INSS Newsletter April 2014

Conference Wrap-Up: We were thrilled to host many of you in early April for the annual INSS conference. Some of the highlights were Julian Agyeman’s keynote speech, the poster session, and the chance to network and discuss with other participants. We are starting to post some of the videos and other materials from the conference, some of which can be found here (password, as with all pages on the website, is INSS). Those who attended and did not fill out an evaluation of the conference can do so here.

Defining Social Sustainability: We’re collecting terms and phrases that characterize social sustainability. Please add yours here: Cloudtec.ch/t/Ydq67b

Member Updates and Requests: At the conference, Adrienne Brown asked us to vote for her in the Arctic Climate Change Emerging Ambassadors Essay Contest; view the video and vote! Also, Sarah Bell has been asked by the Leverhulme Trust to submit a full proposal to create the International Network on Social Sustainability, which will have a European focus to complement the US-based INSS. Good work and good luck!

Project Working Groups all got a chance to meet at the conference, and have promised some exciting events and products over the next year. Just to mention a few, the public communication group is organizing a video competition, the assessment tools group is continuing their work on an annotated bibliography, several groups are contributing to a database of case studies. In addition, the space/definition working group is beginning a series of discussions about articles characterizing social sustainability. Join one of these exciting projects here.

Website Logins and Wiki Integration: You will now be able to log into the website and wiki through the main webpage. If you have not received an email about your INSS account, email us at socialsustainabilitynetwork@gmail.com to get a username.

Member Directory: We’re continuing to roll out a new publicly-accessible member directory that highlights member keywords and interests. If you haven’t yet at the conference or online, please help us identify keywords about your work for our directory here.

INSS Blog this Month: Recent INSS blog posts included a post about integrating social sustainability into businesses. Please enjoy the ideas of our network members and join the conversation through comments and your own posts (email socialsustainabilitynetwork@gmail.com if you have an idea for a blog post).

Final Call for Papers: Several of our network members are organizing a special issue on Sustainability in the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. If you have research in this area, the call is available here (deadline is May 2, 2014).

Know someone who should be a member?

We are always recruiting new members for the network, particularly in underrepresented areas, like practitioners in public health, safety, or planning. If you know anyone working in these areas, please recommend them here.

Finally, welcome to our new members, and thanks for a successful conference!

Nicole Peterson