Degrowth: Challenging infinite growth in a finite world

Businesses are an essential driver for sustainability, yet managers struggle to make decisions about their business model that actually improve their sustainability performance. In this episode, we meet Florian Lüdeke-Freund, Henning Breuer, and Lorenzo Massa, authors of the new book called ‘Sustainable Business Model Design’. They introduce the concept of sustainable business model patterns, to support practitioners eager to make sustainability work in their business context. A sustainable business model pattern is knowledge based on experience, which includes a statement of a challenge, and a suggestion for a solution to address this challenge, with the deliberate aim of creating sustainable value. Thus, patterns represent templates to be adapted from one context to another to support creativity and experimentation. We provide several examples of patterns, as well as ways that practitioners may use patterns in their context. This episode is the final episode of our fourth season – we will be back in September 2022 with a new episode every month! Until then!

There is a clear and urgent need to accelerate the implementation of sustainability solutions. We must move beyond simple conceptual understanding of solutions, instead experimenting with collaborators in contexts in order to improve effectiveness, share learnings with others, and avoid future mistakes that waste time. In this episode, we discuss nature-based solutions as a holistic approach addressing the why, what, who, and how to achieve sustainability through integrating nature in cities. PhD Student Björn Wickenberg shares his latest research on implementing nature-based solutions, including his three strategies for urban planners. Finally, we discuss skills – collaboration, experimentation, evaluation, and learning – in order to support implementation in the right configurations in the right context, as well as to minimize any rebound effects.

Today, more than half of the world’s population live in cities, and by mid-century it is predicted that more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas. This sees cities at the forefront of sustainability, needing to meet social needs within our ecological boundaries. An overarching guiding roadmap to consider sustainability is the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals - the SDGs. These 17 goals cover all aspects of sustainable development, and cities have an important role to play as more than half of the targets will need engagement from local and regional authorities in order to be achieved. How then are these international goals integrated into local city planning and development? In today’s episode we address this question, and explore how academia and cities may support each other in this endeavour. We talk to Roland Zinkernagel, a municipal PhD student who shares his unique experiences from working with sustainable urban planning in the Swedish city of Malmö, while also researching how the SDGs can be applied in a local city context.

Artificial intelligence - AI - is being applied throughout society to a wide array of sustainability-related challenges, where it can help to effectivize and optimize systems to save both energy and resources. AI can also be used to analyse enormous amounts of data, faster than any human ever could. However, AI is very energy demanding, and comes with ethical concerns as it may require sensitive data, as it may reinforce biases and prejudices, and as is it may also be used to mislead or misinform citizens. So, let’s ask ourselves the question: what is the role of artificial intelligence in helping to advance sustainable solutions? To answer this question, we must explore the potential of artificial intelligence as well as any trade-offs associated with energy consumption, ownership of data and code, as well as privacy and other ethical concerns. In this episode we are joined by Sonja Aits, Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Experimental Medical Science, and Sergio Rico, a PhD researcher at the Computer Science Department at Lund University, to help us further explore the opportunities and responsibilities that come with using AI.

Every year, the world adds more renewable energy production capacity than the year before. But, looking historically, is this growth enough to achieve our climate targets? According to a recent publication in ‘Nature Energy’, the short answer is “no” – to meet the climate goals requires decades of growth in renewables at rates higher than those observed historically in most countries. In this episode, we chat with two of the co-authors – Jessica Jewell and Aleh Cherp – about their research, which examined historical data among 60 countries, and modeled an average maximum growth rate of wind and solar of approximately 1% per year. However, this growth rate has not been sustained over time in any country at the levels needed to meet many of the climate mitigation scenarios. To understand the implications of their research, we learn about the technology adoption lifecycle and the technology diffusion process. Finally, we discuss why technological learning may not speed up future growth, as countries lagging behind adoption of renewable energy may have less favorable conditions compared to early adopters. Learn more about their research at https://www.polet.network/.

Degrowth is a critique of infinite economic growth, recognising continued consumption of scarce resources will inevitably result in exhausting them completely. In this episode, we present the challenges of living within an economic system governed by infinite growth on a planet with finite resources. We discuss key vocabulary to understand degrowth, and its three goals: 1) reduce environmental impact; 2) redistribute income and wealth equitably; 3) transition from a materialistic to an inclusive society. And, as this concept often evokes passionate debate, we acknowledge some of the critiques and implications surrounding the degrowth concept. Later in the episode, we are joined by Logan Strenchock, an alumnus of the IIIEE. Logan shares his journey exploring and experimenting with degrowth-inspired actions, including contributing to the organic farm Zsamboki Biokert and the sustainable urban transportation hub Cargonomia, located in Budapest, Hungary. Throughout the episode, we highlight additional resources for listeners to continue to explore the concept of degrowth!

Anxiety is a natural emotional response to stress, fear, or danger. Then, it is no wonder why some are experiencing anxiety in the face of the climate crisis. Although not a clinical diagnosis, climate anxiety – and related terms like eco-anxiety, ecological grief, and solastalgia – describes the distress, grief, or anger caused by environmental destruction occurring now, or presumed to occur in the future. In this episode, we explore this phenomenon further. We chat with Frida Hylander, a licensed psychologist, who meets with clients and works with young people experiencing climate anxiety. Also, we hear from staff and students at the IIIEE about their experiences with climate anxiety. Through our conversations and research, we provide some suggestions to cope with climate anxiety – find a community, take an authentic action, focus on what you can control, take time for self care, ask for help when needed, and remember you are not alone. <3

The sharing economy is not sustainable by default – search for images of bikesharing graveyards. But, with careful design of the business models that facilitate access over ownership, the sharing economy can increase intensity of use and material efficiency, contributing to sustainable consumption. In this episode, co-host Steven Curtis shares with us his research on sharing economy business models for sustainability. We chat with Oksana Mont, Professor of Sustainable Consumption Governance and principal investigator of the Urban Sharing research programme. Antony Upward – sustainability business architect and a self-proclaimed pracademic – also joins the podcast to discuss strongly sustainable and future-fit business models. This episode is littered with good examples and tangible suggestions for businesses and consumers to design and use the sharing economy sustainably.

All kinds of public policies are being proposed to address our climate and sustainability challenges, for example, emission standards, substance bans, aviation taxes, energy efficiency labels, and even communication campaigns. However, global carbon dioxide emissions keep going up! Are these policies working? Under what circumstance? And, at what cost to other systems in society? To answer these questions, we need policy evaluations to learn, to adapt, and to hold governments and organisations accountable to meet our sustainability goals. In this episode, we discuss policy evaluation for a sustainability transition, and how evaluators (and citizens) can think more holistically and integrate learnings across public policies. This is the second episode as part of a trilogy, highlighting the contributions of graduating PhD students at the IIIEE. We are joined by PhD Student Sofie Sandin, co-founder and previous co-host of the podcast! She defends her doctoral thesis on transformative policy evaluations in May. Sofie is also joined by Per Mickwitz, the previous director of the IIIEE, and currently the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research, Sustainability, and Campus Development at Lund University.

What happens when you take a bunch of people from different cultural and geographical backgrounds, ask them to integrate under one discipline or department, and share a profound and life-changing experience? In this episode, we unpack some of these stories as we look at the journey of a PhD Student at Lund University. We interview our colleagues Emma Johnson, who is at the start of her PhD journey, and Lucie Enochsson, who is about to graduate and defends her thesis in June. We also discuss with Martin Tunér, the Associate Dean at Lund University’s Faculty of Engineering responsible for PhD Studies. Finally, we share some tips to help existing and future PhD students navigate academic life. And, if you take away anything, we hope to convey the importance of PhD education in contributing to some of the latest breakthroughs in science and technology, especially to advance sustainable solutions!