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                Beyond Corporate Sustainability: Philosophical Reflections on the role of
<br>ecological management in the Circular Economy
<br>
<br>
<br>Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Philosophy of Management
<br>
<br>Guest Editors:
<br>Vincent Blok (Wageningen University)
<br>Mark Dibben (Tasmanian School for Business & Economics)
<br>
<br>Context and Aims:
<br>As it becomes increasingly clear nowadays that humanity is using more natural
<br>resources than the earth can provide, and that we need two or more planets to
<br>support our modern way of living in the future (WWF, 2012), many scholars and
<br>policy makers call for the transformation to a circular economy in order to
<br>ensure the sustainability of Earth's life support system (Kolbert, 2011). In
<br>this view, the sustainability of the life support systems of planet Earth is
<br>threatened by environmental problems like global warming, and business
<br>managers are seen as change agents in this transformation to the circular
<br>economy.
<br>At the same time, it is especially business management which can be associated
<br>with the destruction of the eco-systems of planet earth; it seems to be the
<br>case that since the start of the Industrial Revolution, our species alone has
<br>used management to make the sort of seismic changes to the biosphere
<br>previously reserved only to volcanic activity. It is in this respect, that
<br>business is often seen as part of the problem, rather than part of the
<br>solution. It is precisely our practice of management in business, that has
<br>been the architect of the remarkable economic success of the past three
<br>hundred years, that has plunged the planet at the same time into ecological
<br>crisis.
<br>If the current situation demands the transformation to the circular economy in
<br>order to ensure the sustainability of Earth's life support systems on the one
<br>hand, while precisely business management can be seen as one of the root
<br>causes of the ecological crisis we face today, the question emerges what
<br>exactly is the nature of management, why it contributes to environmental
<br>problems like global warming, and what alternative ways of conceptualising
<br>management are available that contribute to the stewardship of planet earth?
<br>What does the transformation to the circular economy require from our
<br>management practices?
<br>In this respect, it is significant that 'management' is not necessarily a term
<br>that characterizes human behaviour, but can be associated with processes in
<br>nature, ranging from self-organisation and cooperation within animal groups
<br>and eco-systems to the way the life support systems of planet Earth maintain
<br>themselves. Although business management implies conscious decision making and
<br>control - which can be questioned to be at stake in natural eco-systems -
<br>natural management and control may inspire organisational management. Or as
<br>Dibben and D'Arcy (2015) put it: "[W]e are not the only species that engages
<br>in management. Most creatures engage in managing their environment, by making
<br>shelter / having special places where they rest and reproduce, finding and
<br>storing food and even creating paths that run to and from the food and the
<br>shelter. Insects, spiders, birds, fish, reptiles, and mammals all practice
<br>management to some degree. Management is therefore better understood as
<br>inherent in Nature, a Universal aspect of Purposeful Life". That is to say,
<br>some aspects of the behaviour of social creatures - lions, ants etc. - display
<br>at least parallels with human organised management. These forms of ecological
<br>management of natural systems may yet inspire a human type of management of
<br>organisations that is not only better able to grow and learn from nature,
<br>instead of depleting it - in this respect, ecological management is inspired
<br>by the emerging field of ecological economy (Daley & Farley, 2004). It also
<br>tries to reconceptualise human management and control practices based on
<br>ecological management practices in order to contribute to the transformation
<br>to the circular economy.
<br>This special issue of Philosophy of Management aims to explore the question
<br>what exactly is the nature of ecological management, and how ecological
<br>management can contribute to the transformation to the circular economy. We
<br>look for both deep reflections on the relation between ecology and economy in
<br>order to inform current conceptualisations of the bio-economy or circular
<br>economy, and the nature of ecological management and its implications of
<br>business management, its contribution to issues in business and economics, and
<br>its contribution to organisational sustainable development.
<br>Possible questions to be addressed may include:
<br>
<br>-          What is the role of organisational management and the logic of
<br>economic growth in the depletion of the natural resources of planet earth?
<br>
<br>-          To what extent is organisational management dominated by a hegemony
<br>of engineering and control of nature, and what explains this?
<br>
<br>-          To what extent can ecological management of natural systems inspire
<br>a more comprehensive, relational and integral way of management in business
<br>practices, for instance sustainable entrepreneurship?
<br>
<br>-          What forms of nature-based or ecological management - biomimicry,
<br>eco-mimesis (Blok & Gremmen 2016) can be found in the natural environment and
<br>can inspire ecological management?
<br>
<br>-          What are the advantages and disadvantages of ecological management
<br>in the natural world and of ecological management in business organisations?
<br>
<br>-          What are the antecedents of ecological management in business
<br>organisations (values, world-view, experience of environmental distress
<br>etc.)?
<br>
<br>-          What are the consequences of eco-logical management for eco-nomic
<br>institutions operating in the circular economy?
<br>
<br>-          What is the role of ecological management for acknowledging and
<br>addressing the embeddedness of the socio-economic system within the natural
<br>system beyond its function as resource and waste sink? Can ecological
<br>management better represent the intrinsic value of nature other than its
<br>functions in the economic system?
<br>
<br>-          How are the biosphere and the economic sphere related to each other
<br>in the biobased or circular economy (Zwier, Blok, Lemmens, 2015)?
<br>
<br>-          What data, other than financial, should be disclosed to
<br>stakeholders in a circular economy?
<br>Contributions are invited to reflect on these and other issues from various
<br>perspectives (e.g. philosophy, epistemology, environmental philosophy etc.).
<br>
<br>Submission Process and Deadlines
<br>Papers will be reviewed following the PoM double-blind review process.  Papers
<br>should be submitted by the 1-11-2018 via
<br>http://www.springer.com/philosophy/journal/40926, with clear reference to the
<br>special issue 'Beyond Corporate Sustainability: Philosophical Reflections on
<br>Ecological Management'.  Papers should be prepared using the PoM Guidelines.
<br>As soon as the papers are accepted for publication, they will be published and
<br>accessible online. The publication of the complete special volume is scheduled
<br>for 2019. The editors welcome informal enquiries related to proposed topics.
<br>For this, please contact Mark Dibben
<br>(mark.dibben@utas.edu.au) or Vincent Blok
<br>(vincent.blok@wur.nl).
<br>
<br>Special Issue Track
<br>To help authors advance their manuscripts, a Special Issue Track will be held
<br>during the next Philosophy of Mangement Conference, June 25-28 2018 in
<br>Greenwich (UK).  Authors of manuscripts are invited to submit their working
<br>papers. Interested authors are invited to send their abstract of 1500 words to
<br>w.vandekerckhove@gre.ac.uk, with a clear
<br>reference to the special track on 'ecological management'. The editorial team
<br>will assign a referee among the guest editors for each paper presented, with
<br>the intention of strengthening the papers prior to official submission for
<br>peer review for potential inclusion in the special issue. For the deadline to
<br>submit working papers for the track etc. please follow the general call for
<br>paper for the conference. Participation in the track is encouraged, but not a
<br>precondition for submissions to the special issue.
<br>
<br>Contact Email:
<br>Corresponding Guest Editors: Mark Dibben
<br>(mark.dibben@utas.edu.au); Vincent Blok,
<br>Wageningen University, The Netherlands
<br>(vincent.blok@wur.nl)
<br>
<br>References:
<br>Blok, V., Gremmen, B. 2016. "Ecological Innovation: Biomimicry as a New Way of
<br>Thinking and Acting Ecologically". Journal of Agricultural and Environmental
<br>Ethics 29:203-217
<br>Daly & Farley 2004. Ecological economics: principles and practice. Island
<br>PRess
<br>
<br>Dibben, M. And D'Arcy (2015) "Process and Business Management: A Short Note on
<br>how Process Thinking might help bring about a more Hospitable World."
<br>http://www.jesusjazzbuddhism.org/
<br>
<br>Kolbert, E. (2011). "Enter the Anthropocene - Age of Man". National
<br>Geographic, March 2011.
<br>
<br>WWF. (2012). Living Planet Report 2012. Gland: WWF.
<br>
<br>Zwier, J., Blok, V., Lemmens, P. (2015), "The Ideal of a Zero-Waste Humanity:
<br>Philosophical Reflections on the Demand for a Bio-Based Economy", Journal of
<br>Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (DOI 10.1007/s10806-015-9538-y)
<br>C
<br>
<br>Dr. Vincent Blok MBA
<br>Associate Professor in Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Business and Innovation
<br>Ethics, Management Studies Group
<br>Associate Professor in Philosophy of Management, Technology and Innovation,
<br>Philosophy Group
<br>
<br>
<br>Wageningen University
<br>Management Studies and Philosophy Group
<br>Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN, Wageningen (Building 201)
<br>De Leeuwenborch, Room 5060
<br>P.O. Box 8130, 6700 EW, Wageningen
<br>T: +31 (0) 317 483623
<br>F: +31 (0) 317 485454
<br>E-mail: vincent.blok@wur.nl
<br>Website: www.vincentblok.nl
<br>Disclaimer: www.wur.nl/UK/disclaimer.htm
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