Sustainability and Business

Málstofustjóri: Fe Amor Parel Gudmundsson

Stakeholder perceptions on policy tools in support of sustainable food consumption in Europe: policy implications

Transitioning agri-food systems towards increased sustaina­bility and resilience requires that attention be paid to sustain­able food consumption policies. Policy-making processes often require the engagement and acceptance of key stakeholders. This study analyses stakeholders’ solutions for creating sustain­able agri-food systems, through interviews with a broad range of stakeholders including food value chain actors, non-governmental organizations, governmental institutions, re­search institutions and academic experts. The study draws on 38 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in four Euro­pean countries: France, Iceland, Italy, and the UK, as well as three interviews with high-level EU experts. Interviewees’ solutions were analysed according to a five-category typology of policy tools, encompassing direct activity regulations, market-based, knowledge-based, governance, and strategic policy tools. Most identified solutions are located in the strategic tools category, reflecting shared recognition of the need to integrate food policy to achieve long-term goals. Emerging solutions, most commonly identified among the different national contexts, were then used to derive empirically-grounded and more uni­versally applicable recommendations for advancing sustainable food consumption policies.

Nína M. Saviolidis, Guðrún Ólafsdóttir, Mariana Nicolau, Antonella Samoggia, Elise Huber, Laura Brimont, Matthew Gorton, David Schamari, Hildigunnur Sigurdardottir, Margherita Del Prete, Cristina Fedato, Pierre-Marie Aubert og Sigurdur G. Bogason

Lykilorð: sustainable food consumption, agri-food systems, policy tools

Social sustainability: Beyond corporate social responsibility

The concept of sustainable development has three important pillars: environment, social, and economic. Though proven to be a challenging topic to explore, there are limited studies exist on the social aspect of sustainable development in developed countries. Business organisations play an important role in the social dimension of sustainability. This study explores the importance of social sustainability for three energy companies in Iceland. The study is primarily based on nine in-depth interviews, using a semi-structured interview frame, with key personnel from HS Orka, Landsvirkjun, and Reykjavik Energy. The data collected from the interviews were thematically analysed using organisational stakeholder interactions: employees, suppliers, communities, and consumers. In the pursuit of achieving their sustainability goals, all three companies faced barriers in fulfilling their social contract. One of the barriers is their interactions and impacts on their employees, suppliers, and consumers which are being challenged by their communication strategy. Sustainability initiatives and programmes are mandated within the organisations to achieve their sustainability goals. However, the phases of the implementation vary from company to company. Moreover, it has been identified that the importance of social sustainability to these companies goes beyond corporate social responsibility. Awareness of corporate actions through accounting and reporting is important but not likely to be insufficient.

Fe Amor Parel Guðmundsson og Sveinn Agnarsson

Lykilorð: social sustainability, organizational stakeholder, energy companies

Nútímavæðing Íslands að hætti Karl Polanyi

Fræðimaðurinn Karl Polanyi hefur, allt frá því að bók hans The Great Transformation kom út, verið í senn áhrifamikill og umdeildur. Umdeildur vegna afgerandi andúðar á mætti markaðsaflanna, áhrifamikill vegna þess að hann staðhæfir að vægi almannafélagsins (e. civil society) og jafningjaskipta hafi reynst mikilvægari en almennt var ætlað; athafnasvæðið á milli ríkis og markaðar hefur reynst viðameira og margbrotnara en almennt er gert ráð fyrir í viðteknum skilningi á iðnvæðingunni. Töluleg gögn og greiningar á íslenskri hagsögu eru lögð til grundvallar og raundæmi tekin. Markmiðið er að kanna nútímavæðinguna hér á landi og hve þróunin frá örbirgð til alsnægta hefur verið jafn stutt og raun ber vitni, án kviks markaðar, veikburða ríkisvalds og án öflugs iðnaðar. Niðurstaðan er að nútímavæðingin hafi að mestu verið í anda þess sem Polanyi taldi vera ákjósanlegt; öflugs almannafélags og jafningjaskipta en að stöðnun sé nánast innbyggð í slíka samfélagsgerð. Það þurfa að koma utanaðkomandi öfl. Samfélagsgerð Polanyi er haldgóður vegvísir til velsældar og velferðar en fleira þarf að koma til, kvikur markaður og ákjósanleg ytri skilyrði.

Örn D. Jónsson