Summary
This special issue of Ecological Economics invites researchers to explore how work, employment, and time use affect—and are affected by—efforts to achieve environmental sustainability and social well-being. Contributions may include theoretical or practical studies on sustainable work practices, employment systems, and their links to justice, care, and ecological impact. Submissions are due by January 31, 2026. An optional paper development workshop will be held online on November 13, 2025.
Ecological Economics
The transdisciplinary journal of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE)
ISSN 0921-8009 (print), 873-6106 (online) Editors-in-Chief: Stefan Baumgärtner and Begüm Özkaynak |
Ecological Economics invites contributions for a special issue on Work in Ecological Economics; guest edited by Stefanie Gerold (Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg), Ernest Aigner (Leuphana University Lüneburg), Halliki Kreinin (RIFS Potsdam), Louison Cahen-Fourot (Roskilde University), Walther Zeug (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research).
Topic: Work in ecological economics
The organisation of work plays a central role in shaping economic activity, environmental pressures, and patterns of social well-being. While employment remains a cornerstone of income, social participation, and public finance, it is also linked to significant environmental and social impacts, raising complex questions about time use, justice, and sustainability.
This special issue invites contributions that examine the interconnections between work, ecological sustainability, and societal outcomes. It seeks to broaden the scope of ecological economics by addressing how employment structures, work practices, and time allocation influence – and are influenced by – efforts to reduce environmental pressures, enhance quality of life and shape societal struggles with respect to class, gender, race and colonianism.
We welcome theoretical, empirical, and policy-focused research that explores, among other topics:
- Conceptual and empirical contributions reflecting the social, environmental and economic dimensions of work in ecological economics
- Indicators and methodologies to evaluate the ecological impacts of different occupations, employment arrangements (formal vs. informal/precarious; long term vs. short-term contracts) and sectors;
- Length and distribution of working time and related impacts on the environment and societies;
- Institutional innovations and policy measures aimed at aligning employment systems with social-ecological goals;
- The role of unpaid, voluntary, care, and informal activities for satisfying human needs and safeguarding the environment;
- Governance approaches and stakeholder coordination and collaborations that support social-ecological transformations of time- and work patterns.
We encourage submissions from a range of inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives, a pluriverse of theories and a broad range of methodological approaches, including qualitative research, quantitative analysis, modelling, and mixed-methods research designs.
Timeline
The special issue is open for submissions starting from 15 August 2025. The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2026. Submissions must be made through the journal’s online submission platform Editorial Manager https://www.editorialmanager.com/ecolec/default1.aspx. We aim for publishing accepted publications likely from October 2026 to January 2027.
Preparing contributions
Contributions to the special issue may be Analysis, Survey, Commentary, or Book Review, as described in the Guide for Authors (https://www.elsevier.com/journals/ecological-economics/0921-8009/guide-for-authors). When submitting your contribution, select “VSI: Ecological Economics of Work” as the article type. All contributions to a special issue must be prepared according to the journal’s Guide for Authors. In the letter to the editors, please also include a one-paragraph motivation explaining why your submission is relevant to the Special Issue.
Workshop
We will host an online paper development workshop on November 13th, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. (CET, Wintertime). While participation is not mandatory for submission to the special issue, it offers a valuable opportunity to receive feedback and refine your work in the field of ecological economics. If you are interested in participating, please submit a short abstract by September 30th and an extended abstract (approximately 1000 words) by November 1st. Each participant will be asked to review another submission. Please note that participation in the workshop does not guarantee acceptance into the special issue, but it will support the development of your paper. Submit your abstract via this form: https://tinyurl.com/3fhv89n7
Review process
All contributions will go through the normal peer-review process and are expected to at least meet, if not exceed, the usual quality standards of articles published in Ecological Economics. This includes the possibility that a given contribution will not be published if it is found to be not suitable.
Publication format
Special issues are published as virtual special issues. Each paper is published as soon as the proof is corrected in the next available regular issue, with an imprint indicating that it is part of a special issue. Simultaneously all special-issue articles are gathered together in an online-only grouping for the special issue itself. On ScienceDirect, the special issue is set up under the heading Article Collections and filled with special-issue-articles one by one, as they are published. The special issue becomes visible to end-users once the first article is linked to the special issue, rather than waiting for all papers to be finalised before it can be compiled. Examples of previously published special issues can be found at https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/ecological-economics/special-issues.
Contact
For questions, contact any of the Guest Editors:
- Ernest Aigner (ernest.aigner@leuphana.de)
- Stefanie Gerold (stefanie.gerold@b-tu.de)
- Halliki Kreinin (hallikikreinin@gmail.com)
- Louison Cahen-Fourot (lcahenfo@ruc.dk)
- Walther Zeug (walther.zeug@ufz.de)
