Mastodawn

IT'S OUT! My book Cities in Action is now available from Columbia University Press. Why do some cities step up on climate change while others stay on the sidelines? And how can we not just explain but empower city action?

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/cities-in-action/9780231554534/

This book was written to be read, and I'd love it if you did! If you're in the US, consider your local bookstore or buy directly from CUP. 20% off with code CUP20. If you can't afford it, ask your local or university library to order a copy.

Christof Brandtner Mar 2, 2023

Several years after Trump declared his loyalty to Pittsburgh, not Paris, some cities have delivered on their promise. Others haven't. What sets leaders apart is a vibrant civil society. Check out my article published in The Conversation about how cities, but necessarily their mayors, may help overcome COP fatigue by providing new solutions to climate change. https://theconversation.com/look-to-cities-but-past-their-mayors-for-new-climate-solutions-199741

Look to cities, but past their mayors, for new climate solutions

Research shows cities are delivering on their climate pledges. More than mayors, the real force behind these local transitions are nonprofit organisations.

The Conversation

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Christof Brandtner Jan 23, 2023

Here's the pre-print. Many thanks to all who helped make the paper better along the way. (Hang in there, job market candidates twiddling thumbs in the review process.) I am tinkering with follow-up ideas but time is scarce. DM me if you want to team up or have thoughts on what needs work. Thanks for reading & stay tuned! https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3581796

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Christof Brandtner Jan 23, 2023

💚 We already have the tech to tackle climate change, so equitable diffusion of env innovations is a big frontier. Enter tons of social scientists, you'd think. But too few climate articles in leading soc journals, despite important exceptions (h/t the few who have and also those who have tried, and who are hopefully on Mastodon)

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Christof Brandtner Jan 23, 2023

🌆 Civic capacity is a defining feature of #cities, incl. the turn to green construction. For the US, I measure via registered #nonprofits (happy to share the data). Civically minded organizations are the unsung heroes of cities’ many pushes for #resilience & #sustainability

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Christof Brandtner Jan 23, 2023

🤓 Novel practices not only diffuse from city to city, company to company via central authorities who adopt them. Decentralized catalysts develop or experiment with new solutions & authorities then share them more broadly. This is distributed adoption. #diffusion #organizations

Christof Brandtner Jan 23, 2023

Hello!! Stoked to see my green buildings paper out in a super issue of AJS 🔥 Currently writing up the takeaways for the world at large. Meanwhile, 3 reasons for fellow nerds to read the paper. (Pre-print below, sorry for the paywall.)
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/722965

Green American City: Civic Capacity and the Distributed Adoption of Urban Innovations1 | American Journal of Sociology: Vol 128, No 3

Why do some cities adopt practices to resolve social and environmental problems more rapidly and extensively than others? Although diffusion studies emphasize administrative adoption by central authorities, a range of private and public organizations are involved in the distributed adoption of innovations. The author argues that variation in the adoption of urban innovations results from persistent differences in cities’ organizational communities. An econometric analysis of the geographic dispersion of green construction practices and policies demonstrates that cities with greater civic capacity, where values-oriented organizations recognize and tackle social problems, see quicker and more extensive adoption. The effect is largest early in the diffusion process because nonprofits are themselves early adopters of green construction. Municipal policies later legitimate green building, but they follow prior individual organizations. The sequential framework of distributed and administrative adoption contributes to the understanding of the institutional determinants of responses to climate change, nonprofits as catalysts of urban innovation, and the consequences of urban governance on an intercity scale.

American Journal of Sociology

Christof Brandtner Dec 12, 2022

RK Dec 8, 2022

1. Crows are super smart.
2. Crows can remember faces.
3. Crows have regional dialects.
4. Crows investigate the cause of death of the deceased.
5. Crows make & use tools.
6. Crows hide their food.
7. Crows have the largest brain to body ratio of any bird. Their brain to body ratio is bigger than humans.
8. A group of crows is called 'a murder of crows'.

Picture taken at Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.

#BirdPhotography #corvids #Crow #WildlifePhotography #WildlifePhotographer #ScottishWildlife

Christof Brandtner Nov 17, 2022

Hello world of sociologists :SoM

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Christof Brandtner Nov 15, 2022

Here is the link: https://hr.em-lyon.com/fr/job/faculte-fr/1157-professeur-en-durabilite-entrepreneuriat-social-fr/

emlyon is an interesting place to work. It's a société à mission and an upstart in the world of sustainability-focused business schools.

Social scientists everywhere, check it out!

#hiring #faculty #Soctwitter #businessschool #sustainability #climate #socialentrepreneurship #socialinnovation #academicjobs #teaching

Professeur en Durabilité/ Entrepreneuriat Social - Portail RH em lyon business school | early makers

JOB REQUIREMENTS We are looking for candidates with the following qualifications and abilities in line with their level of application: PhD/ doctorate degree in innovation management or related area Ability to publish in peer-reviewed journals (2 publications every 5 years)Demonstrated expertise in sustainability broadly conceived, including climate change, energy and ecological transitions, social impact, social … Continued

Portail RH em lyon business school | early makers