ABOUT
The aim of the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program is to create space and opportunities for learning, networking and knowledge development on the role of inner dimensions and transformation for sustainability.
Humanity is facing increasingly complex social and environmental challenges. Current coordination mechanisms, problem-solving strategies, and modes of scientific inquiry, teaching and learning appear insufficient to address these challenges. A critical review shows that the vast majority of sustainability practice, scholarship, and education has, so far, focused on the external world of ecosystems, wider socioeconomic structures, technology, and governance dynamics. At the same time, a critical second aspect has been neglected: the inner dimensions of sustainability. As a result, individual and collective inner dimensions and transformation (embodied in notions such as consciousness and compassion) are emerging as a potential new area of exploration. The Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program was set up to explore this new area. It consists of three building blocks: research, education and networking.
Read more about our mission and vision and our latest publications.
Christine Wamsler
Professor & Program Director
Christine Wamsler is Professor of Sustainability Science at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS), Founder and Director of the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program, and former Co-Director of the Societal Resilience Centre. She is an internationally-renowned expert in sustainable development and associated (material and cognitive) transformation processes, with 25 years of experience, both in theory and practice. Her work has shaped international debates and increased knowledge on personal, collective, institutional and policy transformations in a context of climate change. She has led many international projects, and published more than 200 academic papers, book chapters, and books on these issues. Her publications are regularly cited and used in theory and policy development, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Christine’s workplace, LUCSUS, is a pioneer in transdisciplinary research and collaboration that combines critical perspectives with solutions-based approaches to address sustainability challenges. .... MORE
Heidi Hendersson
Program Assistant
LUCSUS staff
Program Support
Heidi Hendersson, program assistant, is an environmental journalist with a Master's in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science (LUMES). She supports the Program together with various LUCSUS staff: LUCSUS director Emily Boyd (general Program Support); as qwll as LUCSUS' director of postgraduate studies Maja Essebo, the LUMES coordinator Amanda Elgh, Associate Professor Kim Nicholas, Associate Professor Mine Islar, post-doc Diego Galafassi and PhD Sanna Stålhammar who are involved in the Program's educational activities.
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Oscar Kjell
Postdoctoral Researcher
Oscar Kjell has a background in psychology. His work focuses on cognitive wellbeing and its linkages to sustainability. In this context, he is also developing and validating ways to measure psychological constructs using psychometrics and artificial intelligence (AI) such as natural language processing and machine learning. At LUCSUS, Oscar is working part-time as a post-doc for the two research projects TransVision and Mind4Change (see also under Research).
Ute Thiermann
Postdoctoral Researcher
Ute Thiermann is a social scientist with a Master’s in Environmental Technology and a PhD in Environmental Research from the Imperial College London, UK. Her PhD focused on how mindfulness practices can support pro-environmental behaviour change. Her broader research is dedicated to finding innovative strategies for sustainable transformations. At LUCSUS, Ute supports the research projects of the Contemplative Sustainable Future Program. Ute is currently on maternity leave.
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Jessica Böhme
Associate, Former Doctoral Researcher
Jessica Böhme has recently finalised her PhD under the supervision of Professor Christine Wamsler, LUCSUS, and within the project ‘A Mindset for the Anthropocene’ at IASS in Potsdam, a cooperating partner of the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program (see also under Networking). The purpose of her PhD was to generate new insights in, and possibilities for, the transformation of personal inner dimensions in the Anthropocene. See her recent PhD articles in Ambio (Online) the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (Online), and Sustainability Science (Online). Jessica, now Professor in Technology Management, continues supporting the Program as Associate.
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Gustav Osberg
Doctoral Researcher, Research & Teaching Assistant
Gustav Osberg works as a research and teaching assistant for the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program. He supports the research projects TransVision, Mind4Change and ActivateChange, as well as the Sustainability and Inner Transformation course. He holds an interdisciplinary Master’s degree in Global Studies from Lund University, and is specialised in how globalization shapes lives, environments, and possibilities for action and imaginary futures. He is particularly interested in the political economy of sustainability transformation processes and has recently started a PhD in this field, supervised by Professor Jenny Palm (IIIEE) and Professor Christine Wamsler (LUCSUS).
Cooperation Partners
Research Projects & Education
The research institutions that cooperate with us in the context of our Mind4Change, TransVision and ActivateChange projects include, amongst others: The Centre for Social Sustainability and Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE), Sweden; the Aberystwyth Behavioural Insights Research Centre, Aberystwyth University, UK; the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA; the Research Centre for Environmental Humanities at Bath Spa University, UK; the University of Oslo, Norway; the Centre for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, USA; and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam, Germany. We also work closely with the Inner Green Deal, The Inner Development Goals (IDGs) Initiative, The Global Compassion Coalition and the UNDP Conscious Food Systems Alliance. In the context of our Phd and Master's level education, we also cooperate with a range of institutions. For more information about our academic and practice partners and advisory boards, please see under research, education and networking and check our latest publications.
”I believe that we put way too little focus on the interiority of human beings - not saying that this is the most important one, I am still a structuralist, but if we want change, we have to challenge those structures in whichever way, and inner transformation is one way to contribute to this challenge.”
LUMES student, Canada