Submit an Abstract

Professor Shashi Kant ([email protected])

Sustainability means wellbeing of all species of this planet. In other words, sustainability means maintaining an equilibrium with our external environment (natural ecosystems) and internal environment (between our heart and mind). A disequilibrium with external environment means the rise of issues like climate change and air pollution and a disequilibrium with internal environment means mental and emotional issues, climate and eco anxiety, and depression. The Call to Action of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development speaks about dignity and equality, peace and prosperity, empowerment and engagement, as well as caring for the planet across generations. These are possible through the planetary citizenship which directly depends on our true love to each other and all other species. We all have some form of love for the natural world, and love for others who reside within it, love (both the noun and the verb) is often absent from international negotiations and academic discussions on sustainability. In this session, we seek to bring love to the forefront and invite submissions that address the complexities and/or relationships between love and sustainability. How can we love the natural world and at the same time, continue to be so indifferent to global crises? Is love for the planet the answer? Can we really love ourselves without loving the planet that sustains us? Do we really love ourselves and our future generations? This session is being organized in the memory of Prof. Barbara Murk and RoseMary Craig who devoted their lives to promote the idea of love and sustainability. We plan to publish an edited volume on Love, Planetary Citizenship, and Sustainability. 

Professor Shashi Kant ([email protected]) and Professor Yue Li ([email protected])

Similar to many corporations, scope 3 carbon emissions of many HEI may be as high as 90% or more of the total carbon emissions. The measurement and strategies to reduce Scope 3 emissions are, therefore, critical to combating climate change. We invite studies that quantify all categories of Scope 3 emissions in HEIs (i.e., emissions from purchased goods, capital goods, books, staff and students commute, publications, electronic communications, air travel, and investments etc.). We also welcome proposals for appropriate strategies to reduce emissions from different categories of emissions. We would like to have contributions on this subject from diversity of HEIs and stakeholders (academics, operations and business managers, professional associations, and consultants).

Professor Ann Armstrong ([email protected])

This theme invites contributions about new ways of structuring organizations to effect social justice outcomes. As we learn more about the vicissitudes of capitalism and the need for a new social contract, new organizational forms are being created. Among the newer variations are social enterprises and B Corps.

Social enterprises are designed to achieve social and/or environmental outcomes. They expressly use business processes to remedy societal ills…but, it is their social and/or environmental mission that is paramount and the driver of their work. Increasingly social enterprises calculate three bottom lines – social, economic, and environmental.

B Corps – and B Corp movement – take a somewhat different approach by arguing that business itself can be a force for good if it looks beyond the simply economic bottom line. B Corps need to be certified and re-certified on five criteria: workers, community, governance, environment, and customers. B Corps need to meet a minimum threshold to get certified.

This theme will provide voice and insight about better ways to organize for a more hopeful future.

Professor Brett Caraway ([email protected])

This session explores and critiques the often-unacknowledged relationship between the information economy and climate change. A growing number of firms, industries, governments, and other organizations are integrating data-driven operations into their organizational structures. As a consequence, the information and communications sector is now responsible for carbon emissions on par with the aviation, automotive, and energy sectors. Accordingly, this session highlights the emerging body of research critically analyzing the linkages between ICTs, raw material extraction, energy usage, labor, climate change, environmental pollution, impacted communities, and the economy.

Professor Brett Caraway ([email protected])

A central premise of conventional sustainability discourse has been the desirability of growing incomes and wealth as a means to achieve economic development and sustainability. However, a growing body of research has cast doubt on the assumption that continued economic growth is either desirable or possible given the Earth’s finite resources and the resulting ecological destabilization caused by economic activity. Consequently, this session explores the possibility of transforming economies in order to reduce the material footprint of humans. The guiding theme of this session is: reimagining an economy capable of delivering prosperity without economic growth or environmental crises.

Professor Yuhong He ([email protected])

The health of terrestrial ecosystems has deteriorated substantially in recent decades due to human activities and climate change. However, tracking and documenting trends in ecosystem health has proven challenging. The increased availability of geospatial data has dramatically enhanced our ability to quantify ecosystem traits across spatial and temporal scales with higher accuracy. Additionally, the emergence of various algorithms and tools for processing geospatial data, such as machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and Google Earth Engine, has opened up new opportunities for investigating terrestrial ecosystems. This section invites original research that focuses on recent advancements in spatial data science. The presentations could focus on but are not limited to, new methods developed to monitor and assess ecosystems, ecological disturbances mapping and prevention, and human-environment interactions.

Professor Stephen Scharper ([email protected])

We are proposing a two-part themed session. Part I will be entitled: “Eco-anxiety: Roots and Shoots,” and will explore the psychological, sociological, physiological, and cultural aspects of this emerging phenomenon known generally as “eco-anxiety.” We will have panelists from sundry disciplinary backgrounds exploring diverse aspects and ramifications of this development.

Part II, entitled, “Eco(h)ope: Pathways to Enlivening Sustainability,” will explore salutary ways of dealing with eco-anxiety, including arts-based responses. We will invite the contributions of sundry artists, including Indigenous, musical, and poetic voices, and encompass insights from the “climate café” initiative spearheaded by UofT environmental studies students.

Professor Damian Maddalena ([email protected])

Climate change is affecting cycling in natural and anthropocentric systems. In agricultural systems, ecosystem change can affect the suitability of crops and cropping systems that have traditionally been successful. Issues such as Increased frequency and intensity of cold, early/late frosts, and lack of sufficient chilling hours, can reduce productivity, increase susceptibility to pathogens, and lead to economic and human difficulties. From tilling practices, to rethinking homogeneity, to GMO crops, a sustainable future for agriculture includes a suite of methods, practices, and understanding considered at a range of scales to increase the resilience of agricultural production.

Professor Damian Maddalena ([email protected])

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards and investing have enjoyed a steady increase in salience in recent years. This session seeks to bring together multiple perspectives, including investors, producers, distributors, and the environmental and social sciences, with the purpose of examining the evolution and complexities of ESG standards for a sustainable food future. Is self-reporting adequate? Are reporting and market trends grounded in current science? What technologies can inform ESG monitoring and reporting? What factors lead to ESG adoption at each node in the supply chain. These and other questions are important considerations for a sustainable food future.

Professor Yue Li ([email protected])

Organizations may communicate their commitments to sustainability in a variety of ways and some may disclose ESG performance information periodically via a sustainability report. Nonetheless, due to the lack of enforceable sustainability reporting standards and reliable ESG performance metrics, management has considerable discretion in choosing the contents and format of sustainability reports and may disclose ESG performance information strategically. This session examines the diversity and variation in contemporary sustainability reporting practices in different industrial and social and economic settings. We invite submissions from industry experts, sustainability reporting professionals, and academic researchers to present their research findings and professional perspectives on the institutional, economic, and social factors that may affect the quality and reliability of sustainability reporting. We will also explore ways to enhance the credibility and reliability of sustainability reporting.

Professor Yue Li ([email protected])

Capital market participants are also key stakeholders to corporate sustainability performance. Investors may benefit from corporate investments that create positive social impacts while enhancing future financial performance. In the same vein, corporate neglect of the environment and social equity may lead to future liabilities and compliance costs, which will dimmish investors’ returns. This session invite submissions from financial institutions, banking sectors, mutual fund industry, and academic researchers to explore how investors, including institutional investors, and financial analysts can use corporate sustainability performance information to assess future risks and to make sound investment decisions. The session will also explore the role of capital markets in facilitating carbon neutralization and in promoting “green” and impact investments.

Professor Yue Li ([email protected])

Climate change is a challenge that requires collaboration across the public, private and financial sectors to address. The accounting profession play a crucial role in the transition to a net-zero economy and are uniquely positioned to leverage their expertise in assessing an organization’s carbon exposure and asset impairment risk. Accountants can also assist in developing strategies and management controls such as internal carbon pricing to mitigate carbon emissions. This session consists of a keynote speech, presentations and panel discussions by a group of invited prominent scholars, accounting industry leaders, and climate change experts to address the role of the accounting profession in curbing global carbon emissions. We will also discuss how to implement carbon neutralization strategy in different organizational and industrial contexts. This session is designed primarily for the MMPA students as part of the research course curriculum but it is open for all other conference participants.

Professor Alexandra Rahr ([email protected])

The field of environmental humanities offers a valuable but often overlooked perspective on the climate emergency’s most wicked problems.  Its cross-disciplinary frameworks analyze, for instance, many fundamental elements of conventional sustainability discourse – including troubling the notions of ‘problem’ and ‘solution.’  This panel will highlight environmental humanities scholarship and pedagogy which explores the momentous challenges of the Anthropocene while also re-considering how those challenges are imagined.  Topics may include the role of racial and environmental justice in sustainability thinking; institutional challenges – such as how we teach and learn sustainability; experiments in expanding the sustainable classroom; and what humanities thinking brings to sustainability decision making.