of policies that could reduce demand. It then outlines two sets of evidence from behavioural science towards effective systems-based strategies, to identify interventions likely to be effective at: (i) reducing demand for products that contribute most to GHG emissions, mainly targeting non-conscious processes and (ii) increasing public acceptability for policy changes to enable these interventions, targeting conscious processes.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Material demand reduction’.

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“…Improving plant health, in turn, calls for multidisciplinary research (plant pathology, ecology, economics, and sociology) to develop cohesive and sustainable strategies involving diversity within and among plant systems. Challenges met with improving plant health echo challenges to uphold global common goods (Hardin 1968), which have to urgently be simultaneously addressed: climate (Skea et al 2022), food (FAO et al 2022, water, energy (Costanza et al 2013), and biodiversity (Myers et al 2000). This is because plant health is also a common good.…”

Section: Lines Of Thought For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Assessment of the State of Plant Health

Savary

2023

Plant Disease

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The Global Plant Health Assessment (GPHA) is a collective, volunteer-based effort to assemble expert opinions on plant health and disease impacts on ecosystem services based on published scientific evidence. The GPHA considers a range of forest, agricultural, and urban systems worldwide. These are referred to as [Ecoregion × Plant System], i.e., selected case examples involving keystone plants in given parts of the world. The GPHA focuses on infectious plant diseases and plant pathogens, but encompasses the abiotic (e.g., temperature, drought, and floods) and other biotic (e.g., animal pests, and humans) factors associated with plant health. Among the 33 [Ecoregion × Plant System] considered, 18 are assessed as in fair or poor health, and 20 as in declining health. Much of the observed state of plant health and its trends are driven by a combination of forces, including climate change, species invasions, and human management. Healthy plants ensure (1) provisioning (food, fiber, and material), (2) regulation (climate, atmosphere, water, and soils), and (3) cultural (re-creation, inspiration, and spiritual) ecosystem services. All these roles that plants play are threatened by plant diseases. Nearly none of these three ecosystem services are assessed as improving. Results indicate that the poor state of plant health in sub-Saharan Africa gravely contributes to food insecurity and environmental degradation. Results further call for the need to improve crop health to ensure food security in the most populated parts of the world, such as in South Asia, where the poorest of the poor, the landless farmers, are at greatest risk. The overview of results generated from this work enables identifying directions for future research to be championed by a new generation of scientists and revived public extension services. Breakthrough from science is needed to (i) gather more data on plant health and its consequences, (ii) identify collective actions to manage plant systems, (iii) exploit the phytobiome diversity in breeding programs, (iv) breed for plant genotypes with resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses, and (v) design and implement plant systems involving the diversity required to ensure their adaptation to current and growing challenges, including climate change and pathogen invasions.

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Building a Sustainable and Desirable Economy-in-Society-in-Nature : Report to the United Nations for the 2012 Rio+20 Conference

Abstract: Cover images:(Left Top) by Eric Rasmussen/InSTEDD. Virgin rainforest north of Balikpapan near the eastern coast of Borneo has been clear-cut to allow for the continued planting of millions of acacia trees for pulp products and plywood.

Cited by 14 publications

References 23 publications

The promise of a four-day week? A critical appraisal of a management-led initiative

The promise of a four-day week? A critical appraisal of a management-led initiative

Towards environmentally sustainable human behaviour: targeting non-conscious and conscious processes for effective and acceptable policies

A Global Assessment of the State of Plant Health

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