Three partners from CircleUp recently attended the SCORAI Europe conference 2025 in April, held in the charming city of Lund, Sweden. This year’s conference focused on mainstreaming sustainable consumption, a theme closely in line with the objectives of the CircleUp project.

We were excited to present some of our ongoing work during the conference event. Sari Verachtet presented the CircleUp conceptual framework in a session on circular consumption with her presentation titled: “Developing a conceptual framework for CircleUp: 100 Households, 100 Circular Stories”. Meanwhile, Beatrice Beitz presented in a session organized by our sister project, CARE | Circular Households on “Interventions toward circular consumption”, where she elaborated on the storytelling methods we will use to engage our CircleUp households. Both sessions were well attended, on site and online, and we received valuable feedback and comments from the attendees. After our presentations, we had the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the three-days conference, which was filled with a wide range of insightful presentations, posters and workshops on various topics, all related to ongoing work on sustainable consumption.

We also had the chance to listen to several keynote speakers who focused on the past, the present and the future of sustainable consumption. Prof. Frank Trentmann took us through the history of consumption, examining changes in our consumption patterns using examples such as tea drinking, the use of an umbrella, indoor temperatures, water use for showering and gardening, cooking habits, and mobility. His key takeaway for us was: “If we could live differently yesterday, we can live differently tomorrow”.

Prof. Manisha Anantharaman gave us a very inspiring talk on inequality and (in)justice in the context of sustainability. She shared insights from the Global South, exploring the complex relationship between colonialism, racial capitalism and consumption. Her presentation highlighted the importance of addressing these issues to achieve a sustainable transition.

On the final day, Prof. Tim Jackson shared his vision of prosperity in a growing society. He advocated for a shift from a production economy to a caring economy that prioritizes human and planetary health.

In addition, we had the chance to mingle during lunches and coffee breaks and got to know other attendees. During the second evening, we had the opportunity to meet some members of our sister project CARE while enjoying a drink in an inspiring typical Swedish building in the open-air museum of Lund.

We are grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to the conference, learn from other scholars and practitioners, and connect with the engaging SCORAI community. Furthermore, we were blessed with beautiful spring weather, which added even more to the vibrant atmosphere. We want to thank the conference host organizers, the IIIEE at Lund University (International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics), and the hard working students who are always ready to assist. We look forward to the next SOCRAI conference.

Sari Verachtert, Carina Hermandi and Beatrice Beitz