Sustainability is affected by economics. To the extent that prices are the sole basis of decision-making, decisions may fail to consider the true costs of a product, leading to over-consumption, environmental degradation and human and natural resource exploitation.
The potential of the future is in the collective action of the economic agents in the present. Humans are interconnected and dependent on all the inhabitants of the earth. Our values need to reflect this connection and our economic models have to embed responsible stewardship of the planet.
Madhavi Venkatesan, PhD (Course creator and instructor)
USSEE Virtual Conference
Five students: Lucia Moreira, Belkis Montas, Martina Yorde, Natalie Ruben, and Taber Skiba had their projects accepted for presentation and have been working with Dr. Madhavi Venkatesan to finalize their presentations for the United States Society for Ecological Economics (USSEE) Virtual Conference. The presentation took place Friday, April 16 at 3pm ET
The USSEE theme is Building Resilient Economies in a Time of Uncertainty. The student’s presentation are listed individually below, representing the conference sub-theme “Natural Capital, Governance, Management, and Policy.”
Social media for social change?
Martina Yorde, Natalie Ruben Northeastern University
Presentation
Water market failure: Solutions in sustainable economics
Taber Skiba Northeastern University
Presentation
Connecting the supply chain with consumption: Can education reduce food waste?
C. Lucia Moreira, Belkis Montas Northeastern University
Abstracts for all of the presentations can be found on the USSEE website.
In 2021, four students, together with Dr. Venkatesan, have had their research published in Sustainability and Climate Change
11 students, both graduate and undergraduate students, have had their work published under Dr. Venkatesan’s guidance in 2019; 10 in the Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education and 1 in the book, Sustainability on University Campuses.
Publications
Addressing the relationship between Economics and Climate Change: A Discussion of Principles
published in February 2021 issue of Sustainability and Climate Change
Madhavi Venkatesan, PhD
Natasha Keidl
Marketing, Recycling, and Climate Change: An opportunity
published in February 2021 issue of Sustainability and Climate Change
Madhavi Venkatesan, PhD
Fenner Dreyfuss-Wells
Anjali Nair
Astrid Pedersen
Chiu E. (2019) Economic Equity and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_276-1
Harmer C. (2019) Social Responsibility and Sustainability. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_299-1
Karani R., Venkatesan M. (2019) Continuous Improvements and Sustainability. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_271-1
Lamberth C. (2019) Divestment and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_275-1
Lee R. (2019) Renewable Resources and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_297-1
Moore J., Venkatesan M. (2019) Stakeholder Mapping and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_302-1
Shen M., Venkatesan M. (2019) Value-Based Investments in Sustainability. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_305-1
Silverman R. (2019) Water Conservation Strategies for Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_307-1
Thornton E. (2019) Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_284-1
Walker R. (2019) Procurement Policy for Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_294-1
Students in Dr. Venkatesan’s spring 2020 Economics of Sustainability course worked on a research project focused on conscious consumption specific to the lifecycle impact of disposable coffee cups. The abstract for the research paper on this project has been accepted for a special issue of Sustainability. 16 students are involved in this project and will be listed as contributing authors. Anjali Nair (’20), Astrid Pedersen (’20) and Fenner Dreyfuss-Wells (’23) will be lead authors along with Dr. Venkatesan
On June 26, 2020, the students presented their research at the CANSEE (Canadian Society for Ecological Economics) virtual conference.
In March of 2021, the paper Evaluating Conscious Consumption: A Discussion of a Survey Development Process was published in Sustainablity. Link to paper.
Abstract
This paper is the outcome of a course project for Economics of Sustainability (Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts). Facilitated and under the direction of the instructor, course participants designed a survey instrument where questions and responses were developed to be indicators of behavioral bias related to the environment. The consumer good targeted in the survey was convenience-based coffee consumption and convenience was defined by the use of single-use disposable coffee cups. The discussion highlights the survey development process including literature review-based expectations specific to each question. The paper concludes with next steps, which involve the administration of the instrument and evaluation of the survey results.
Anjalia Nair 
Astrid Pedersen 
Fenner Dreyfuss-Wells
Friday, 12/4/20 is World Sustainable Development Teach-in Day!
Dr. Madhavi Venkatesan and Lexington High School student Sanjay Mallikarjun worked on a presentation related to the rationale for teaching sustainability across the curriculum. Here is the link: https://dl4sd.org/pluginfile.php/36027/mod_page/content/24/E56.pdf
The link to the event is here: https://dl4sd.org/course/view.php?id=9