Stanislav Edward Shmelev


Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev is an ecological economist affiliated with the International Society for Ecological Economics, currently holding a position of a Director of an NGO Environment Europe, Oxford, UK, Executive Director of , Amsterdam, The Netherlands and lecturing at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of several books on sustainability and ecological economics.

Background

Shmelev has been a Senior Researcher at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, has been a Senior Visiting Research Associate at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford. The main themes of his work have been the theory of ecological economics, methods of sustainability assessment at the macro scale, environmentally extended input-output analysis, evaluation of biodiversity, sustainable energy and waste management. Shmelev has been a Visiting Professor in ecological economics at the University of Geneva, University of Paris Dauphine, University of Versailles, Kazakh National University and National University of Colombia. In 2008-2009 he organised a series of lectures in ecological economics at the University of Oxford. He was named as one of the four most promising young economists in the world by the Handelsblatt newspaper at the Institute for New Economic Thinking conference in Hong Kong in 2013.
As a Founder and CEO of a social enterprise, Environment Europe Limited, and Environment Europe Foundation Stichting he has started an executive education programme in Ecological Economics in Oxford, run under the auspices of Environment Europe, which has been attended by participants from 58 countries, including UNDP, UNEP, OECD, IUCN, GGGI, WWF representatives, ministerial staff, companies, NGOs and leading universities. Information about this programme can be found on Environment Europe Foundation website: http://environmenteurope.eu/ Environment Europe Foundation is currently inviting applications for an innovative Costa Rica Winter School in Ecological Economics 2020: https://environmenteurope.eu/2020winterschool

Works

Shmelev focuses on a range of sustainability issues including macroeconomic sustainability, sustainable cities, renewable energy, multicriteria decision aid, environmentally-extended input-output analysis, sustainable waste management, ecosystems and biodiversity.

Green economy

Shmelev edited 'Green Economy Reader', which brought together works by leading ecological economicists and sustainability experts. The contributors include Professors David Orr, Peter Söderbaum, Robert Ayres, Herman Daly, Stanislav Shmelev, Anthony Friend, Stefan Speck, Herbert Girardet, Stefan Giljum, Terry Barker, Jeroen van den Bergh, David Elliott, Joan Martinez-Alier, Irina Shmeleva, Robert Costanza, Gar Alperovitz, Joshua Farley, Carol Franco, Tim Jackson, Ida Kubiszewski, Juliet Schor and Peter Victor. The volume is widely used in teaching and is acquired by 215 libraries all around the world according to WorldCat: https://www.worldcat.org/title/green-economy-reader-lectures-in-ecological-economics-and-sustainability/oclc/1049587865&referer=brief_results The book has been downloaded more than 22000 times from the official Springer website in less than 2 years: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319389172
A very recent paper published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews with Dr Stefan U. Speck deals with an empirical evaluation of a carbon tax as an environmental policy instrument. Adopting an quantitative econometric perspective, the paper shows that carbon taxes in Sweden did have a positive role in reducing CO2 emissions when applied to petrol, and equally much older energy taxes played a role in reducing CO2 emissions from coal and LPG use. At the same time, the role of electricity imports, the price of oil, ecological rucksacks of international trade and other factors are discussed in detail:
Reviews, Volume 90, July 2018, pp. 969–981

Ecological economics: Sustainability in Practice

In 2012 Shmelev authored the widely-used textbook 'Ecological economics: sustainability in practice. The book has been officially launched at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20 in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, widely used in teaching ecological economics at Environment Europe, University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh, University of Versailles, National University of Colombia, Kazakh National University. The book is currently held in over 350 libraries all around the world according to WorldCat: https://www.worldcat.org/title/ecological-economics-sustainability-in-practice/oclc/1005107880&referer=brief_results
'Ecological Economics: Sustainability in Practice' presents the state of the art in ecological economics, an interdisciplinary field focused on the analysis of sustainability of global, national and regional economic systems. It offers a range of cutting edge methods used in sustainability research: multicriteria decision aid, input-output analysis, life cycle analysis, etc. The book contains practical case studies focused on the most pressing topics of today: renewables, biodiversity, waste management, sustainable business.
The book has been downloaded over 32000 times from the official Springer website: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789400719712

Macro sustainability Assessment

Shmelev developed a novel method of sustainability assessment that uses the potential of multicriteria decision aid tools and applies them to the dynamic sets of sustainability criteria. This research developed from a series of lectures he gave at European universities on sustainability in Russia, where social and environmental aspects of economic development have been neglected. This methodology is particularly important for defining sustainability, assessing the progress towards sustainability of a given society or system. Several applied cases have been published now:
In 2008-2009 Dr Stanislav Shmelev produced a major report for IUCN where he presented a rationale for the Multidimensional Assessment of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. The report has been published in Shmelev.
In 2009 the United Nations Environment Programme invited Shmelev to be a reviewer for The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Report
In 2018 Dr Stanislav Shmelev published a photography album entitled 'Ecosystems', which amply illustrated the absurdity of using money as a measuring rod for the assessment of the true value of ecosystems. The book made it absolutely clear that a truly multi-dimensional approach must be used. The album has been acknowledged and praised by Pope Francis, Prince Charles, President Macron, Prime Minister Rutte, Government of India and Sir David Attenborough. The book was launched at the Club of Rome 50th Anniversary conference, has been shown in a large exhibition of 32 photographs hosted by the University of Oxford and presented at the UNFCCC COP24 Conference on Climate Change. The endorsements read:
“The great challenge of our time is to build and nurture human communities that honor, respect, and cooperate with nature’s inherent ability to sustain life. To do so, it is critical to understand how ecosystems work — not only intellectually, but also emotionally and spiritually. Artists have an essential role to play to foster such deep, multidimensional understanding, and Stanislav Shmelev’s magnificent book succeeds admirably in this task.” — Prof. FRITJOF CAPRA, author, The Tao of Physics, The Web of Life, The Hidden Connections, Learning from Leonardo, coauthor, The Systems View of Life.
“Our life depends on our ability to protect the home, which so generously hosts us. We should all contribute to our best. Sharing the captured moments of intrinsic beauty is certainly one of the most effective ways to raise awareness”. JANEZ POTOčNIK, former European Commissioner for the Environment, co-chair of the International Resources Panel, UN Environment.
“Stanislav Shmelev displays consummate skill in combining both art and science to produce his exquisite and captivating photo album, describing the essence of sustainability.” Prof. MOHAN MUNASINGHE, Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, joint recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace.
“It is essential for us to appreciate not only the beauty of Nature but also its critical life-support services to our planet and to all of its inhabitants. This book inspires us to a deeper understanding of our important responsibilities to protect, restore and nurture ecosystems so that they can continue to provide us with the comforts we cannot take for granted.” JULIA MARTON-LEFEVRE, Former Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature; Edward P Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
“A wonderful and colourful journey through our planet’s varied ecosystems and the multiple services they provided us with on a daily basis, and a great reminder of the key need of environmental stewardship in today’s world.” BERNARD COMBES, Information Officer, UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development
“This stunning array of images well illustrates nature’s aesthetic value and its intrinsic value too”. Prof. ROBIN ATTFIELD, Professor of Philosophy, Cardiff University.
“Visualizing ecosystem services is perhaps the most effective way of popularizing this important concept”. Prof. ERNST ULRICH VON WEIZSäCKER, PhD, Co-President, The Club of Rome.
“In this book Stanislav Shmelev, an ecological economist and an artist, goes far beyond the environmental social sciences and even the environmental humanities by appealing through photography to the incommensurable values that humans hold towards the environment”. Prof. JOAN MARTINEZ-ALIER, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Past President of the International Society for Ecological Economics.
‘Ecosystems’ by Stanislav Shmelev takes us through a journey of ecosystem services. Captured by a lens of a remarkable artist, who is also an expert, the colourful details bring to life the text describing the links between sustainability and the ecology surrounding us. As a Colombian, I enjoyed the clear message from wilderness to the scent of a cup of coffee generously provided by nature.” Prof. JUAN ARMANDO SáNCHEZ, Professor of Biological Sciencies, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia.
“This splendid collection exhibits an amazing rainbow of colours in scenes from around the globe, expressing the photographer’s profound concern for the state of the Earth, while also celebrating the intense and astonishing exuberance of human and biological diversity in some of the world’s most beautiful ecosystems. Shmelev’s inspired structure leads us along a carefully selected series of contexts and themes, showing clearly the importance of maintaining the stability and productivity of natural processes through global and local commitment for planetary survival in the face of global change”. Prof. PETER H. MAY, PhD, Professor of Ecological Economics, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro.
“This is an outstanding collection of photographs. Stanislav’s wonderful and imaginative book and sensuous photographs show how the economy is entirely a subsidiary of the environment. Stanislav has created a miracle, read this book, look at these photographs and you will be invited to celebrate our deep connection with the natural world.” SATISH KUMAR, Editor Emeritus of Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine and founder of Schumacher College.

Sustainable energy

The innovative paper published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews adopts a multi-criteria perspective and extends the UK decarbonisation scenarios by dimensions that are often overlooked, namely, employment, land use, water use and diversity of the energy mix *
In 2009 Shmelev was interviewed for the European Union Euronews Channel on the issues of renewable energy and sustainable development

Sustainable waste management

Sustainable cities

The issue of sustainable cities has been dealt with by Shmelev in the context of the interdisciplinary linkages in the development of large cities. He co-organized two international workshops on sustainable cities at the University of Oxford and Saint Petersburg State University.
The first workshop resulted in a book:
The second workshop produced a special issue of the International Journal of Sustainable Development entirely devoted to sustainable cities:
The issues of multidimensional benchmarking for megacities have been analysed in detail in the recent book, Green Economy Reader: Lectures in Ecological Economics and Sustainability
New peer-reviewed publications exploring the subject of smart and sustainable cities include:
and a new volume:
Reimagined-Multidimensional-Indicators-and-Smart-Solutions/Shmelev/p/book/9780367254209

Environmentally-Extended Input-Output Analysis

A detailed environmentally-extended input-output analysis of the UK economy is presented in Sustainability Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Publications