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Now available: Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption

The implementation of sustainable consumption presents one of the greatest challenges of our era. Consumption is a wanted and necessary phenomenon, integral to our society and economy, yet our way of consuming contradicts important ecological and social long-term goals. Although research on sustainable consumption has gained in importance and been addressed by various disciplines, the new Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption is one of the few to compile and summarize the important research findings.

Against this background, the handbook provides an interdisciplinary overview of recent research on the ecological and social obstacles we face through over consumption, drawing attention to the salience of the subject and stimulating discussion in this area. In 27 chapters, leading authorities in the field provide concise and accessible expertise, covering a wide range of approaches from psychology to economics.

Knowledge Brokerage for Sustainable Consumption

IÖW expert Gerd Scholl contributed a chapter on knowledge brokerage for sustainable consumption. Scholl explores the question of how one can enhance the impact of research on policy making for sustainable consumption. Policies aiming to foster more sustainable consumer behaviours have lately become more prominent, at international, European and national level. At the same time, researchers from a variety of disciplines have undertaken major efforts to analyse the factors that both prevent and drive the proliferation of sustainable consumption patterns. However, there is reason to believe that the existing body of scientific evidence goes largely underutilized in the design, implementation and assessment of sustainable consumption policies. Therefore, recent calls for more evidence-based policy making are valid for this policy domain as well. In order to better understand the science–policy gap in sustainable consumption this chapter starts off with an overview of relevant policies and research endeavours. It then discusses the factors that shape this gap and concludes that distinct efforts are needed to bridge it.

This collection will be a useful point of reference for students, researchers and policy makers seeking a wider understanding of the state-of-the-art of sustainable consumption research.

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More information on this book

The introduction chapter Research on sustainable consumption: introduction and overview by Lucia A. Reisch and John Thøgersen can be downloaded free of charge.

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