Call for Participation: Special Issue – Sustainability Culture

2024-04-10

Values of Sustainability, Climate Change Living, and the Transition into an (Agro)Ecological Society as a Pathway

Introduction

At the CANR/NCHU [1], we focus on an interdisciplinary study of sustainability culture and what is needed to achieve the ‘Great (Agro)Ecological Transition’ (NCHU/IAC, 2024). In our research, we find that the same core question arises over and time again: how is it possible that even though we already have all the knowledge and technology required to live and farm sustainably, we do not seem to be able to fully achieve this? We postulate that the answers are found in how we form our culture and how we relate to the technology that gives us our comforts. Which values do we have, how do we think the world works, and do we really want to be sustainable, no matter what?

These questions were the subject of debates, discussions, and papers at the International Conferences on Sustainability Culture (ICSC) presented by NCHU and held online in 2022 and in person the following year. This call for participation (CFP) flows from these conferences (Ibid).

Context

This special issue seeks to further the debate on how culture defines our drive and thrust toward sustainability from an interdisciplinary approach. It aims to advance the dialogue on what sustainability culture exactly means in the 21st century. Additionally, we hope the issue and papers within it will be able to further explore the issues which hinder the achievement of the Great (Agro)Ecological Transition, and what cultural change is needed to advance this in general. Whereas it is now widely recognized that agriculture and food systems have profound potential to drive powerful and innovative responses to Climate Change (COP28, 2023), this CFP is meant in particular to explore our relation to food and the concept of sustenance, as well as to the process of how we produce and consume food, as a pathway towards this ‘Great Transition’ and to living more ecologically.

We shape our lives in the bedrock of culture. What happens to this process when the ‘Business-As-Usual’ culture that has led to climate change intersects with the urgent need to live sustainably, or when we are faced with the horror of the Anthropocene (Clark, 2020)? And what does sustainable living mean without having a direct connection with our environment, our community, each other, or the Earth, and do not perceive our lived space as finite and connected? What can we modernized, human beings, learn from Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in this? Aileen Moreton-Robinson (2003) has convincingly argued that the Indigenous populations of Australia have a natural sense of belonging to the land they are born on as an ontological connection to that land which connection arises from ancestry. How can we assume that we can have sustainable development when we do not have such an ontological connection and we do not feel the Earth as part of us, as our home? How do we form a new future horizon of human progress when we no longer can afford to use the Earth as a conceptual externality where we can banish all that we do not want (Wood, 2005)? And how are we as a species going to live in an era of unpredictable Climate Change if we do not develop a new (more ethical and green) sense of care for ourselves, our fellow sentient beings, and our living environment. (The Care Manifesto, 2020)?

Expressions of Interest

Therefore, we invite initial expressions of interest from authors around the world and any discipline for articles related to or inspired by these themes. Expressions should contain the following information:

  • Proposed paper title
  • Anticipated format [2]
  • An outline abstract (150-300 words)
  • 4-6 topic keywords or phrases
  • Contributors’ names, email addresses & associated institutions

An optional expression of interest form may be downloaded [Word] [PDF].

All submissions of expressions of interest should be sent to Exchanges’ Editor-in-Chief (Dr Gareth J Johnson) (exchangesjournal@warwick.ac.uk) no later than Sunday 16th June 2024.

Manuscript Submissions

Following the deadline, we will contact all successful authors with further information on manuscript submissions, including the final deadline, currently anticipated to be 15th September 2024. All submissions should be made via Exchanges’ online submission portal during which authors will agree to the journal’s publishing licence as part of this process. [3]

Authors submitting should also include a note to the editor signifying the manuscript is to be considered as part of the ‘Sustainability Culture Special Issue’ submissions. All questions relating to the issue, manuscript formulation and submission should be directed to Exchanges’ Editor-in-Chief (Dr Gareth J Johnson) (exchangesjournal@warwick.ac.uk). Exchanges regrets that it cannot provide substantive feedback on manuscripts before submission.

Potential Article Topics

The theme of the Great (Agro)Ecological Transition and the sense of belongingness to and care for, the land, each other, and the Earth, will be regarded from an interdisciplinary perspective, inviting contributions from all fields, including but not limited to: Art, agronomy, anthropogeography, anthropology, (applied) agriculture, (cross-cultural) psychology, cultural studies, economics, ethnology, film and media studies, forestry, history, literature, religious studies, sociology, sustainability education, transpacific studies and water and soil management.

Suggested manuscript themes may include, but are not limited to:

  • Agricultural TEK and evolving beyond the post-colonial discussion
  • Agroecology as a new climate action approach
  • Building ethical and sustainable connections with our direct environment and living communities
  • How do we overcome ‘business-as-usual’ and anti-social morals in our (agri)culture?
  • New climate ethics and agriculture, a necessary tandem?
  • New morality education for sustainable living and agriculture
  • Sustainability, a matter of green care?
  • What are new climate ethics and can they be universal?
  • What is sustainability culture exactly, its definition and aspects?

Format Guidance

Manuscripts for consideration can be submitted in any of the regular formats offered by Exchanges. All articles will undergo editorial review,[4] with any submitted under the peer-reviewed article format will also undergo additional external scrutiny.[5] Standard formats include:

  • Research/Review Article (peer-reviewed): 4,000-6,000 words
  • Critical Reflection (editorially reviewed): 1,000-4,000 words
  • Conversations (editorially reviewed): 1,500-3,500 words
  • Book Reviews (editorially reviewed): 1,000-2,5000 words

Authors should take careful note of the journal’s Author Guidance in shaping their articles for the journal and adhering to the appropriate word limitations. Where possible, authors should endeavour to include elements of interdisciplinary thought or research within their articles. [6]

A formatted submission template is available to help authors in shaping their manuscript, although its use is not mandatory. Ahead of their submission, authors may also find it useful to review Exchanges’ policies on authorship, rights retention and conduct:

Readership

Exchanges is typically read by early career and post-graduate researchers across the disciplinary spectrum, along with members of the public with academic interests. Published articles have visible download (access) metrics, alongside altmetrics reflecting the social media discourse related to articles. Authors are strongly encouraged to address their work to people with this expected degree of expertise, rather than to senior peer-scholars. They should also take care to explore, clarify and unpick key domain-specific concepts, jargon or terminology within their manuscript text.

Third-Party Materials & Permissions

Full-colour illustrations, pictures and images are welcome in submitted manuscripts, provided accepted copyright practices are followed and source citations provided throughout. Where there are any potential restrictions (e.g., copyrighted images) authors are personally responsible for obtaining any appropriate permissions or paying clearance fees, as well as providing an appropriate source credit and reuse information for included materials. Please see our author guidance for more on copyright clearance for third-party materials or consult with the Chief Editor.

References & Citations

References can and should be included as necessary and while these should adhere to a single style, there is no requirement to use a specific format in your manuscript’s reference list. However, in text citations should adopt the (Name, Year) or (Name, Year: Page(s)) format where specific page numbers are cited.

Endnotes are permitted, although authors should seek to minimise their use. However, any directly cited or utilised sources must appear in the references list rather than an endnote. Footnotes should be avoided entirely, and any included in a submitted manuscript will be removed or adjusted to an endnote during the later editorial processes.

Contact & Further Information

For more information, advice or any questions, please visit Exchanges’ website. Alternatively contact the Editor-in-Chief or special issue lead (Theodoor A.M. Richard). We look forward to reading your expressions and submissions.

Editor-in-Chief: exchangesjournal@warwick.ac.uk
Special Issue Lead: theodoorrichard@nchu.edu.tw

About the Exchanges Journal

Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal (ISSN 2053-9665) is a non-fee charging, open-access, scholar-led, interdisciplinary journal, published by the University of Warwick, UK’s Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) since 2013. It typically attracts articles from scholars and practitioners around the world, which are read by an international and multidisciplinary audience.

Since 2020 it has increasingly published a series of highly regarded special issues, dedicated to particular themes and interests (Exchanges, 2024a). Exchanges also has a particular mission to support the development of emerging authors, reviewers and editors within the research community (Exchanges, 2024b). Past authors are invited to appear as guests and contribute insights and publication advice to its regular companion Exchanges Discourse podcast series, available via most podcasting platforms (Exchanges, 2024c).

References & Bibliography

Clark, T. 2020. Ecological Grief and Anthropocene Horror.  American Imago 77: 61 - 80.

COP28, 2023. Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture. Available at: https://www.cop28.com/en/food-and-agriculture [Accessed: 14/3/2024].

Exchanges, 2024a. Special Issues. Available at: https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/special-issues [Accessed: 14/3/2024].

Exchanges, 2024b. Exchanges: Mission & Purpose. Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/exchanges/mission/ [Accessed 14/3/2024].

Exchanges, 2024c. The Exchanges Discourse Podcast. Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/exchanges/podcasting/ [Accessed 14/3/2024].

Moreton-Robinson, A. 2003. I still call Australia home: Indigenous belonging and place in a postcolonising society. In Ahmed, S, Fortier, A M, Sheller, M, & Castaneda, C (Eds.) Uprootings/Regroundings: Questions of Home and Migration. Berg Publications, United Kingdom, Oxford, pp. 23-40.

NCHU/IAC, 2024. The International Conference on Sustainability Culture (ICSC), NCHU – 2022 & 2023. Available at: https://iac.nchu.edu.tw/en/sustainabilityoffice/Sustainability.culture.conference [Accessed: 14/3/2024].

The Care Collection, 2020. The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence. London, UK: Verso.

Wood, D. 2005. The Step Back: Ethics and Politics after Deconstruction. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Endnotes

[1] National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) & College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), Taiwan respectively.

[2] For format guidance see: https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/guidance#formats

[3] While authors retain full rights over their submitted work even after publication, they will grant Exchanges the licence as ‘first publisher’ of this work. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) licence, in line with most major funder requirements.

[4] Articles undergoing Editorial Review only will undergo an initial scoping consideration by the Chief Editor, to ensure general suitability for the journal, followed by a more in-depth review by one the editorial team and a revision dialogue with the author.

[5] Articles submitted for Peer-Reviewed formats will also undergo a scoping consideration by the Chief Editor, and then an Editorial Review process. However, assuming they pass this, then they will be sent for external peer-review.

[6] Authors whose manuscript proposals might fall outside these guidelines are welcome to discuss their ideas with the Editor.