Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic: an opportunity to reflect on sustainability research

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has jolted societies out of normality, possibly creating new conditions for sustainability transformations. What does this mean for sustainability research? Because of the scope of the crisis, researchers have been heavily involved: not only have they had to speed up the pace of scientific production to provide urgently needed COVID-19 knowledge, but they have also been affected citizens. For sustainability science, this calls for an experience-based reflection on the positionality and orientation of research aiming to support sustainability transformations. Twenty sustainability researchers discussed their sustainability research on COVID-19 in three workshops based on the following questions: How does the pandemic—and the measures taken to deal with it—affect sustainable development? What can we learn from the pandemic from the perspective of societal transformation? The present discussion paper emerged from this multidisciplinary exchange among sustainability researchers, considering five topics: impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on sustainability transformations; learning for sustainability transformations; the role of solidarity; governance and political steering; and the role of science in society. Our discussions led to a meta-level reflection on what sustainability research can learn from research on COVID-19 regarding topics and disciplinary angles, time dimensions, the role of researchers, and how adequate preparation for both crises and long-term transformations requires interdisciplinary interaction.

Coalescence of CSR and happiness for corporate sustainability: a systematic review of literature

“…Crane and Matten (2021) also concluded that Covid-19 has apparently affected various CSR assumptions, concepts, and implementations. The increase of CSR and happiness studies during Covid-19 would also be related to the rising number of research studies and groups on sustainability issue (El Keshky et al, 2020;N€ olting et al, 2022).…”

“…The increase of CSR and happiness studies during Covid-19 would also be related to the rising number of research studies and groups on sustainability issue (El Keshky et al. , 2020; Nölting et al. , 2022).…”

“…Sustainability goals provide an opportunity for them to perform their trilateral responsibilities through relational practices by cooperating with their stakeholders. There has been a notable increase in the number of research on sustainability issues during the Covid-19 period (El Keshky et al, 2020;N€ olting et al, 2022). Similarly, research on CSR gained more attention during this period (Hao et al, 2020;Crane and Matten, 2021;Mahmud et al, 2021;Fallah Shayan et al, 2022).…”

“…There has been a notable increase in the number of research on sustainability issues during the Covid-19 period (El Keshky et al. , 2020; Nölting et al. , 2022).…”

Book of Abstracts of the Joint SCORAI-ERSCP-WUR Conference on Transforming Consumption-Production Systems Toward Just and Sustainable Futures (SCP23)

“…Yet, in the public discourse handling the pandemic and reflecting the lessons learnt seems in the first place as a matter of experts (e.g. International Science Council 2022, Deutscher Ethikrat 2022, Nölting et al 2022, Renn et al 2022). The perspectives of citizens are missing, although experts agree that this disruptive event affects them in the first place.…”