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Upcoming Events

World Congress on Water, Climate and Energy in Dublin 13-18 May 2012

Water and energy are critical for our current society and will be of increasing importance in the future. Climate change is forcing us to reassess our energy usage and will have real and substantial impacts on the water cycle. Solving the interlinked challenges of water, climate and energy in a sustainable manner is one of the fundamental goals of this generation. Following on from conferences on Climate Change Adaptation and Water and Energy, the International Water Association is proud to announce the inaugural World Congress on Water, Climate and Energy in 2012.

For more information, see: http://www.iwa-wcedublin.org/

recent Events and presentations

Consensus at the Science Gallery Dublin, 'Future of Water' Exhibition, 20th of October 2011 - 20th January 2012

The Consensus exhibit was called “Waterwise: Washing Futures”. Waterwise invites us to step into the year 2050 and imagine more sustainable washing routines through the use of advanced technologies and water systems supported by alternative cultural norms and water regulations. Three scenarios of future washing practices developed during consensus research are depicted by Dublin illustrator, Chris Judge and visitors are asked to provide feedback. See: http://www.sciencegallery.com/surfacetension/waterwise

ICT and Urban Food Futures Conference, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, December 2011.

’Kitchen Stories: ICT and imagined eating practices in 2050' (pdf~1MB). Presentation by AnNa Davies

the Association of Agricultural Economics Society of Ireland Annual Conference, Teagasc Conference Centre, Dublin, November 2011.

Anna Davies was invited and gave a plenary talk ’Kitchen Stories: imagining eating practices in 2050’ (pdf~1MB)

Sustainable Consumption - Towards Action and Impact, November 6th - 8th 2011, Hamburg

Presentations by Consensus team members at this conference:

Barbara Heisser, NUI Galway: 'Commute in practice - is a practice approach fruitful for analysing commuting?' (pdf ~ 215 KB)

Mary-Jo Lavelle, NUI Galway: 'Exploring the existing and emerging trends in domestic consumption behaviour: a case study from Ireland' (pdf ~ 1MB)

Frances Fahy and Henrike Rau, NUI Galway: 'Conflict, compromise and ConsEnSus: Opportunities and challenges of policy relevance in sustainable consumption research' (pdf ~ 1.7MB)

Jessica Pape, Trinity College Dublin: 'Sustainable Food Consumption in Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities' (pdf ~ 1MB)

Consensus Advisory Board Mee ting, 14th October 2011, Dublin

An overview on the progress of the Consensus project can be downloaded here (pdf ~ 4 MB; opens in new window). 

RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2011

Location: At the RGS-IBG, London
Dates: 31 Aug - 2 Sept 2011

Theme: The Geographical Imagination

Session organized by Consensus team members: Anna Davies, Trinity College Dublin (daviesatcd.ie), Ruth Doyle, Trinity College Dublin (rdoyle4tcd.ie), Jessica Pape, Trinity College Dublin (consensusnuigalway.ie)

Session Title:

“Future geographies: the place of visioning in developing strategies for more sustainable lifestyles, practices and places”

Keywords: visioning, planning, futures thinking, everyday practices, sustainable lifestyles

While patterns of development have been clearly flagged as unsustainable in global policy rhetoric since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 policy responses have achieved at best only incremental progress in promoting more sustainable lifestyles, practices and places. In response there are growing calls to create clearer visions of sustainable futures that, it is argued, might stimulate more significant transitions in development trajectories. Such futuristic work is not a new endeavour and has its roots in utopian literary traditions (see Thomas Moore’s Utopia, 1516) and the work of town planning visionaries (such as Ebenezer Howard and Garden Cities of Tomorrow, 1902). Contemporary visioning practices are often less encompassing in their remit, wary of the utopian nomenclature and generally predicated on the view that long term visioning should be used to orientate short term action. Also processes of modern visioning are often, but not exclusively, collaborative or participatory in some way. This session calls for papers that critically examine future visioning techniques, broadly defined, and their contribution (potential or real) to more sustainable lifestyles, practices and places. Attention to scenario-building for alternative household practices, plan creation for neighbourhood, town, city or national development, or for environmental arenas such as river catchments, and visioning for large-scale socio-technical transitions (e.g. hydrogen-based or low/no-carbon society) from any geographical context are all welcome.

For an overview on the presentations given at this session, please click here 

Presentations by ConsEnSus team members at this session:

Ruth Doyle, TCD: "Future visions for sustainable personal washing practices in Irish households: Reviewing processes and results of vision generation, elaboration and assessment" (pdf ~ 1.6MB)

Jessica Pape, Anna Davies, Ruth Doyle, TCD: "Future Visioning for Sustainable Household Practices: Spaces for Sustainability Learning?"  (pdf ~ 1.8 MB)

Consensus represented at SAP car Free day in Dublin, August 26th

The Consensus project was recently represented at the annual ’Car-Free Day’ at SAP Ireland on the Citywest Business Campus in Dublin 24 on Friday the 26^th August 2011.  SAP have been pioneering teleworking for some period of time now and as part of the transport work package Mike represented Consensus with a poster display and presentation to management and employees on the day.  He also took the opportunity to seek volunteers to this segment of research and a number of employees took up the offer of an interview on the subject of teleworking on the day.  He is hoping to extend and develop these contacts within SAP to continue his research in the Dublin region on the topic of teleworking, which has the potential to become an important environment tool in efforts to promote the more sustainable consumption of distance in Ireland.

 

Mike at his poster presentation of telework on SAP ’Car-Free Day’

19th Annual colloquium of the International Geographical union commission, National university of Ireland, Galway, 6th August 2011

Mary-Jo Lavelle, NUI Galway: "Exploring Sustainable Household Consumption in Ireland: A Comparative Overview of Urban Rural and Cross Cultural Trends" (pdf 1.7MB)  

Sociological ASsociation Ireland (SAI) Conference 6th - 8th of May 2011, University College Cork, Ireland

Presentation by Mike Hynes: The Practices of Technology : putting society and technology in their place (pdf ~ 2,5MB)  

Conference of Irish Geographers (CIG) 6th of May 2011, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick

Presentation by Ruth Doyle: Sustainable Water Futures: The potential of visioning techniques for the design and exploration of system innovations for sustainable water practices in Irish households (pdf ~3,4MB) 

Lifestyles and Life-courses Workshop 20th April 2011
University of Northampton

Presentation by Jessica Pape: Sustainable Food Consumption in Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities (pdf ~ 2MB)

Consensus promotes 'smart moves' at Earth Day, thermoking, Galway

The Consensus Project was an integral element of Earth Day at Thermo King in Galway on Wednesday 20th April 2011. The aim of Earth Day this year was the promotion of more sustainable modes of travel for the commute to and from work for one of Galway's largest employers, and the reduction of overall private car traffic in the east of the city, and the event was very well attended by a range of interested employees, management and local dignities. The consensus team have been rolling out a targeted transportation initiative for Thermo King over the past few months and have already undertaken extensive initial research and data collection prior to Earth Day onsite in the Thermo King plant, with a broad range of employees and managers. A key component of the Smart Moves project (www.smartermovement.org) was the launch of a competition in which participants record their daily commute to work and commit to a reduction in solo car transport for a one month period. Their progress will be monitored to allow for an analysis of trends and practices to be made at the completion of the months activity.

Photos: Barbara and Sarah at the Smart Moves stands and Barbara helping to cut the ribbon on the new bicycle shed with Michael Kilcoyne of Galway Chamber of Commerce and Cormac McDonnacha Plant Manager.

AAG (Association of American Geographers) International conference Seattle, April 2011

Consensus team members presented first research results at the International Conference of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) in Seattle, 15th April 2011:

Dr Frances Fahy, National University of Ireland, Galway

“ Exploring Policies and Instruments for Sustainable Household Consumption in Ireland” (pdf  552 KB)

 Mary J. Lavelle, National University of Ireland, Galway

“ Exploring the barriers and motivations underlying sustainable lifestyles: a case study from Ireland” (pdf 850 KB)

7th SSRC International Conference Workshop 2011 at NUI Galway Society, Culture and the Environment Date: 25-26th March 2011

Workshop Title: ’We Are What We (Do Not) Eat’: Linking Food Production and Consumption’ (for more information, see workshop description and programme)

Some of the presentations from this workshop can be found below:

 Dr. Edel Doherty (QUB) “Demand for improved food safety and quality: A cross-regional comparison”

Jessica Pape (TCD) “Sustainable food consumption in Ireland: Applying ’visioning’ methods to develop creative solutions for 2050”

Aisling Murtagh (UCC) “Greenies, foodies and farmers - alternative food politics in Irish civil society”

Melanie Jaeger-Erben (ZTG-TU Berlin)  “Changing food practices - the role of life events for sustainable consumption”

visioning Workshops organized by conseNsus project

Visioning methodologies are being used as an imaginative approach to developing innovations that break away from current unsustainable practices. This technique involves the development of a desirable future vision by stakeholders, followed by a process of working backwards from that vision to see what strategies should be developed to lead to its achievement. Similar visioning techniques have been applied in product and service design and are increasingly being used in the United States, Canada and Europe to guide strategies for sustainable development.

Visioning Workshop 1: Sustainable Home Energy Use

Presentation of Energy Visioning Workshop (pdf ~1,6MB)

Workshop Date: Tuesday 28th September 2010

Time: 11: 00 – 14: 00

Location: The Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin

Visioning Workshop 2: Sustainable Home Water Use

Presentation of Water Visioning Workshop (pdf ~ 1,6MB)

Workshop Date: Thursday 30th September 2010

Time: 11: 00 – 14: 00

Location: The Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin

For more information on the energy and water workshops, please contact: Ruth Doyle | rdoyle4tcd.ie | 087.299.4689 or click on the Visioning Workshop links above

Visioning Workshop 3: Sustainable Food Consumption

Presentation of Food Visioning Workshop (pdf ~ 2,8 MB)

Workshop Date: Friday 28th January 2011

Time: 14: 00 – 17: 00

Location: The Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin

For more information on the food workshop, please contact: Jessica Pape | papejtcd.ie | 086.217.2079

 

CONFERENCES

Sociological Association of Ireland

Postgraduate Conference

5 February 2011, hosted by School of Sociology and Political Science, National University of Ireland, Galway

"Mobility practices in Ireland" (pdf ~ 117KB) - Presentation by Barbara Heisserer

"Teleworking: Location independent working"(pdf ~ 5MB) - Presentation by Mike Hynes

 

Advisory Board ConsEnSus Meeting

15 October 2010 Dublin
Presentation of Consensus Project Progress by Consensus Team (PDF ~ 6MB; opens in new window)

 

ECPR Graduate Conference in Dublin, 30.08.-1.09.2010

Paper presented by Jessica Pape,TCD and Barbara Heisserer, NUIG: "Sustainable Consumption: Conceptualization and Measurement Tools" (pdf ~ 503 KB)

SSRC ANNUAL LECTURE 2010

(In assoc. with School of Political Science & Sociology, NUIG and the CONSENSUS project, TCD & NUIG)

PleNitude: the new economics of sustainability

Speaker: Professor Juliet Schor (Boston College)

H umans are currently on a collision course with the planet, as our activities degrade eco-systems and de-stablize the climate. At the same time, the global economy is undergoing increased instability, with financial gyrations, unemployment and commodity price increases. Ecological shut-down and economic difficulties are related, and only a solution which addresses both will succeed. In this talk, based on the just-released book Plenitude, Professor Schor outlines the role of consumption in creating unsustainable economic and ecological outcomes, and suggests a different path forward .

Date and Venue:

Friday 18th of June 2010 2pm
MY127, Aras Moyola (ground floor), NUI Galway.

 

2nd Annual Social Marketing Conference, NUI Galway, June 4 2010

Barbara Heisserer and Mike Hynes (NUI Galway) presented the ConsEnSus project and their research on Sustainable Transport at the 2nd Annaual Social Marketing Conference at NUI Galway:
Titel of Presentation:  Changing Travel Behaviour? (pdf  ~ 1 MB)  

SAI (Sociological Association of Ireland), Annual Conference Belfast, May 6-7 2010

Dr. Henrike Rau, NUIG: "Towards the Sustainable Consumption of Distance? Mobility and Transport Policy in the Republic of Ireland" (pdf ~ 298 KB)

Conference of Irish Geographers, NUI Maynooth, April 30th-May 2nd 2010

Session on Geographies of Sustainable Consumption:  Summary    
Session Conveners: Frances Fahy (NUI Galway) and Colin Sage (UCC)

Presentations at CIG by ConsEnSus members:

Prof. Anna Davies, TCD: "From sticks and stories to a practice-oriented approach: a reflection on shifting pathways of household consumption in Ireland"(pdf ~ 633 KB)

Dr. Jessica Pape, TCD: "Developing Policies and Instruments for Sustainable Consumption: Irish Experiences and Futures"(pdf ~ 301 KB)

MaryJo Lavelle (PhD), NUIG: "The examination of the attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable household consumption and sustainable lifestyles"(pdf ~ 764 KB)

Dr. Frances Fahy, NUIG: "Establishing Collaborative Partnerships for Sustainable Outcomes: The Case of Galway 21"(pdf ~ 893KB)

SSRC Workshop on Sustainable Consumption 26.-27 March 2010 at NUI Galway, Aras Moyola

The event is organised by Dr. Henrike Rau, School of  Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway. Attendance is free. For more information, click here: SSRC Workshop 2010.

Back left to right: Martin Phillipson (University of Saskatchewan, CAN), Mike Goodman (King's College London, UK), Frances Fahy (NUIG); front left to right: Jessica Pape (ConsEnSus-TCD), Melanie Jaeger-Erben (ZTG-TU Berlin, Germany) & Henrike Rau (NUIG)

 

Workshop Title: Facing the Challenges of Sustainable Consumption: Concepts, Cases, Policy and Practice

Schedule: Date: Friday, 26 March 2010
Time: 2-5:30 pm
Location: Lecture Hall 2 - MY129, Ground Floor, Aras Moyola

2-3pm	Martin Phillipson (University of Saskatchewan, Canada) 'Preserving sustainable choice in agriculture: The pivotal role of farmers and consumers'
3-4pm	Frances Fahy and Henrike Rau (NUI, Galway) 'Between conflict and consensus: The theory and practice of sustainable consumption' (pdf ~ 3,8MB)
4-4:30pm	COFFEE BREAK
4:30-5:30pm	Mike Goodman (King's College, London, UK) 'It's stuff that will save us, or so we think: A few short observations about the (sorry) state of sustainable consumption' (pdf ~ 584,51 KB)

Schedule: Date: Saturday, 27 March 2010
Time: 9:30 - 4:30 pm
Location: Lecture Hall 2 - MY129, Ground Floor, Aras Moyola

9:30 - 11:00	Melanie Jaeger-Erben (FU Berlin, Germany) "Life events as windows of opportunity for sustainable consumption and the role of social practices" (pdf ~ 845 KB)
11:00 - 11:30	COFFEE BREAK
11:30 - 12: 15	Bridin Carroll (NUIG) "Irish consumers and their valorisation of the local scale" (pdf ~582 KB)
12:15 - 13:00	Ruth Doyle (TCD) "Shifting pathways of household consumption: Washing, heating and lighting practices in Irish households" (pdf ~ 4,9MB)
2:00-2:45	MaryJo Lavelle (NUIG) "Sustainable Consumption: Quality of Life and Standards of Living" (pdf ~ 1,79 MB)
2:45-3:30	Barbara Heisserer (NUIG) "Changing Travel Behaviour?" (pdf ~ 105KB)
3:30-4:15	Michael Hynes (NUIG) No Silver Bullets! The Use of Information Communication Technologies to Promote More Sustainable Means of Mobility and Travel (pdf ~ 2,37MB)

Advisory Board ConsEnSus Meeting

Thursday October 22^nd 2009
14.00-17:00 pm
49, Merrion Square, Phelan Room
Dublin
Presentation on Consensus Project Progress by Consensus project team (PDF ~935 KB)

INFO DAY : SOCIAL PLATFORM ON SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES

20/10/2009 Brussels 
Organized by the European Union, DG Research, Directorate for Research in the economic, social sciences and humanities
Title of Flash Presentation:  ConsEnSus: A cross-border household analysis of CONSumption, ENvironment and SUStainability in Ireland (pdf ~ 750 KB)
Dr. Jessica Pape
School of Natural Sciences
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland

XXIII ESRS Congress

Vaasa, Finland, 17-21 August 2009
Title of Presentation: “The ties that bind?
(Im)mobilities and rural-urban relationships in Ireland”  (pdf ~ 692,8 KB)
Dr Henrike Rau 
School of Political Science and Sociology
NUI, Galway
Ireland

ECI Research Day

Environm ental Change Institute: 3rd Annual ECI Research Open Day
NUI Galway, June 24th 2009
Title of Presentation: ’ConsEnSus: Consumption, Environment and Sustainability’ (pdf ~ 179,9 KB) 
Dr Jessica Pape
School of Natural Sciences
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland

ISSP Irish Social Sciences Summer School 2009

Policy Making: Implications for Innovation and Communities, NUI Galway, 22nd – 26th June 2009
Title of Presentation: ’Sustainable Consumption: Concepts and Cases’ (pdf ~ 1,47 MB)
Dr Frances Fahy           
School of Geography and Archaeology
NUI, Galway
and
Dr Henrike Rau 
School of Political Science and Sociology
NUI, Galway
Ireland

 

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