Sina Leipold
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 1578736 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Sina Leipold |
| PRENOMES | Sina |
| SOBRENOME | Leipold |
| ASSINATURA | LEIPOLD S |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of Freiburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5245-183X |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 26 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 230 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 26 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2014 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2024 |
| ÍNDICE H | 8 |
Unpacking the path toward a sustainable circular economy through industrial ecology
As the global environmental and climate crisis is accelerating and more and more planetary boundaries are crossed (Richardson et al., 2023), transformative approaches addressing “all aspects of society” (IPCC, 2022) are needed. The circular economy (CE) aims to be a systems-based transformative approach, which is shaping global debates, policy, business innovation, and research worldwide. “concept [of Industrial Ecology] requires that an industri…
Can we talk? Disrupting science circles with narrative-led dialogs
Sustainability scientists are increasingly expressing concerns about the lack of creativity and reflexivity, vital elements for driving sustainability transformations, in their profession. We argue that these concerns stem from established scientific practices of knowledge accumulation and interdisciplinary research, often neglecting the influence of group values and disciplinary paradigms. In response, we propose the narrative-led dialog as a to…
Convenient solutions, inconvenient truths – Why supermarkets will not drive food system transformation
Supermarkets play an important role in industrialized food systems, which is why many in academia, politics, industry, and civil society view them as key players in transforming the food system toward greater sustainability. We analyse narratives and proposed solutions in this context, as well as the role of supermarkets in Germany, home to some of the largest retailers worldwide. We show that many actors in the German food system, including supe…
An interdisciplinary framework for navigating social–climatic tipping points
To effectively navigate out of the climate crisis, a new interdisciplinary approach is needed to guide and facilitate research that integrates diverse understandings of how transitions evolve in intertwined social–environmental systems. The concept of tipping points, frequently used in the natural sciences and increasingly in the social sciences, can help elucidate processes underlying major social–environmental transitions. We develop the notion…
Lessons, narratives, and research directions for a sustainable circular economy
The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy‐relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that und…
Explanations of the political gridlock behind international circular economy
China and the European Union (EU) signed the first international circular economy (CE) agreement shortly after China issued the ‘Waste Ban’ (WB) on the import of 24 categories of solid waste. While the WB gained global attention, limited research addresses its political implications for international CE. Based on 72 expert interviews, 52 documents and participant observation, we study political WB narratives and corresponding perceptions of ‘Chin…
From voluntary to mandatory corporate accountability
Following a long‐standing and highly contested policy debate, in June 2021, the German parliament passed the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act requiring mandatory due diligence (MDD) of large companies, holding them accountable for the impacts of their supply chain operations abroad. Applying the discursive agency approach and using evidence from policy documents and 21 interviews with key stakeholders, we analyze the political strategies that paved…
Discursive dynamics and lock-ins in socio-technical systems
Understanding the dynamics of stability and change is key to accelerate sustainability transitions. This paper aims to advance and inspire sustainability transition research on this matter by collecting insights from interpretative environmental discourse literature. We develop a heuristic that identifies and describes core discursive elements and dynamics in a socio-technical system. In doing so, we show how the interplay of meta-, institutional…
Locked in unsustainability
Lock-in mechanisms are major hurdles to sustainability transitions. Scholars identified various types of lock-ins; however, their dynamics and interactions remain underexplored. Using the case of food packaging, this study enhances the conceptual understanding and empirical analysis of lock-ins and their interactions from a socio-technical perspective. We analyze the material, institutional, behavioral, and discursive configuration and the shallo…
Eating healthy or wasting less? Reducing resource footprints of food consumption
To feed future populations on ever-scarcer natural resources, policy initiatives aim to decrease resource footprints of food consumption. While adopting healthier diets has shown great potential to reduce footprints, current political initiatives primarily address strategies to reduce food waste, with the target of halving food waste at retail and consumption levels by 2030. Using Germany as a case study, we compare the resource-saving potential …
Transdisciplinary resource monitoring is essential to prioritize circular economy strategies in cities
Seeking to meet sustainability targets, cities are promoting a number of circular economy initiatives. Whether or not these actions help cities to approach sustainable resource management is often unclear. To identify, prioritize and monitor resource-efficient strategies, cities can look for targets and indicators among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the SDGs provide useful goals, they lack applicable and accurate indicators for …
Why common interests and collective action are not enough for environmental cooperation – Lessons from the China-EU cooperation discourse on circular economy
Scholars have argued that circular economy (CE) must be upscaled and globalized to address excessive resource extraction and waste generation. Many CE practitioners consider the first international CE agreement between China and the EU a milestone towards such an effort. This analysis shows why this expectation is premature. European and Chinese stakeholders’ optimistic and depoliticized CE narratives disable communication regarding development d…
Do we need a ‘circular society’? Competing narratives of the circular economy in the French food sector
How a circular economy (CE) can promote social equity remains largely unknown. We analyze how CE narratives affect interpretations of problems and actions on waste in the French food sector, particularly around the Loi Garot. We identify CE narratives that challenge the sector's previous discourse of a social and solidarity economy (SSE) by advancing market-focused solutions and actors. We show how these narratives create solutions that do not au…
Transforming ecological modernization 'from within' or perpetuating it? The circular economy as EU environmental policy narrative
It is widely acknowledged that policies for a more sustainable society require narratives outside the status quo. This contribution studies the EU's environmental policy narrative of a circular economy (CE), which many consider promising in this respect. The results demonstrate that the CE narrative was created to transform EU policy discourses 'from within' but eventually perpetuated the established discourse of ecological modernization. This pe…
Discourse analysis of environmental policy revisited
Since the mid-1990s, discourse analysis has become an increasingly established framework in environmental policy analysis. The field has diversified in terms of conceptual approaches, methods, topics, and geographies. This special issue revisits trends and traditions regarding theoretical and methodological approaches, ‘old’ and ‘new’ discourses, and our knowledge about discursive effects. We contextualize and discuss the twelve contributions to …
How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy
Understanding how a circular economy (CE) can reduce environmental pressures from economic activities is crucial for policy and practice. Science provides a range of indicators to monitor and assess CE activities. However, common CE activities, such as recycling and eco‐design, are contested in terms of their contribution to environmental sustainability. This article assesses whether and to what extent current approaches to assess CE activities s…
Transforming the bio-based sector towards a circular economy - What can we learn from wood cascading
The circular economy has become the focus of a recent major EU policy program, which aims at the transformation towards environmentally sustainable modes of production and consumption. This has moved parts of the forest and related bio-based industries to envision their operations in terms of a circular economy. However, the meaning and implementation pathways of the concept often remain vague and ambiguous. At the same time, bio-based industries…
Toward “hardened” accountability? Analyzing the European Union's hybrid transnational governance in timber and biofuel supply chains
The voluntary/mandatory divide is a constant feature of scholarly debates on corporate accountability for sustainability in global supply chains. A widely held assumption is that the addition of state authority to private transnational governance in global supply chains will “harden” accountability and, thus, promote more sustainable production. The state's ability to set legally binding requirements is expected to coerce companies into complying…
Circular economy in cities
Circular economy (CE) is gaining popularity at different levels with the promise of creating more sustainable processes. In this context, cities are implementing a number of initiatives that aim to turn them into sustainable circular systems. Whether these initiatives achieve their sustainability goals, however, is largely unknown. Nevertheless, as the application of CE strategies is actively encouraged by many policies across the globe, there is…
Is there a Relation Between Ecological Practices and Spirituality? The Case of Benedictine Monasteries
For decades there has been a controversial debate over how far religious faith communities are specifically engaged in ecological practices (EP). Therefore we studied four Austrian and two German Benedictine monasteries religious ethics and spirituality as a means of a driving force for initiating EP. We draw upon theories of organizational learning processes and capacity-building of sustainability to interpret our empirical findings. The majorit…
Discursive Agency
Interpretive discourse analysis commonly claims to address the interrelation between actors and discourses. However, the analytical focus of most approaches is on structures (discourses) while much less attention is paid to agency. This paper explicitly addresses discursive agency in two steps. First, we systematically review theoretical and analytical dimensions of agency in existing interpretive discourse analysis approaches. This review reveal…
The social licence to operate
Changing societal expectations have influenced the way industries involved in the development or extraction of natural resources conduct their operations around the world. Increasingly, communities are demanding more involvement in decision-making around such operations, have expectations of receiving a greater share of the benefits from these operations and require assurances that the industries involved are appropriately regulated. The combinat…
Protecting “First world” markets and “Third world” nature
Demolishing Dikes
The Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) is an influential theoretical framework for the analysis of policymaking processes, in particular agenda setting. It has inspired numerous empirical applications, which result in substantially different interpretations, for instance, of what exactly the “streams” encompass, how policy entrepreneurship is practiced, and how the coupling of distinct streams works. This article undertakes a systematic assessment …
Divide and conquer—Discursive agency in the politics of illegal logging in the United States
Discursive Agency
Interpretive discourse analysis commonly claims to address the interrelation between actors and discourses. However, the analytical focus of most approaches is on structures (discourses) while much less attention is paid to agency. This paper explicitly addresses discursive agency in two steps. First, we systematically review theoretical and analytical dimensions of agency in existing interpretive discourse analysis approaches. This review reveal…
Demolishing Dikes
The Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) is an influential theoretical framework for the analysis of policymaking processes, in particular agenda setting. It has inspired numerous empirical applications, which result in substantially different interpretations, for instance, of what exactly the “streams” encompass, how policy entrepreneurship is practiced, and how the coupling of distinct streams works. This article undertakes a systematic assessment …
Discursive dynamics and lock-ins in socio-technical systems
Understanding the dynamics of stability and change is key to accelerate sustainability transitions. This paper aims to advance and inspire sustainability transition research on this matter by collecting insights from interpretative environmental discourse literature. We develop a heuristic that identifies and describes core discursive elements and dynamics in a socio-technical system. In doing so, we show how the interplay of meta-, institutional…
Protecting “First world” markets and “Third world” nature
From voluntary to mandatory corporate accountability
Following a long‐standing and highly contested policy debate, in June 2021, the German parliament passed the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act requiring mandatory due diligence (MDD) of large companies, holding them accountable for the impacts of their supply chain operations abroad. Applying the discursive agency approach and using evidence from policy documents and 21 interviews with key stakeholders, we analyze the political strategies that paved…
Toward “hardened” accountability? Analyzing the European Union's hybrid transnational governance in timber and biofuel supply chains
The voluntary/mandatory divide is a constant feature of scholarly debates on corporate accountability for sustainability in global supply chains. A widely held assumption is that the addition of state authority to private transnational governance in global supply chains will “harden” accountability and, thus, promote more sustainable production. The state's ability to set legally binding requirements is expected to coerce companies into complying…
Divide and conquer—Discursive agency in the politics of illegal logging in the United States
Locked in unsustainability
Lock-in mechanisms are major hurdles to sustainability transitions. Scholars identified various types of lock-ins; however, their dynamics and interactions remain underexplored. Using the case of food packaging, this study enhances the conceptual understanding and empirical analysis of lock-ins and their interactions from a socio-technical perspective. We analyze the material, institutional, behavioral, and discursive configuration and the shallo…
Do we need a ‘circular society’? Competing narratives of the circular economy in the French food sector
How a circular economy (CE) can promote social equity remains largely unknown. We analyze how CE narratives affect interpretations of problems and actions on waste in the French food sector, particularly around the Loi Garot. We identify CE narratives that challenge the sector's previous discourse of a social and solidarity economy (SSE) by advancing market-focused solutions and actors. We show how these narratives create solutions that do not au…
Why common interests and collective action are not enough for environmental cooperation – Lessons from the China-EU cooperation discourse on circular economy
Scholars have argued that circular economy (CE) must be upscaled and globalized to address excessive resource extraction and waste generation. Many CE practitioners consider the first international CE agreement between China and the EU a milestone towards such an effort. This analysis shows why this expectation is premature. European and Chinese stakeholders’ optimistic and depoliticized CE narratives disable communication regarding development d…
Transforming the bio-based sector towards a circular economy - What can we learn from wood cascading
The circular economy has become the focus of a recent major EU policy program, which aims at the transformation towards environmentally sustainable modes of production and consumption. This has moved parts of the forest and related bio-based industries to envision their operations in terms of a circular economy. However, the meaning and implementation pathways of the concept often remain vague and ambiguous. At the same time, bio-based industries…
Transforming ecological modernization 'from within' or perpetuating it? The circular economy as EU environmental policy narrative
It is widely acknowledged that policies for a more sustainable society require narratives outside the status quo. This contribution studies the EU's environmental policy narrative of a circular economy (CE), which many consider promising in this respect. The results demonstrate that the CE narrative was created to transform EU policy discourses 'from within' but eventually perpetuated the established discourse of ecological modernization. This pe…
Convenient solutions, inconvenient truths – Why supermarkets will not drive food system transformation
Supermarkets play an important role in industrialized food systems, which is why many in academia, politics, industry, and civil society view them as key players in transforming the food system toward greater sustainability. We analyse narratives and proposed solutions in this context, as well as the role of supermarkets in Germany, home to some of the largest retailers worldwide. We show that many actors in the German food system, including supe…
Can we talk? Disrupting science circles with narrative-led dialogs
Sustainability scientists are increasingly expressing concerns about the lack of creativity and reflexivity, vital elements for driving sustainability transformations, in their profession. We argue that these concerns stem from established scientific practices of knowledge accumulation and interdisciplinary research, often neglecting the influence of group values and disciplinary paradigms. In response, we propose the narrative-led dialog as a to…
Is there a Relation Between Ecological Practices and Spirituality? The Case of Benedictine Monasteries
For decades there has been a controversial debate over how far religious faith communities are specifically engaged in ecological practices (EP). Therefore we studied four Austrian and two German Benedictine monasteries religious ethics and spirituality as a means of a driving force for initiating EP. We draw upon theories of organizational learning processes and capacity-building of sustainability to interpret our empirical findings. The majorit…
Creating forests with words — A review of forest-related discourse studies
Divide and conquer—Discursive agency in the politics of illegal logging in the United States
The social licence to operate
Changing societal expectations have influenced the way industries involved in the development or extraction of natural resources conduct their operations around the world. Increasingly, communities are demanding more involvement in decision-making around such operations, have expectations of receiving a greater share of the benefits from these operations and require assurances that the industries involved are appropriately regulated. The combinat…
Protecting “First world” markets and “Third world” nature
Demolishing Dikes
The Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) is an influential theoretical framework for the analysis of policymaking processes, in particular agenda setting. It has inspired numerous empirical applications, which result in substantially different interpretations, for instance, of what exactly the “streams” encompass, how policy entrepreneurship is practiced, and how the coupling of distinct streams works. This article undertakes a systematic assessment …
Discursive Agency
Interpretive discourse analysis commonly claims to address the interrelation between actors and discourses. However, the analytical focus of most approaches is on structures (discourses) while much less attention is paid to agency. This paper explicitly addresses discursive agency in two steps. First, we systematically review theoretical and analytical dimensions of agency in existing interpretive discourse analysis approaches. This review reveal…
Circular economy in cities
Circular economy (CE) is gaining popularity at different levels with the promise of creating more sustainable processes. In this context, cities are implementing a number of initiatives that aim to turn them into sustainable circular systems. Whether these initiatives achieve their sustainability goals, however, is largely unknown. Nevertheless, as the application of CE strategies is actively encouraged by many policies across the globe, there is…
Is there a Relation Between Ecological Practices and Spirituality? The Case of Benedictine Monasteries
For decades there has been a controversial debate over how far religious faith communities are specifically engaged in ecological practices (EP). Therefore we studied four Austrian and two German Benedictine monasteries religious ethics and spirituality as a means of a driving force for initiating EP. We draw upon theories of organizational learning processes and capacity-building of sustainability to interpret our empirical findings. The majorit…
Discourse analysis of environmental policy revisited
Since the mid-1990s, discourse analysis has become an increasingly established framework in environmental policy analysis. The field has diversified in terms of conceptual approaches, methods, topics, and geographies. This special issue revisits trends and traditions regarding theoretical and methodological approaches, ‘old’ and ‘new’ discourses, and our knowledge about discursive effects. We contextualize and discuss the twelve contributions to …
How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy
Understanding how a circular economy (CE) can reduce environmental pressures from economic activities is crucial for policy and practice. Science provides a range of indicators to monitor and assess CE activities. However, common CE activities, such as recycling and eco‐design, are contested in terms of their contribution to environmental sustainability. This article assesses whether and to what extent current approaches to assess CE activities s…
Transforming the bio-based sector towards a circular economy - What can we learn from wood cascading
The circular economy has become the focus of a recent major EU policy program, which aims at the transformation towards environmentally sustainable modes of production and consumption. This has moved parts of the forest and related bio-based industries to envision their operations in terms of a circular economy. However, the meaning and implementation pathways of the concept often remain vague and ambiguous. At the same time, bio-based industries…
Toward “hardened” accountability? Analyzing the European Union's hybrid transnational governance in timber and biofuel supply chains
The voluntary/mandatory divide is a constant feature of scholarly debates on corporate accountability for sustainability in global supply chains. A widely held assumption is that the addition of state authority to private transnational governance in global supply chains will “harden” accountability and, thus, promote more sustainable production. The state's ability to set legally binding requirements is expected to coerce companies into complying…
Eating healthy or wasting less? Reducing resource footprints of food consumption
To feed future populations on ever-scarcer natural resources, policy initiatives aim to decrease resource footprints of food consumption. While adopting healthier diets has shown great potential to reduce footprints, current political initiatives primarily address strategies to reduce food waste, with the target of halving food waste at retail and consumption levels by 2030. Using Germany as a case study, we compare the resource-saving potential …
Transdisciplinary resource monitoring is essential to prioritize circular economy strategies in cities
Seeking to meet sustainability targets, cities are promoting a number of circular economy initiatives. Whether or not these actions help cities to approach sustainable resource management is often unclear. To identify, prioritize and monitor resource-efficient strategies, cities can look for targets and indicators among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the SDGs provide useful goals, they lack applicable and accurate indicators for …
Why common interests and collective action are not enough for environmental cooperation – Lessons from the China-EU cooperation discourse on circular economy
Scholars have argued that circular economy (CE) must be upscaled and globalized to address excessive resource extraction and waste generation. Many CE practitioners consider the first international CE agreement between China and the EU a milestone towards such an effort. This analysis shows why this expectation is premature. European and Chinese stakeholders’ optimistic and depoliticized CE narratives disable communication regarding development d…
Do we need a ‘circular society’? Competing narratives of the circular economy in the French food sector
How a circular economy (CE) can promote social equity remains largely unknown. We analyze how CE narratives affect interpretations of problems and actions on waste in the French food sector, particularly around the Loi Garot. We identify CE narratives that challenge the sector's previous discourse of a social and solidarity economy (SSE) by advancing market-focused solutions and actors. We show how these narratives create solutions that do not au…
Transforming ecological modernization 'from within' or perpetuating it? The circular economy as EU environmental policy narrative
It is widely acknowledged that policies for a more sustainable society require narratives outside the status quo. This contribution studies the EU's environmental policy narrative of a circular economy (CE), which many consider promising in this respect. The results demonstrate that the CE narrative was created to transform EU policy discourses 'from within' but eventually perpetuated the established discourse of ecological modernization. This pe…
Discursive dynamics and lock-ins in socio-technical systems
Understanding the dynamics of stability and change is key to accelerate sustainability transitions. This paper aims to advance and inspire sustainability transition research on this matter by collecting insights from interpretative environmental discourse literature. We develop a heuristic that identifies and describes core discursive elements and dynamics in a socio-technical system. In doing so, we show how the interplay of meta-, institutional…
Locked in unsustainability
Lock-in mechanisms are major hurdles to sustainability transitions. Scholars identified various types of lock-ins; however, their dynamics and interactions remain underexplored. Using the case of food packaging, this study enhances the conceptual understanding and empirical analysis of lock-ins and their interactions from a socio-technical perspective. We analyze the material, institutional, behavioral, and discursive configuration and the shallo…
An interdisciplinary framework for navigating social–climatic tipping points
To effectively navigate out of the climate crisis, a new interdisciplinary approach is needed to guide and facilitate research that integrates diverse understandings of how transitions evolve in intertwined social–environmental systems. The concept of tipping points, frequently used in the natural sciences and increasingly in the social sciences, can help elucidate processes underlying major social–environmental transitions. We develop the notion…
Lessons, narratives, and research directions for a sustainable circular economy
The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy‐relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that und…
Explanations of the political gridlock behind international circular economy
China and the European Union (EU) signed the first international circular economy (CE) agreement shortly after China issued the ‘Waste Ban’ (WB) on the import of 24 categories of solid waste. While the WB gained global attention, limited research addresses its political implications for international CE. Based on 72 expert interviews, 52 documents and participant observation, we study political WB narratives and corresponding perceptions of ‘Chin…
From voluntary to mandatory corporate accountability
Following a long‐standing and highly contested policy debate, in June 2021, the German parliament passed the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act requiring mandatory due diligence (MDD) of large companies, holding them accountable for the impacts of their supply chain operations abroad. Applying the discursive agency approach and using evidence from policy documents and 21 interviews with key stakeholders, we analyze the political strategies that paved…
Unpacking the path toward a sustainable circular economy through industrial ecology
As the global environmental and climate crisis is accelerating and more and more planetary boundaries are crossed (Richardson et al., 2023), transformative approaches addressing “all aspects of society” (IPCC, 2022) are needed. The circular economy (CE) aims to be a systems-based transformative approach, which is shaping global debates, policy, business innovation, and research worldwide. “concept [of Industrial Ecology] requires that an industri…
Can we talk? Disrupting science circles with narrative-led dialogs
Sustainability scientists are increasingly expressing concerns about the lack of creativity and reflexivity, vital elements for driving sustainability transformations, in their profession. We argue that these concerns stem from established scientific practices of knowledge accumulation and interdisciplinary research, often neglecting the influence of group values and disciplinary paradigms. In response, we propose the narrative-led dialog as a to…
Political science (18 obras) · Economics (16 obras) · Sociology (16 obras) · Ecology (15 obras) · Business (14 obras) · Sustainable Supply Chain Management (12 obras) · Sustainability (11 obras) · Circular economy (10 obras) · Law (10 obras) · Law (10 obras)