Call for Abstracts

The theme of the conference, “Planetary Boundaries and the Sustainability Transition: The Great Disconnect?” invites participants to explore the potential mismatch between organizational-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability practice and theorizing on the one hand, and the macro-level unsustainability on the other hand. CSR and corporate sustainability have gradually been mainstreamed and institutionalized in companies and higher education institutions. Many companies have a sustainability function in place, report on progress and set themselves long-term sustainability performance targets. Sustainability is becoming a legitimate career choice. There are unprecedented levels of public awareness and knowledge when it comes to sustainability.

Yet, whilst we are tootling along with our journey to sustainability, six out of nine planetary boundaries have been exceeded, global anthropogenic carbon emissions continue to rise (rather than fall), biodiversity continues to be in steep decline, and absolute poverty is on the rise again. We are on course to failing to meet roughly 90% of the 169 UN SDG targets by 2030. And these macro-level developments take place against a backdrop of rising populism, declining multilateralism, perceived overregulation and a feeling that sustainability is moving down the public agenda.

How do those two things go together?

Is it still realistic to hope for the measures we have put in place so far to trigger a step change towards sustainability, driven by a critical mass of proactive firms, conscious consumers and enlightened governments? Or is it rather a matter of wishful thinking overshadowing our theorizing? How can we explain this, and how can we effectively move forward towards an actual sustainability transition?

CRRC is a cross-disciplinary conference looking for both conceptual and empirical papers filling the research and knowledge gap in both theory and practice related to the impact of CSR on society. We are interested in contributions from different disciplines and fields of study. CRRC is the ideal place to test new ideas and to experiment with new formats. Therefore, we welcome suggestions for special workshop streams and innovative ideas. The tradition of CRRC is to focus on participants and the debate. We aim to create an environment that is welcoming and friendly yet succeeds in challenging the existing knowledge base and assumptions, and hence drives the debate around corporate responsibility forward.

Initial abstracts should be emailed to crrconference2025@gmail.com by 15 July 2025. Files should be sent in MS Word format, and the file name should be first author’s surname. Please include names, affiliations and contact details of all authors. Please use a maximum of 500 words, answering the following questions:

• Research Question: What is the research question that the submission aims to answer?
• Theoretical Framework: What are the main concepts, models or theories used in the paper? Include 3-4 central references.
• Method: Which method is used for the research work?
• Findings: What are the main outcomes and results of the paper?
• Which sub-theme is your paper aimed at or is it for the open call?
• Up to 6 keywords

IMPORTANT DATES

[to be announced in late April]