Action Town – Research and Action for Sustainable Consumption and Production

In order to shift to less environmentally damaging consumption patterns, without reducing the quality of life, collaboration between a variety of economic and societal actors are required.

Among these various stakeholders, civil society organisations (CSOs) play an important role in developing and implementing initiatives to promote more sustainable consumption patterns and lifestyles. They have the potential to mobilize citizens and to advocate for priority policy areas.

This EU 7th Framework project looks into how CSOs can provide new insights for research on sustainable consumption and production (SCP). This is done by identifying gaps in the knowledge of CSOs on how to shape consumption and production patterns in a sustainable way; by providing new insights for increasing efficiency of policy strategies, assessment tools and indicators for SCP through small-scale exploratory actions; and by creating partnerships between CSOs and research organisations to increase the involvement of CSOs in research on SCP.

In this project, the SEI is collaborating with two other research institutes – UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) and Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI) as well as with WWF UK, Northern Alliance for Sustainability (ANDEP) and a number of other CSOs.

The project started in November 2008, and will continue over two years. SEI’s role in the project is focusing on assessment tools for SCP, and to provide suggestions on how to utilize such tools for participatory processes.

Geographic focus: Europe,

Funder: EU 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development.