Sustainable Future Hub

Sustainable Future Hub is a collaboration hub for students, researchers and external actors focusing on economic and social sustainability. Sustainable Future Hub catalyzes projects and collaborations where different actors can work together to drive development in the area of sustainability.

News and events on sustainability

Newsletter November 2020

Don't miss out our third newsletter from Sustainable Future Hub, read it here.

Companies must broaden their sustainability work

On 18 November 2020, the annual conference Sustainable Business was held, where Susanne Arvidsson, Associate professor and Senior lecturer at Lund University School of Economics and Management, participated and talked about how sustainability affects growth and profitability. This year's edition of the Di Group's ranking Sustainable companies focus on risk. Here, Swedish companies are generally in a learning process, according to Susanne Arvidsson, who also led the work with the ranking. Read the whole article from DI here (in Swedish).

Susanne Arvidsson ranks sustainable companies

In this year's version of the ranking Sustainable companies, great emphasis has been placed on how the companies map and manage risks in climate and sustainability. This is how the stock market giants are ranked - "some seem completely unconscious". Read the full article from DI here (in Swedish).

New sustainability plan approved and Sustainability Forum broadens its remit to include students and education

A new sustainability plan has been approved at Lund University and Sustainability Forum will be permanent with a broadened mission to include students and education. Full article here. More about the new sustainability plan here (in Swedish only).

Newsletter October 2020

Don't miss out on the second newsletter from Sustainable Future Hub, read it here.

Social Innovation Summit 2020: Community currency – a tool for bringing premises to life around the clock?

On November 11 Ester Barinaga, Professor in social entreprenurship, gave a talk on community currencies during an event hosted by Midroc during the conference Social Innovation Summit 2020. More info here.

How to be a change maker - The IKEA way of social sustainability

Did you miss our recent digital talk focusing on people, impact and sustainability? You can watch it on YouTube above. This was the panel:

Lisen Wirén, Programme Manager at the IKEA Social Entrepreneurship at Inter IKEA Group and alumni from Lund University School of Economics and Management
Caroline Wigren, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer at Lund University School of Economics and Management
Harmke Lüken, Master's student in Innovation and Global Sustainable Development, member of Sustainable Future Hub's Student Network and moderator of the event

Digital coffee with researchers - Episode 2 with Lina van Dooren

The student Els Heile is interviewing researchers about their current research on sustainability over a cup of coffee. Watch the second YouTube episode here.

The Reversed mentorship programme - a mutual eye opener

How can sustainable ideas be implemented and used in Alfa Laval's business operations? That was one of the topics discussed through the Reversed mentorship programme, a pilot project conducted this spring, which has been a mutual eye opener for the involved students and the company Alfa Laval. Read the interview with their own reflections.

Call for cases: does your company or organisation want to review your sustainability strategy from a communication perspective?

Our students in strategic marketing can help with reviewing your brand strategy, finding a clear and unique position in the market, strengthening the customer relationship, doing an external analysis and future prospects or a digital marketing strategy. Contact Martina if you want to know more!

Interdisciplinary collaboration inspires to reflect on our economic systems

There is a new podcast episode and a blog post with our PhD student Juan Ocampo (who is alo part of the student network), about the values of our current and future financial systems! Listen to the section here and read the blog post here.

Sustainable Future Hub’s student network

In our newly launched network of students, we act together on the sustainability challenges through competitive intelligence/strategic intelligence, reversed mentoring and cases from companies and organizations. The network consists of 15 students at different levels with different academic backgrounds, from Lund University School of Economics and Management and other parts of Lund University.

Get to know the students who are currently part of our student network.

Other sustainability initiatives at Lund University

You can find more information about different research initiativs and collaboration at Lund University in the list below, which aims towards a sustainable development.

PRME-report 2018
The UN initiative The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) was founded in 2007 as a platform to raise the sustainability profile of schools around the world. The initiative seeks to equip today’s business students with the knowledge and ability to deliver change for tomorrow. Through the PRME report, LUSEM shares information on its work and progress within ethics, responsibility and sustainability.

SUBREA Network (SUstainable Business, REporting and Assurance)
Susanne Arvidsson is the initiator and head of the SUBREA network. It was developed in order to create the best conditions for enabling a continued discussion between parties interested in different perspectives related to sustainable business, reporting and assurance. The SUBREA Network has over 100 members with a focus on sustainable business, including senior researchers, representatives from top management teams from a number of companies including Novo Nordisk, Volvo, SCA, Atlas Copco, IKEA, Telia Company, Tetra Pak, as well as from NGOs and representatives from the UN, EU, the Swedish Government.

SUBREA, The 1st SUBREA Conference Report: A focus on challenges and future knowledge needs (PDF)
This report will give you the background and inspiration to continue with the important task of transforming our organisations into being more sustainable and, thereby, contributing to the reaching of Agenda 2030.

SoPact
SoPact is an innovation-promoting business at Lund University, the School of Social Work, based on the government's strategy for social enterprises where the aim is to create better conditions for social innovations to be developed and put to use in society. SoPact is funded through the support of Vinnova (Sweden’s Innovation Agency), Tillväxtverket (The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth), Lund University, the School of Social Work on Campus Helsingborg and the City of Helsingborg.

Agenda 2030 Graduate School
As a step towards deepening society’s understanding for sustainability, Lund University has launched a Graduate School focusing exclusively on societal challenges, key sustainability issues and Agenda 2030.

Sustainability Forum
The Lund University Sustainability Forum is a university-wide umbrella organisation that ties together and supports research into climate, energy and sustainability being conducted across the university.

LU Futura
The university think-tank LU Futura works cross-scientifically with the pressing issues of the future by bringing together various fields of research at eight different faculties, creating a unique opportunity for studying tomorrow’s challenges from entirely new horizons.

LU Thematic Collaboration Initiative
The Lund University thematic collaboration initiative represents meeting points for knowledge and development within specific issue areas. The common touching-point for the various initiatives is the multi-disciplinary nature, involving several of our faculties as well as external collaborative partner from Sweden and the world.

List of experts in sustainability for business and economics

Are you looking for an expert in the climate or sustainability area? Lund University has a broad range of research in these areas. In the list below you will find some of our researchers in the field of sustainability. Press images of some of our researchers can be found in Lund University's image and media bank.

Fredrik NG Andersson
The effects of a transition to a carbon free economy, and the effect of economic crises on the economy
Associate Professor Department of Economics

Susanne Arvidsson
Sustainable organizations, sustainable business, sustainability accounting, reporting and assurance etc.
Associate professor at Department of Business Administration

Ester Barinaga
Social innovations and social entrepreneurship, alternative currencies, micro-finance
Professor at Department of Business Administration

Annette Cerne
Global gender equality, CSR, global sustainability, sustainable development
Senior lecturer, Department of Business Administration

Cristina Chaminade
Innovation and sustainable development, globalization of innovation
Professor at Department of Economic History

Ellen Hillbom
Agricultural development and transformation in Africa
Associate Professor, Department of Economic History

Jens Hultman
Etail e-commerce, retail sustainability issues, global sourcing development and industrial marketing and purchasing
Associate Professor in Marketing, Department of Business Administration

Johan Jansson
Sustainable consumtion, consumer behavior, green marketing, sustainable transportation
Associate senior lecturer and Associate Professor, Department of Business Administration

Magnus Jiborn
Environmental impact accounting, national carbon accounting, environmental impact and economic growth
Researcher, Department of Economic History

Astrid Kander
Interrelations of economic growth, innovations, energy and CO2 emissions
Professor at Department of Economic History

Alexander Paulsson
Degrowth, divesting
Senior lecturer at Department of Business Administration

Sofia Ulver
Consumer culture, multicultural; consumption, advertising, marketing and social integration
Associate Professor and Senior lecturer, Department of Business Administration

Funded by Sparbanken Skåne

Sustainable Future Hub becomes a reality through the investment of Sparbanken Skåne and Sparbanksstiftelsen Finn. In a first step, this is planned to extend over five years. Through the foundation, profit distribution from the bank can be invested in community development efforts.

We want to invest in a future that is good for both us and future generations. By working with other actors, we can increase our focus on sustainability issues together. Sustainability work is about a long-term approach to the outside world and a willingness to make a difference. It's a journey we want to be part of.

Katarina Andrén, CEO of Sparbanksstiftelsen Finn

Today, the sustainability perspective is an integral part of Sparbanken Skåne's operations, where the investment with the School of Economics and Management is an example. More about the bank and the foundations here.