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What happens when you bring together leading scholars, early-career researchers, and big sustainability questions in one room?

At the Centre for Sustainable Business’s second Paper and Idea Development Workshop, the result was a rich, collaborative exchange, culminating in four emerging research themes that speak directly to today’s most urgent business and societal challenges.

Held in March 2025 to mark the Centre’s one-year anniversary, the full-day workshop was led by Professor Jonatan Pinkse, Dr Catherine Tilley, and Professor Laura J. Spence, and was attended by a diverse group of 18 scholars from universities across the UK and Europe.

The morning was spent presenting and discussing early-stage papers, which sparked a  range of topics for more idea generation in the afternoon.

After lunch, participants divided into four groups to delve deeper into the themes that had emerged as most compelling. Through lively discussion and collaborative exploration, they began shaping new directions for sustainable business research.

Below is an overview of the key themes discussed and comments from participants within the workshop.

1) Power and temporality in business–community relation

The first group’s papers explored the common themes around decision-making, temporality, materiality, and community impact. In their discussion, participants focused on temporality and how this affects businesses and communities in making decisions and prioritising actions. 

Ai-Peri Dzhumashalieva, a PhD candidate at the Centre who attended the workshop, commented on how useful the discussion had been in helping her understand how other academics approached similar topics. She said: "We might be tackling a similar problem, but our questions and hypotheses are unique, making discussions much more engaging. I found the discussions during the ideation phase of the workshop helpful for quickly capturing curiosity-driven ideas."

Another PhD candidate from the Centre, Asma Othman, also joined this group. She commented: “The group discussion deepened my understanding of sustainability research across different methodologies.

“Though my work focuses on AI for environmental decision-making, exchanging ideas with peers tackling relevant challenges was enlightening. Also, the ideation activity made me reflect on how research evolves collaboratively, and the workshop created valuable academic connections that I hope to continue.”

2. Regeneration and innovation in post-growth transitions

The next group reflected on regeneration, social sustainability, adaptation, and degrowth, anchoring the conversation with a thought-provoking question: To what extent can regeneration strategies support transitions to post-growth? The group reviewed three different papers on this theme and identified a series of future directions to take.

Dr Siavash Alimadadi, a Research Associate at the Centre, commented: “Presenting my draft to researchers in the field was an invaluable opportunity. The workshop's excellent organisation and thoughtful paper assignments fostered synergistic discussions.

“The feedback I received will significantly improve my work, while it also sparked new ideas. The collegial and collaborative atmosphere was very inspiring – it even led to plans for possible future joint projects. I highly recommend this forum for scholars at all career stages.”

3. Politics, definitions, and impact investing

On the other side of the room, the third group explored the evolution of impact investing, risk management, and sustainability roles.

They discussed core concepts in impact investing and risk management, which led to a debate on how the definitions of impact and ethics can become ambiguous, particularly when wrapped up in broader political considerations.

Dr Yunus Isik, Research Associate at the Centre, said: “We had a group of researchers working on similar topics from different perspectives. Their feedback helped me refine my own research and generated ideas I have not considered before.

“I think this kind of workshops benefit researchers at all levels. Senior academics share valuable knowledge, while early-career researchers and PhD students bring fresh ideas. Our final research idea, for example, came from a PhD student and resonated with everyone.”

4. Communication, emotion, and climate targets

The final group discussed the increasing urgency around climate action, with a focus on answering the vital question: how can we make people care about scientific targets to mitigate climate change? This prompted a wide-ranging discussion prompting reflection on how we as academics can engage more with effective communication.

A final note

As the workshop drew to a close, discussions turned to big-picture themes of resilience, intergenerational justice, and future conceptions of sustainability – drawing together threads from across the day’s conversations.

During the session, participants were able to step back to explore underlying tensions and synergies, often discovering unexpected connections between topics and surfacing new insights.

The workshop laid a strong foundation for continued reflection, with unanswered questions sparking new directions for future research and collaboration.

Celebrating one year as the Centre for Sustainable Business

As the workshop also celebrated the Centre’s anniversary, it was a timely opportunity to launch our first Annual Report, capturing a year of momentum, reflection, and growing impact.

If you weren't able to attend the workshop or missed the launch of the report, you can view our online version here.

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This article is brought to you by the Centre for Sustainable Business - learn more about our research and activities here.