[CFP] Special Issue – Sustainability Culture

Journal Calls

Values of Sustainability, Climate Change Living, and the Transition into an (Agro)Ecological Society as a Pathway

Introduction

At the CANR/NCHU [1], we focus on an interdisciplinary study of sustainability culture and what is needed to achieve the ‘Great (Agro)Ecological Transition’ (NCHU/IAC, 2024). In our research, we find that the same core question arises over and time again: how is it possible that even though we already have all the knowledge and technology required to live and farm sustainably, we do not seem to be able to fully achieve this? We postulate that the answers are found in how we form our culture and how we relate to the technology that gives us our comforts. Which values do we have, how do we think the world works, and do we really want to be sustainable, no matter what?

These questions were the subject of debates, discussions, and papers at the International Conferences on Sustainability Culture (ICSC) presented by NCHU and held online in 2022 and in person the following year. This call for participation (CFP) flows from these conferences (Ibid).

Context

This special issue seeks to further the debate on how culture defines our drive and thrust toward sustainability from an interdisciplinary approach. It aims to advance the dialogue on what sustainability culture exactly means in the 21st century. Additionally, we hope the issue and papers within it will be able to further explore the issues which hinder the achievement of the Great (Agro)Ecological Transition, and what cultural change is needed to advance this in general. Whereas it is now widely recognized that agriculture and food systems have profound potential to drive powerful and innovative responses to Climate Change (COP28, 2023), this CFP is meant in particular to explore our relation to food and the concept of sustenance, as well as to the process of how we produce and consume food, as a pathway towards this ‘Great Transition’ and to living more ecologically.

We shape our lives in the bedrock of culture. What happens to this process when the ‘Business-As-Usual’ culture that has led to climate change intersects with the urgent need to live sustainably, or when we are faced with the horror of the Anthropocene (Clark, 2020)? And what does sustainable living mean without having a direct connection with our environment, our community, each other, or the Earth, and do not perceive our lived space as finite and connected? What can we modernized, human beings, learn from Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in this? Aileen Moreton-Robinson (2003) has convincingly argued that the Indigenous populations of Australia have a natural sense of belonging to the land they are born on as an ontological connection to that land which connection arises from ancestry. How can we assume that we can have sustainable development when we do not have such an ontological connection and we do not feel the Earth as part of us, as our home? How do we form a new future horizon of human progress when we no longer can afford to use the Earth as a conceptual externality where we can banish all that we do not want (Wood, 2005)? And how are we as a species going to live in an era of unpredictable Climate Change if we do not develop a new (more ethical and green) sense of care for ourselves, our fellow sentient beings, and our living environment. (The Care Manifesto, 2020)?

Expressions of Interest

Therefore, we invite initial expressions of interest from authors around the world and any discipline for articles related to or inspired by these themes. Expressions should contain the following information:

  • Proposed paper title
  • Anticipated format [2]
  • An outline abstract (150-300 words)
  • 4-6 topic keywords or phrases
  • Contributors’ names, email addresses & associated institutions

An optional expression of interest form may be downloaded [Word] [PDF].

All submissions of expressions of interest should be sent to Exchanges’ Editor-in-Chief (Dr Gareth J Johnson) (exchangesjournal@warwick.ac.uk) no later than Sunday 16th June 2024.

Manuscript Submissions

Following the deadline, we will contact all successful authors with further information on manuscript submissions, including the final deadline, currently anticipated to be 15th September 2024. All submissions should be made via Exchanges’ online submission portalduring which authors will agree to the journal’s publishing licence as part of this process. [3]

Authors submitting should also include a note to the editor signifying the manuscript is to be considered as part of the ‘Sustainability Culture Special Issue’ submissions. All questions relating to the issue, manuscript formulation and submission should be directed to Exchanges’ Editor-in-Chief (Dr Gareth J Johnson) (exchangesjournal@warwick.ac.uk). Exchanges regrets that it cannot provide substantive feedback on manuscripts before submission.

Potential Article Topics

The theme of the Great (Agro)Ecological Transition and the sense of belongingness to and care for, the land, each other, and the Earth, will be regarded from an interdisciplinary perspective, inviting contributions from all fields, including but not limited to: Art, agronomy, anthropogeography, anthropology, (applied) agriculture, (cross-cultural) psychology, cultural studies, economics, ethnology, film and media studies, forestry, history, literature, religious studies, sociology, sustainability education, transpacific studies and water and soil management.

Suggested manuscript themes may include, but are not limited to:

  • Agricultural TEK and evolving beyond the post-colonial discussion
  • Agroecology as a new climate action approach
  • Building ethical and sustainable connections with our direct environment and living communities
  • How do we overcome ‘business-as-usual’ and anti-social morals in our (agri)culture?
  • New climate ethics and agriculture, a necessary tandem?
  • New morality education for sustainable living and agriculture
  • Sustainability, a matter of green care?
  • What are new climate ethics and can they be universal?
  • What is sustainability culture exactly, its definition and aspects?

Format Guidance

Manuscripts for consideration can be submitted in any of the regular formats offered by Exchanges. All articles will undergo editorial review,[4] with any submitted under the peer-reviewed article format will also undergo additional external scrutiny.[5] Standard formats include:

  • Research/Review Article (peer-reviewed): 4,000-6,000 words
  • Critical Reflection (editorially reviewed): 1,000-4,000 words
  • Conversations (editorially reviewed): 1,500-3,500 words
  • Book Reviews (editorially reviewed): 1,000-2,5000 words

Authors should take careful note of the journal’s Author Guidance in shaping their articles for the journal and adhering to the appropriate word limitations. Where possible, authors should endeavour to include elements of interdisciplinary thought or research within their articles. [6]

A formatted submission template is available to help authors in shaping their manuscript, although its use is not mandatory. Ahead of their submission, authors may also find it useful to review Exchanges’ policies on authorship, rights retention and conduct:

For more details, please visit: https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/announcement/view/61