Sustainable Consumption Institute

Global Warming Nobel Peace Co-Prize Winner Professor Mohan Munasinghe talks to I do 30 from Copenhagen.

• Listen to a webcast from Professor Mohan Munasinghe, SCI Director-General
  

December 2009 - Improving Sustainability Skills and Knowledge in the Workplace

How can cultural change towards sustainable practices best be encouraged? We need positive and informed visions of sustainable societies, communities and organisations. We need the understandings and skills required to create these visions, and then to realise them. The suggestion is that we cannot rely upon our existing ideas of 'sustainability' - it is not simply a matter of enabling and encouraging people and organisations to put into practice what they already know, but to learn new ways of thinking about the future.

The final project report is available to download under Publications/Project Reports or by clicking Skills in the Workplace.

Consumers: The Key to a Low-Carbon World (16 October 2009)

• View webcasts of the morning speeches and download full transcripts of the afternoon workshops in the Events/Conferences section of the SCI website.

Copenhagen report available for download

The SCI published its first major report, Consumers, business and climate change. The report brings together findings of a range of recent ground-breaking research, with case studies from companies around the world, to explain the critical role that consumers can play in tackling climate change. The report was prepared by the Sustainable Consumption Institute at The University of Manchester in collaboration with members of the Consumer Goods Forum.

• Download "Consumers, Business and Climate Change"

November 2009 - Trust, law and social norms: fundamentals of economic progress

Sir Partha Dasgupta, part-time Professor of Environmental and Development Economics at the Sustainable Consumption Institute talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about why some countries are rich and others are poor. He argues that trust is the fundamental building block of societies - without it, there can be no basis for cooperation, which in turn leads to progress and economic development. The interview was recorded in Bristol, where he was delivering the Royal Economic Society's annual public lecture in November 2009.

The edited audio interview was posted on the Vox available at the following link:

• Audio interview with Sir Partha Dasgupta

SCI currently has two cohorts of postgraduate students networking and sharing their experiences across disciplines through a programme of activities at the Sustainable Consumption Institute. Our doctoral students receive four full years of funding and the opportunity to work across disciplines with world class researchers at The University of Manchester. Postgraduates develop their expertise in issues relating to sustainable consumption and sustainable development.

Applications opened Tuesday 1st December for SCI DTC 4 year fully funded PhD Studentships for autumn 2010 entry. Closing date for applications is Friday 26th February.
These scholarships cover tuition fees, plus a UKRC equivalent maintenance stipend, for a period of 4 years.

• Click here for more information on how to apply.