Civil Society and Sustainability Studies - ASG, Pufendorf IAS

Advanced Study Group (ASG) at the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies.

The Advanced Study Group (ASG) Civil Society and Sustainability Studies (CIVICSUS) focus on how academic knowledge can be useful for social movements for sustainability. The ASG brings together civil society actors and an interdisciplinary team of researchers and educators to explore this core question and its ramifications: How can a scientific understanding of sustainability challenges contribute to social movements for sustainability? The general aim of CIVICSUS ASG is to do enough preparatory and exploratory work to prepare the ground for a systematic treatment of the subject of the contribution of academic knowledge of environmental studies to the social movements and other initiatives of civil society for environmental sustainability.

The ASG includes the participation of regionally and internationally recognized social movement activists and representatives as well as academics from Lund University faculties of Social Science, Natural Science, Technology and Engineering, Communications Studies and Humanities, as well as from the currently faculty independent Center for Sustainability Studies. Over the course of eight months, the group will work to develop and clarify points of interest and potentially fruitful further research collaboration with the aim of developing a heuristic for how, when and what science can contribute to social movements engaged in the struggle for sustainable development.