Advancing Sustainable Solutions

Why are women still underrepresented in Sweden’s energy sector, despite the country leading the EU in gender equality? This episode hosted by Philipp Montenegro explores Women in Power, a research project led by Daniela Lazoroska with Jenny Palm and Anna-Riikka Kojonsaari from the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University’s. The project, running from 2023-2027, investigates how women...

In this episode of Advancing Sustainable Solutions which is part 2 on the SCORAI (Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative) conference, hosts Ella Alfredsson Jofs and Lilly Diamant had the wonderful opportunity to interview keynote speaker Manisha Anantharaman. We discuss Manisha’s research on sustainable consumption, her book “Recycling Class: The contradictions of inclusion in urban sustainability” and her ...

In this episode, hosts Ella Alfredsson Jofs and Lilly Diamant discuss the SCORAI (Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative) conference which took place in Lund earlier this year. Join us as we discuss the behind the scenes of the conference with our colleague Matthias Lehner, Senior lecturer at the IIIEE and Conference Chair. We talk about what goes into planning a conference like SCORAI, challenges faced and...

In this episode host Philipp Montenegro talks with Jenny von Platten about her research as part of JustHeat research project exploring the social and cultural history of heating in Sweden. She also highlights her non-traditional qualitative research approach including art and her hopes for  more transdisciplinary perspectives in research.
Feel free to connect with Jenny on LinkedIn or to follow the project here on X (fo...

What is a more sustainable lifestyle, and what are strategies and motivations for living within the 1.5-degree target? In this episode, we explore barriers to making this switch and discuss policies that could increase acceptance. The EU 1.5 Lifestyles project, featuring researchers from the IIIEE, addresses these critical questions. Join us as we hear from Andrius Plepys, Anna Elfström, Jessika Richter, Matthias Lehner, M...

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...

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...

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 g...

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 ...

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 t...

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 incom...

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...

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 c...

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 e...

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...

Sustainable finance, non-financial disclosures, ESG, oh my! The world of sustainable finance may seem dark and scary. But, in this episode, we introduce many key concepts through dialogue as well as discuss how sustainable finance contributes to wider sustainability objectives. The finance sector is playing an ever growing role in supporting the transition to a Paris-aligned world by incorporating sustainability into their...

If we want to imagine a more sustainable future, we need to be emotionally connected with that vision. Providing the latest facts and figures alone won’t do the trick. We suggest storytelling can be a great way to convey these facts in a compelling way to envision and connect with a possible future. Stories are an effective narrative device, because they activate areas of the brain responsible for memories, emotions, and c...

We use energy in almost every aspect of our lives. Yet, often, we do not know the source of electricity that powers our homes or heats our food. In this episode, we explore energy communities as a form of decentralised and democratic energy production. Community energy sees people coming together to take control of their energy needs, by finding alternative ways to organise and govern the energy system. For example, initia...