As part of the Routledge SCORAI Studies on Sustainable Consumption series, a new book was published in December 2017 by a group of SCORAI Europe researchers also engaged in ENERGISE (Julia Backhaus, Audley Genus, Sylvia Lorek and Edina Vadovics), in collaboration with the TRANSIT researcher Julia Wittmayer.
As the concluding chapter of the book notes, social innovation, sustainable consumption (as a contribution to sustainability), and societal transformation are all terms or topics that have received a great deal of attention in academic debate as well as in terms of practical experimentation. However, what has been lacking is a discussion about how these different strains of thought and practice relate to one another, especially regarding how social innovation initiatives can contribute effectively to sustainability, and the relationship between social innovation(s) and societal transformation. This new book makes an attempt to address these issues and identifies the opportunities and challenges for social innovation in terms of how it can play a significant role in transforming societies and increasing their sustainability.
The book is likely to be launched at the SCORAI 2018 conference, where you will also have a chance to meet some of the authors and editors. Please watch this space for updates on this event!
You can read the Introduction to the book here.
You can find out more about the book at
https://www.routledge.com/Social-Innovation-and-Sustainable-Consumption-Research-and-Action-for/