Negotiating sustainabilities in applied geography: treading an uneven path

ABSTRACT

This essay examines the ways in which geographers have engaged with the concept and practice of sustainability and the lessons that we might learn from commentaries on the application of geographical ideas in the field of public policy. First, the essay highlights the need to question our academic relationship with a ‘slippery’ concept such as sustainability. Second, it examines the role of geographers in generating impact for sustainability causes and what we might expect to be our role. Third, the essay argues for a revitalized ‘scholar-activist’ approach that draws upon the vocational role of geographers in local environmental contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Geography
• sustainability
• applied research

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stewart Barr

Stewart Barr is Professor of Geography at the University of Exeter. His research focuses on sustainable development and behavioural change. He has worked in several research fields related to these interests, including transport and mobility, energy, water and waste. Stewart teaches a range of modules in Geography and Sustainability, and was founding co-director of the University of Exeter’s MSc in Sustainable Development.