Event Series on Just Sustainability Transitions!

Just sustainability transitions are processes of change that aim to improve the quality of life – of present and future generations, of all humans and other living beings – and enabling them not only to survive but also to thrive and flourish. As many living beings survive and thrive at the cost of other living beings, the systems that we are part of inevitably become a stage for fierce and deeply political power struggles over life and death.

Justice and sustainability are deeply contested ideas and cause for much academic debate. At the same time, there are countless initiatives that are implementing and experimenting with just sustainability in practice in their direct environment. From the right to housing movement to urban farming initiatives, basic income experiments and participatory budgeting, energy cooperatives and car-free streets, from local initiatives to global movements and networks, citizens across the world are searching for ways to make systems, cities and communities both more just and more sustainable. 

Purpose

This event series aims to deepen, translate and connect knowledge and practice on just sustainability transitions. We strive to contribute to informed academic and public debates on (in)justice and (un)sustainability, by gathering, highlighting and celebrating the work of thinkers and doers across the world that strive to understand and facilitate just sustainability transitions. 

Inviting an international and diverse audience 

Are you a researcher, student, activist, entrepreneur, policy-maker, otherwise critical thinker and/or engaged citizen? And do you (want to) work on the intersections between justice, sustainability and transformative change? Join our international event series!

Five pressing questions on the agenda

The event series is fuelled by the following questions for action and action research:

1. How do just sustainability transitions manifest in practice in cities, towns and communities across the world? 
2. What are synergies and tensions between ecological sustainability and social justice in specific domains like energy, food, mobility and housing?
3. How do grassroots organisations, governments and enterprises strive for just sustainability through technological and social innovation? 
4. How do initiatives for just sustainability collaborate locally and globally in translocal networks and social movements? 
5. How are power relations challenged and/or reproduced in just sustainability transitions?  

Not just online lectures

Learning, interacting and dialogue are central to all our events. Each event includes 1-4 speakers from diverse backgrounds who give short talks (5-30 minutes) followed by interactive discussion using break-out groups and other participatory facilitation through e.g. World Café and Art of Hosting. Specific formats will include:  

• Action research talks - where research, action & politics meet!
• Celebrating & sharing publications (articles, guides, books, websites etc.)
• Movie nights with documentaries or other films
• … and experimentation with other formats

Upcoming events

• Three-part Webinar Series: City to City Learning for Sustainable Urban Development. Part 1: Tuesday 16 April, 14:00 – 15:30 (for city representatives) Part 2: Tuesday 7 May, 13:00 – 14:30 (for networks). Part 3: TBD. For more information about the event and to sign up, click here. 

Past events

• Event #1: Webinar What does a just transition to solve climate change by 2030 look like? With dr. Shivant Jhagroe (Leiden University), dr. Katharina Hölscher (DRIFT) and Mara de Pater (DRIFT)  
• Event #2: Book discussion Diversifying Power? Energy & Climate Justice with Jennie C. Stephens, Darren McCauley, Julia Wittmayer and Flor Avelino
• Event #3: "Urban Environmental Justice & Green Gentrification" with prof. Dr. Isabelle Anguelovski and Dr. Panagiota Kotsila (BCNUEJ)
• Event #4: Interactive online meeting Making Online Meetings Just & Sustainable: How can online meetings contribute to just sustainability transitions? with Karlijn Schipper (DRIFT), Lucia Paola (UrbanA, ICLEI), Vaishali Joshi (ESSB, VCC) and dr. Flor Avelino (DRIFT, VCC)
• Event #5: Power Literacy in #JustSustainabilityTransitions with Laura Pereira (Wits University, Stockholm Resilience Center), Nitya Rao (University of East Anglia, Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development), Chris Vrettos (Electra Energy Coop), Nontokozo Sabic (Nonty Charity Sabic, Rise Ubuntu Network), Molly Walsh (European Climate Foundation), and Flor Avelino (DRIFT, VCC).
• Event #6: Translocal Solidarity for Just Sustainability Transitions with  Kali Akuno (Cooperation Jackson), Sol Trumbo Vila (Transnational Insitute, Transformative Cities), Sophia Silverton (ICLEI, UrbanA), Namita Kambli (E3G), Camila Sarria-Sanz (Translocal Lives, Quantica Education), and Flor Avelino (DRIFT, VCC).
• Event #7: How to bring Food Justice on the menu in Urban Food Futures? with Professor Julian Agyeman and Aniek Hebinck.
• Event #8: Online event on Networking for Just Sustainability Transitions. With Dr. Corinna Hölzl-Verwiebe (Humboldt University Berlin), Liteboho Makhele (South African Cities Network), and Duncan Crowley (ECOLISE)
• Event #9: Online event Justice in Motion - Mobility in Just Sustainability Transitions. With dr. Anna Nikolaeva (UvA), Emil Beemer and Sophie Buchel (DRIFT), and Stephanie Johnstone-Laurette (Ecology Action Centre)
• Event #10: Online event Fashion Justice: Towards a Sustainable and Ethical Industry. With dr. Mariangela Lavanga (EUR), prof. Dilys Williams (Centre for Sustainable Fashion in London) and Rowaiye Olanrewaju (LarryRowbs Foundation)

Partners

We are a group of researchers across the Erasmus University of Rotterdam that share an interest in just sustainability transitions. The webinar series is a collaboration between the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT), Vital Cities & Citizens (VCC), Global Social Challenges (GSC) and the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (ESSB). Specific events may involve additional partners.