CBS-forsker modtager prestigefyldt bevilling til forskning i klimakrisens fremtid

How do different organisations envision the future, and how does this affect solutions to the climate crisis?

CBS researcher Miriam Feuls aims to explore this question in a new research project that has just received over three million kroner from the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

The grant of precisely DKK 3,125,223 has been awarded through the prestigious Inge Lehmann programme, which works to create better gender balance in research environments. The programme supports researchers with potential for high-level international research and research leadership.

Negotiating future imaginaries

The urgent need to address the environmental crises caused by climate change has sparked a public debate about more sustainable solutions to transform society and the economy.

Therefore, Miriam Feuls, Assistant Professor at the Department of Organization at CBS, will, with the project "The Politics of Time – Navigating Conflicting Imaginaries," investigate how organisations from different sectors – businesses, NGOs, governmental actors – envision future solutions to environmental crises, especially plastic pollution.

Their visions can inspire action and shape society.

However, they can also conflict with each other, leading to challenges in coordinating and mobilising collective action and potential passivity towards climate change.

“I believe that examining how different actors construct and negotiate visions of the future is crucial to understanding how solutions to environmental crises emerge, are negotiated and accepted,” explains Miriam Feuls.

For certain visions to be prioritised, others must be set aside, which, according to Miriam Feuls, can have serious societal consequences.

At the same time, this raises questions about what types of actions will dominate in shaping society, who controls them, and what the societal implications are.

Challenges and opportunities of the green transition

The grant allows Miriam Feuls to study these processes in close collaboration with a postdoc and an international research team.

Miriam Feuls will investigate this using qualitative methods such as ethnography and discourse analysis.

Failed negotiations to establish a global effort against plastic pollution highlight the importance of understanding these visions and their impact.

“The negotiation between conflicting visions plays a central role in mobilising and shaping collective action,” says Miriam Feuls, concluding:

“The research can provide valuable insights into how society plans for the future and who has the power to shape it. The project will contribute important knowledge about the challenges and opportunities of the green transition.”