Research Initiatives
Major Themes
The core and affiliated faculty members of the Erb Institute are engaged in a wide range of research initiatives related to Global Sustainable Enterprise. The specific set of issues upon which the Institute focuses changes over time in response to global developments. However, five issues currently occupy much of our research efforts:
Conceptual Framework
The scope of the Erb
Institute’s research
mission can be
illuminated by
reference to the
larger scientific
research agenda
involving issues of
sustainability. In
recent years,
researchers from the
natural and social
sciences have begun
to recognize the
emergence of a field
coming to be
referred to as
“sustainability
science,” and have
identified a set of
seven core
questions. Four of
these questions are
related to the
institutional
environment within
which business
operates, and the
Erb Institute seeks
to address these
questions. They
include:
- How can the
dynamic
interactions
between nature
and society –
including lags
and inertia – be
better
incorporated
into emerging
models and
conceptualizations
that integrate
the Earth
system, human
development, and
sustainability?
- How are
long-term trends
in environment
and development,
including
consumption and
population,
reshaping
nature-society
interactions in
ways relevant to
sustainability?
- What systems
of incentive
structures –
including
markets, rules,
norms, and
scientific
information –
can most
effectively
improve social
capacity to
guide
interactions
between nature
and society
toward more
sustainable
trajectories?
- How can
today's
operational
systems for
monitoring and
reporting on
environmental
and social
conditions be
integrated or
extended to
provide more
useful guidance
for efforts to
navigate a
transition
toward
sustainability?
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