India, the world’s most populous country, holds the sixth-largest economy at $2.66 trillion, accounting for 7.4% of global resource consumption and 7.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Despite its significant environmental footprint globally, India’s per capita impact remains minimal, suggesting room for growth amidst ongoing modernization and urbanization. To transition this vast economy towards sustainable development—enhancing material living standards and human well-being without increasing environmental degradation—requires transformative shifts in urban infrastructure, industry, land and food systems, and energy production.
Transitioning to a low-carbon and circular economy in India demands rigorous efforts in environmental science and policy research. Industrial ecology, with its comprehensive approach to understanding the magnitude of challenges and opportunities for material flows, waste and recycling, as well as providing insights into effective policy, economic mechanisms, and technological innovations, plays a crucial role in this endeavour.
The Journal of Industrial Ecology (JIE) is proud to announce a special issue dedicated to showcasing groundbreaking research on India’s journey towards sustainable economic transformation through the lens of industrial ecology. This issue seeks to explore India’s ambitious environmental research, policies and practices, employing evidence-based policy approaches.
We invite submissions that provide novel contributions to industrial ecology theories, methods, and findings within the Indian context, whether explicitly identified as such or not. This special issue aims to gather and share cutting-edge research that supports India’s sustainable development ambitions, offering insights into the application of industrial ecology in shaping a greener future.
Submission topics include, but are not limited to:
- Quantifying Developmental Challenges in India: Submissions should focus on employing industrial ecology tools such as material flow analysis, life cycle analysis, and environmentally extended input-output analysis to quantify India’s developmental challenges. This includes studies on metrics, data, and indicators, as well as research into the social dimensions of resource use, encompassing equity, access, and justice within an environment-economy assessment framework.
- Innovations in Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy: We invite research that explores initiatives, solutions, and policies aimed at enhancing resource efficiency, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, reducing waste, and promoting an inclusive circular economy in India. This encompasses industrial ecology research and practice, including industrial symbiosis, business-to-business, and consumer-to-business solutions.
- Shaping Environmental and Sustainability Policies: Submissions should investigate how industrial ecology approaches can inform forward-thinking environmental and sustainability policies involving end-users, particularly in critical sectors such as food, water, energy, and infrastructure. This includes scenario analysis, modelling, and studies focusing on advancing a social, economic, and political industrial ecology.
- Identifying Opportunities for Innovation and Transition: We seek studies identifying opportunities for innovation and technological evolution, leap-frogging, along with the necessary institutional frameworks, existing barriers, the need for forward-thinking governance strategies, policies, legislation, economic incentives, and business models essential for India’s transition to a net-zero and circular economy.
We encourage submissions grounded in quantitative research to deeply analyse and provide insights into the topics of interest. However, we also welcome qualitative and conceptual pieces that offer innovative perspectives or theoretical frameworks. Research papers that stem from collaborations between academia, industry and practitioners are also welcome. It is imperative that all submissions demonstrate a strong link to both previous and current industrial ecology research, underscoring the contribution to ongoing conversations and advancements in the field. Submissions should not only build upon existing knowledge but also aim to push the boundaries of industrial ecology to address India’s unique environmental and developmental challenges.
Timeline:
Deadline for submission 31 October 2024
Publication target: July 2025
Guest editors:
Simron Singh, University of Waterloo, Canada
Souvik Bhattacharjya, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi
Zeenat Niazi, Development Alternatives, New Delhi
Heinz Schandl, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia