Is Scotland on a just transition pathway to achieve net zero by 2045? And if not, how can we change current approaches to sustainability transitions?
On Friday 28 November, these questions guided a closed-door event run between the Centre for Energy Ethics and the St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities. The “Alternative Sustainability for Scotland’s Future” workshop invited attendees from across and beyond the University of St Andrews to scrutinise the value of more radical theories – from the circular economy and doughnut economics to commoning and degrowth – and how they might contribute to necessary transformations and to building flourishing human and more-than human communities in Scotland.
This event represents a starting point, with a view to further activities which should encourage wider public debate around the potentials of these and other similar concepts that are increasingly gaining traction both within academia and in wider social movements across the globe. As a next step, the newly formed group will write a report that will form the basis for a high-profile outreach event during the University of St Andrews’ Sustainability week to take place in March 2026.
