The Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI) conference is a biennial gathering for scientists and practitioners dedicated to understanding and addressing the impacts of consumption. While much is known about the issues surrounding current consumption patterns and potential solutions, successful examples of mainstreaming sustainable consumption remain limited. The SCORAI Europe Conference 2025 will be organised April 8-10 2025 by SCORAI Europe and the two research projects Mistra Sustainable Consumption, and EU 1,5° Lifestyles.
We are also proud to be able to present three renowned authorities as key-note speakers: Frank Trentmann, Manisha Anantharaman and Tim Jackson, says Matthias Lehner, Conference Chair. We are looking forward to taking part of thought-provoking insights, as they will address the past, the present, and the future of sustainable consumption.
The three keynote speakers will guide attendees through a historical, contemporary, and forward-looking exploration of the subject. Representing the disciplines of history, sociology, and ecological economics, the speakers will shed light on the interplay of consumption patterns, sustainability, and societal transformation:
- Historian Frank Trentmann is Professor at Birkbeck, University of London, and the Centre for Consumer Society Research in Helsinki. In his work, he has followed the global transformation of consumption and its impact on everyday life. His works, including Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First, and Scarcity in the Modern World, trace the cultural, political, and environmental ramifications of consumption from the 15th century to today.
- Sociologist and critical scholar Manisha Anantharaman is Assistant Professor at Sciences Po’s Centre de Sociologie des Organisations (CNRS). Her work interrogates the intersection of sustainability and social justice, exploring how environmental initiatives influence and are influenced by structures of inequality. Her publications, including Recycling Class, and The Circular Economy and the Global South, reveal the socio-political dimensions of sustainability practices.
- Ecological economist and writer Tim Jackson is Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at the University of Surrey, UK, Jackson has been a pioneer in advocating for economic models that prioritize well-being over growth. His books, including Prosperity without Growth and Post Growth — Life After Capitalism, challenge the status quo, offering bold perspectives on life beyond the growth paradigm. His forthcoming work, The Care Economy, is to be published in February 2025.
