10th International Conference on
Current Issues of Sustainable Development – Governance and Institutional Change
Opole, Poland.

In April 2010, it will already be the tenth time that issues of sustainable development is organised in co-operation with a wide range of European research institutes. Sustainability issues have become so common in many fields of socio-, political- and economic life, that it is often forgotten that it requires new approaches, and a change in rules guiding human activity, ways of thinking and governance structures. In particular the globalising environmental problems, but also increasing inequalities and poverty on a global scale and the instability of unregulated global financial markets
show the need for institutional change and changing governance structures. While there exists the need to understand the interactions in institutional change between socio-economic systems, technology and ecosystems, there is a great need to research local governance’s capability to direct its sustainable development in a world which seems to become more and more governed by different strong stakeholders who are individually more and more difficult to identify. As institutional environments and structures of governance vary depending on the country or region, different approaches to achieving sustainable development may be required. The general aims of the conference are to discuss and analyse:

• Institutions, Governance, and Sustainable Development in Transition Countries.
• The challenge of global governance in the face of climate change and global poverty.
Can Europe become sustainable without global sustainability?
• Local governance’s capability to achieve sustainable development.
• Eco-efficiency and sustainable praxis to improve quality and management of the river
basin in the Baltic Region.
• Technology transfer and eco-efficiency for sustainable energy projects.
• Corporate Social Responsibility and the problem of climate change and energy efficiency.
• Paradigms and the sustainability research agenda. Should research on eco-efficiency and ecodevelopment, when social inequalities increase on a global scale? Do we need to focus on
research eco-efficiency and environmental management strengthening the emphasis on
increasing output and consumption, or a change in people’s mental models?