What is our vision?
Academics often criticise mainstream governmental responses to climate change for their tendency to focus on financial growth and technological solutions which perpetuate ‘business as usual’ and are ultimately inadequate for creating a flourishing society and planet. Our aim is to draw on the latest research to engage and enthuse the public about the range of other possible ways we might understand and achieve sustainability, especially those that are centred around issues of justice and equity.
How did this project come about?
This project was started by two research centres at the University of St Andrews which are dedicated to cutting-edge sustainability research.
The St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities argues that effectively addressing climate change requires thinking critically about sustainability: we need to interrogate where ideas about climate action come from, how these manifest in the world, and with what impact(s). Moreover, we believe that it also requires collaboration across and beyond academia, through local to global partnerships with civil society, the private sector, and governments.
The Centre for Energy Ethics investigates how to balance our energy demands with our concerns for anthropogenic climate change. Bringing together diverse areas of expertise, including researchers, industry, and communities, it embraces the responsibility of scholars to address and collectively answer big societal questions about how to create a better energy future for all.
This project has been partially funded by the Scottish Council on Global Affairs. The SCGA is the first all-Scotland international relations institute and is a hub for collaborative policy-relevant research and a home for informed, non-partisan debate on all areas of foreign and security policy broadly defined. Its 2025/26 funding round sponsored a series of events and outcomes taking stock of ‘The State of the World’ across a variety of global affairs topics, including ‘Alternative Sustainabilities for Scotland’s Future’.
Who are we?
Our team encompasses twenty representatives of universities, museums, and other public sector organisations across Scotland. We have expertise across a wide disciplinary range, including art history (Edward Christie, University of St Andrews), biology (Sascha Hooker, University of St Andrews), business (Eleonora Sfrappini, University of St Andrews and Kristina Auxtova, University of Edinburgh), conservation ecology (Lydia Cole, University of St Andrews), cultural heritage (Ben Twist, Culture for Climate Scotland and Giulia Gregnanin, Timespan), environmental studies (Catriona Mallows, UHI Perth), energy studies (Emilka Skrzypek, University of St Andrews and Kirsten Jenkins, University of Edinburgh), ethics (Mette High, University of St Andrews), human geography (Louise Reid, University of St Andrews), international relations (Katharina Hunfeld, University of St Andrews), management (Shona Russell, University of St Andrews and Lucy Wishart, University of St Andrews), mathematics (Colva Roney-Dougal, University of St Andrews), philosophy (Paul Conlan, University of St Andrews), physical geography (Ian Lawson, University of St Andrews), political ecology (Cornelia Helmcke, University of St Andrews), and political economics (Franziska Paul, University of Glasgow).
Contact Us
Email: [email protected]