ESADE Business School, Universitat Ramon Llull, Spain

Rediscovering the bucolic tale: The role of place embeddedness in fostering sustainable practices

• View Lucrezia's summary (PDF)

Abstract

Based on a mixed-methods study of agricultural producers, this article examines whether and how place embeddedness, embeddedness in the natural and social environment, affects the implementation of sustainable practices.

Theoretically, the study draws on practice theory to understand how the different elements of sustainable practices are shaped by the constituents of place embeddedness. In the empirical analysis, the article derives a model that shows three trajectories through which place embeddedness affects sustainable agricultural practices, each affecting one of the elements of practice: competence, meaning and material.

First, through a higher knowledge and awareness deriving from cohabitation with the elements of the place, affecting the competence element of sustainable practices. Second, through an identification with the elements of place that leads to emotional attachment and higher care, shaping the meaning associated with sustainable practices. Finally, attachment to place influences the access to the natural elements and resources, ultimately affecting the material element of sustainable practices.

Biography

Lucrezia Nava is a PhD candidate in Management Sciences at ESADE Business School, Barcelona, where she is affiliated with the Institute of Social Innovation. Currently, she is a visiting researcher at Babson College, MA.

Her research interests lie in the relationships among natural environments and organizations, with a specific focus on adaptation/response strategy to environmental risks and environmentally sustainable practices, especially, but only, in emerging economies.

She holds a Master in Research from ESADE Business School and Masters in International Management from Bocconi University, Milan and Cems MIM.

She worked as a Teaching Assistant for Business and Society courses (for graduate students) and as thesis supervisor for BBA students. She co-organized Business and Society seminars at ESADE. She reviews for Business&Society and Organization&Environment (SAGE Journals). She presented her work at various conferences and seminars including the annual meetings of Strategic Management Society and Society for Business Ethics.