Faith Traditions and Sustainability New Views and Practices for Environmental Protection

Major religious traditions have begun to reflect on sustainability concerns in their theology and practice. Little research, however, has explored the implications of this development for organizational behavior as well as secular thinkers and practitioners of sustainable development. This book elucidates the varied ways in which faith traditions provide new forms of coping mechanisms to deal with environmental challenges confronting humanity through an integrative review and critical analysis of recent research. Bringing together a compendium of religious and faith traditions, rooted in both Eastern and Western approaches, the work provides a new perspective and presents alternative paradigms to deal with the contemporary ecological crises. 

The UN Interfaith Statement on Climate Change (2021) highlights the importance of faith traditions to foster “shared moral responsibility for the environment” and set an example for the “life-style of billions of people and political leaders around the world to act more boldly in protecting people and planet.” This interdisciplinary work examines the interaction between management/organizational settings and spirituality focusing on a range of contexts and spiritual traditions including Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Confucianism, mindfulness practices and indigenous spiritual traditions.

 Featuring theoretical papers and case studies from different contexts and geographical regions, this book provides researchers, faculty, students, and practitioners with a broad overview of the field from a research perspective, while keeping an eye on building a bridge between scholarship and practice.

1. Faith traditions and sustainability: Key discourses and Emerging field.- 2. Guru Nanak's Ecological Legacy: New Views and Practices for Sustainable Development.- 3. Family firms: The impact of a Christian perspective on environmental protection and sustainability practices.- 4. Benedictine Perspective on Sustainability: Economic, Environmental and Social Inspiration for Organizations.- 5. Confucianism and Sustainability.- 6. Buddhist economics: Philosophical premises and environmental policy implications.- 7. Cultivation of Loving-Kindness and Compassion: A Societal Solution to Uphold Strong Sustainability Principles in Ecological Policies.- 8. Calling to the mind: Exploring the interlinkages of mindfulness, morality and environmental sustainbility- 9. Judaism and Ecological Discourse: What a Jewish Religious Perspective Offers to    Contemporary Sustainability Dialogue.- 10. A collective sustainability approach based on the Bahá'í principles.

Nadia Singh is an Assistant Professor in Economics, at Northumbria University (Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy of UK. Her research interests are in ecological and gender economics, as well as the influences of Sikh philosophy on issues of environmental governance and organizational sustainability. She has published her work in various international scholarly journals.

Mai Chi Vu is an Assistant Professor in Responsible Business at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University (Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK). Her research interests focus on organizational mindfulness, business ethics, meaningful work, and workplace spirituality. She publishes regularly in various international scholarly journals.

Nicholas Burton is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University (Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK). His research interests are in strategic management and management history, with a particular emphasis on spirituality in management and law. He has published articles in various international scholarly journals.

Dr. Irene Chu is a lecturer in International Management at Newcastle Business School, Newcastle University. She received her PhD from Durham University Business School.  She has publications in several journals including the Journal of Business Ethics, British Journal of Management, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and Research in International Business and Finance. Her research interest areas are business ethics, especially virtue ethics, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary studies, and institutional logics.