The ISIE Socioeconomic Metabolism perpetual online conference

To keep up a good research spirit these days, the section on “Socioeconomic metabolism” of the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE) arranges a monthly online conference-style session of short duration (1.5-2 hours): https://is4ie.org/sections/metabolism/events

The December edition will take place on December 9 from 22:00-23:30 AEST (UTC+10), 20:00-21:30 CST (UTC+8), 13:00-14:30 CET (UTC+1), 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m. EST (UTC-5)

https://uni-freiburg.zoom.us/j/81765013195 Meeting password: 1VQxUJL07

There will also be video recording and later distribution of the talks and the discussion summary.

The session will focus on the relationship between the industrial ecology (IE) and the circular economy (CE) concepts and research agendas, and the online meeting can be used to start a wider discussion on the issue and gather first reactions and insights.

One of the motivations for the subject of this session is to present and discuss the proposal ‘Positioning the ISIE towards synergy with the circular economy agenda’, brought forth during the last ISIE general assembly by Tamar Makov, Tomer Fishman, Benjamin Sprecher, Marian Chertow, Stijn van Ewijk, Weslynne Ashton, Rupert Myers, Colin Fitzpatrick, Anna Petit Boix, and Jonathan Cullen.

We start with three presentations (counting from minute 0, when the meeting starts in your time zone)

• 0:00-0:05: Welcome by the chairman of the ISIE-SEM board, Hiroki Tanikawa, Professor of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Japan. Hand-over to session chair: Stefan Pauliuk, University of Freiburg, Germany.

• 0:05-0:20: Science policy interface for CE and IE: insights from China: Junming Zhu, Associate professor Tsinghua University, Beijing, School of Public Policy and Management

• 0:20-0:35: CE and IE in the Australian mining sector: Eléonore Lèbre, PhD, Research Fellow, Sustainable Minerals Institute and the University of Queensland, Australia

• 0:35-0:50: Mapping the role of industrial ecology for the circular economy: Stijn van Ewijk, postdoctoral associate, Yale School of the Environment, New Haven, USA.

• 0:50-1:20: Discussion

• 1:20-1:30: Wrap-up and next steps

The discussion will center on the role of IE research for CE, that is, the quantitative systems analysis, and the conceptual and strategical positioning aspects for the IE-CE relationship. Based on the insights presented by the speakers, we will discuss what research, science-policy interface, and organizational processes are needed among IE and CE scholars and proponents to facilitate synergistic research and outreach for a sustainable industrial society.