Focusing on Sustainability Governance, the arrangement of systems, processes, and formal and informal rules used to coordinate actions and make decisions on how to manage resources sustainability considering social, environmental and economic tradeoffs in order to serve future generations, represents a critical shift in how we approach planetary crises. To mobilize interdisciplinary teams for potential collaborations, and inform further development of its Signature Initiative around Climate Change, Energy and Sustainability Governance, RCEI convened faculty, staff, and graduate students at its April 2026 Convergence Café around this theme.
Updates on extant Rutgers working groups around Biodiversity and Ecosystem Governance; Food Systems Governance; and Marine Fisheries Governance were provided by Professors and RCEI affiliates Jesse Rodenbiker (Geography), Kevon Rhiney (Geography), and Vic Ramenzoni (Human Ecology), respectively. Clinton Andrews (Bloustein), Danielle Falzon (Sociology), Lauren Feldman (Journalism and Media Studies), and James Simon (Plant Biology) participated in a plenary panel featuring the importance of their research in advancing sustainability governance and strengthening sustainability. Networking sessions included discussions around themes (e.g., biodiversity, fisheries, energy, food systems) and by scale (global, national, local) providing a forum for collaboration including identification of research priorities, needed engagement with stakeholders, and sharing of tools, methods and approaches transferrable between natural and social scientists.
RCEI creates this informal space to facilitate partnerships within Rutgers and across allied institutions and couples these cafes to it’s Groundworks Grants Program as a catalyst for developing competitive external funding proposals.
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