Country Representatives (2024-2025)
In 2024-2025, the Network carried out the Country Representatives programme, established to strengthen connections between national and international communities working on eco-social policies and sustainable welfare.
Purpose and Organisation
The initiative aimed to link ongoing national debates, research, and policy developments with the international activities of the network. Country representatives, drawn from research institutions across Europe and beyond, acted as contact points in their respective countries. Their role focused on:
- Disseminating network information such as newsletters, colloquium announcements, and calls for papers within their national contexts.
- Sharing nationally relevant research, events, and policy updates with the international network.
- Contributing regional publications and literature in national languages to the network’s newsletter and Zotero database.
- Supporting exchange between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners on sustainable welfare topics.
Main Activities
Throughout the year, representatives worked to enhance two-way communication between local and international eco-social communities. They:
- Circulated international network news to national mailing lists and academic associations.
- Promoted the network through social media, conferences, and professional networks.
- Shared calls for papers, job opportunities, and research events via the international mailing list, which grew to include over 600 members in more than 20 countries.
- Reported regional initiatives and publications for inclusion in the network’s newsletter and Zotero library.
- Contributed to the planning of national stakeholder discussions and online colloquium sessions highlighting national perspectives on sustainable welfare.
These collective efforts helped to increase the visibility of eco-social research and fostered collaboration across disciplines and countries.
Reflections and Lessons Learned
At the end of 2024, representatives provided feedback on their experiences. Many noted that the programme strengthened links between researchers and improved awareness of eco-social topics in their national contexts. Others highlighted the challenges of limited time and resources, and the need for clearer structures to support ongoing dissemination.
Several representatives successfully established or expanded national eco-social mailing lists, while others shared network updates informally through existing academic and policy channels. Despite differing national circumstances, participants consistently emphasized the value of the network for building new collaborations and integrating eco-social perspectives into welfare research.
Acknowledgement
The Board of the Eco-welfare Network warmly thanks Sofia Adam, Milena Büchs, Vera Kauppinen, Jayeon Lee, Lia Levin, and Joana Marques for their involvement as Country Representatives of the Network in 2024 and 2025!
These voluneers helped us link our international activities with existing national activities on sustainable welfare and eco-social policy. They disseminated information on eco-social policy from the national to the international level (and vice versa) and answered requests on national questions of sustainable welfare and eco-social policy.
The Board members express their deep gratitude for the efforts of the Country Representatives in spreading and connecting research about ecological welfare systems internationally! Thank you!
Working Group on Teaching and Educational Activities (2022-2023)
Teaching and Educational Activities
The working group explored diverse approaches to integrating eco-social and sustainability perspectives into teaching on welfare, social policy, and related fields. Courses and sessions covered themes such as the relationship between the environment and welfare states, the distributional impacts of climate change, sustainable welfare and wellbeing, ecological and environmental economics, energy poverty and transitions, and the politics of climate change. Teaching practices highlighted the intersection between social justice, environmental sustainability, and global perspectives.
Teaching Methods
Participants shared methods for engaging students with eco-social issues, including:
- Using key texts, case studies, and essay-based assessments.
- Incorporating videos and TED Talks to introduce or conclude topics.
Framing the climate crisis as a “wicked problem” and exploring wellbeing-centered solutions. - Assigning readings, group work, and presentations linked to Agenda 2030.
- Combining traditional readings with multimedia and guest lectures to encourage interdisciplinary reflection.
Open questions included how to embed eco-social perspectives within existing curricula and how to expand course offerings on these topics.
Supervising Eco-Social MA (and some Ph.D.) Theses
The group discussed experiences supervising theses on eco-social themes such as:
- Energy transition, post-growth, and de-growth frameworks.
- Empowerment and eco-social change processes.
- Food poverty and sustainability models (e.g., the Doughnut model).
- Pro-environmental behaviour, social risks, and energy poverty.
- Climate activism and transformative education.
Challenges identified included limited data availability, a lack of established theoretical tools, and difficulty finding supervisors familiar with eco-social frameworks. Participants emphasized the need to bridge emerging eco-social research with established social policy theories and to support students through clearer methodological guidance.