Squaring the circle? Some thoughts on the idea of sustainable development

Robinson, John

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2003.10.017

Cited by 1,014 publications

(754 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The major risk in this respect is of co-opting powerful actors to impose their own definition of transformation, and potentially to legitimize vested interests to serve different discourses, including those against radical change of the status quo (Tanner and Bahadur 2013). Several authors have shown how a similar phenomenon has occurred regarding the concepts of sustainable development (Lele 1991;Robinson 2004;Redclift 2005) and sustainable agriculture (Thompson 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Feola

2014

Ambio

505

352

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The study of societal transformation in response to environmental change has become established, yet little consensus exists regarding the conceptual basis of transformation. This paper aims to provide structure to the dialog on transformation, and to reflect on the challenges of social research in this area. Concepts of transformation are identified through a literature review, and examined using four analytical criteria. It is found that the term 'transformation' is frequently used merely as a metaphor. When transformation is not used as a metaphor, eight concepts are most frequently employed. They differ with respect to (i) system conceptualization, (ii) notions of social consciousness (deliberate/emergent), and (iii) outcome (prescriptive/descriptive). Problem-based research tends to adopt concepts of deliberate transformation with prescriptive outcome, while concepts of emergent transformation with no prescriptive outcome tend to inform descriptive-analytical research. Dialog around the complementarities of different concepts and their empirical testing are priorities for future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Feola

2014

Ambio

505

352

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“…The partnership projects researched here face the challenge of reconciling divergent interests, representing the economic imperative of trade in cocoa and noneconomic social and environmental values to which this imperative relates. This reconciliation process includes the framing of sustainability in cocoa farming, which is an inherently normative process and rooted in real world problems with different sets of values and moral judgments (Robinson 2004). Trade-offs may easily occur when dimensions of a concept are competing.…”

Section: Governance Challenges: a Diagnostic Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance challenges of cocoa partnership projects in Indonesia: seeking synergy in multi-stakeholder arrangements for sustainable agriculture

Wijaya

Glasbergen

Leroy

et al. 2016

Environ Dev Sustain

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This paper investigates multi-stakeholder arrangements initiated by businesses and NGOs from the North that aim to enhance a more sustainable agricultural production at specific localities in Southern countries. We aim to better understand the search for concerted action in multi-actor arrangements. Therefore, this paper presents a diagnostic framework with three strategic challenges the partnership projects are facing: linking global economic objectives to local needs, values and interests; bridging public and private interests and responsibilities; and seeking trade-offs between social, environmental and economic values. Starting from the partnerships' Theory of Change, this diagnostic framework is applied to comparative case studies of partnership projects in the cocoa sector in Indonesia, which are part of a Northern-based public-private partnership to improve farmers' prospective. It is concluded that the economic reality faced by the farmers differs from that of the Northern actors; collaboration with governments is difficult because of different organizational cultures; and the partnership projects underestimate the strength of vested social relations the smallholders are part of. Overall, the initiators of the partnerships seem to work with a too restricted economic interpretation of the local reality.

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“…Despite the evidence that businesses, especially large corporations, have steadily increased the volume of corporate responsibility and sustainability information in their corporate reports (Gray, et al, 1995;KPMG, 2005;2008;, concerns endure that for many, corporate responsibility reporting remains a mask behind which 'business as usual' continues, unreconstructed (Christian Aid, 2004;Gray, 2006). Some organisations have attempted to capture the agenda and redefine the terminology to make it appear that sustainability is easily managed and delivered (Ball, et al, 2000;Gray, 2006;Muir, et al, 2002;O'Dwyer, 2003), and others have challenged its usefulness as a concept (Lélé, 1991;Robinson, 2004) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context

Skene²,

2015

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There have long been calls from industry for guidance in implementing strategies for sustainable development. The Circular Economy represents the most recent attempt to conceptualize the integration of economic activity and environmental wellbeing in a sustainable way. This set of ideas has been adopted by China as the basis of their economic development (included in both the 11 th and the 12 th 'Five Year Plan'), escalating the concept in minds of western policymakers and NGOs. This paper traces the conceptualisations and origins of the Circular Economy, tracing its meanings and exploring its antecedents in economics and ecology, and discusses how the Circular Economy has been operationalised in business and policy. The paper finds that while the Circular Economy places emphasis on the redesign of processes and cycling of materials, which may contribute to more sustainable business models, it also encapsulates tensions and limitations. These include an absence of the social dimension inherent in sustainable development that limits its ethical dimensions, and some unintended consequences. This leads us to propose a revised definition of the Circular Economy as "an economic model wherein planning, resourcing, procurement, production and reprocessing are designed and managed, as both process and output, to maximize ecosystem functioning and human well-being".

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Squaring the circle? Some thoughts on the idea of sustainable development

Cited by 1,014 publications

References 12 publications

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: A review of emerging concepts

Governance challenges of cocoa partnership projects in Indonesia: seeking synergy in multi-stakeholder arrangements for sustainable agriculture

The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context

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