WBHCEE 2025

Business and the Natural Environment in the History of Central and Eastern Europe 

Place: Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana  

Date: October 23-24, 2025 

Abstract template

Business operates within a physical space to which it has an interdependent relationship. Physical topography, climate, flora, fauna, natural disasters, transport infrastructure, and population dynamics all influence business operations and management—moreover, they define the type of economy that develops in a particular region.

Just as the natural environment defines business, business also shapes the environment. Since the rise of industrial capitalism, excessive resource exploitation has transformed landscapes and caused irreversible environmental changes, sometimes with disastrous results.

Since the twentieth century, ecological concerns have increasingly influenced business strategies—though in some cases, corporate accountability amounts to little more than a ‘greenwashing’ facade. There are many paradoxical examples where an enterprise or a political-economic system as a whole advocates for environmental preservation and sustainability through (self-)regulation while simultaneously contributing to pollution and environmental degradation (Obertreis 2017, Jones 2017, Kochetkova 2024).

Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) provides a rich foundation for research into the interactions between business and the natural environment in the past. The constantly shifting political and economic regimes across CEE throughout its history—ranging from serfdom-based systems of the old empires to post-1945 socialist regimes and capitalist transition states—present a complex setting for entrepreneurship, entangled with the environments in which it took place.

The purpose of the workshop is to expand knowledge about the relationships that existed between business and the environment in the history of CEE, to understand how business actors shaped and were shaped by their natural surroundings, and to examine the consequences of these strategies, policies, and operations. The organisers aim to establish a fruitful dialogue and interdisciplinary interaction between researchers from the related yet often disconnected fields of business history and environmental history.

The call is open to all topics relevant to the workshop’s central theme. We welcome multidisciplinary approaches, case studies, and contributions to broader discussions on the intertwined relationship between business and the environment in CEE. Suggested topics include:

Reciprocal Shaping of the Environment and Business. How do landscapes, biological properties, the distribution of natural raw materials, climate characteristics, and other factors shape business opportunities and strategies? When and how have companies adapted to changing landscapes? Approaching the same topic from the opposite perspective: in what ways have business strategies, knowingly or not, interfered with the environment? What raw materials were exploited, and what were the consequences of their extraction? What regulations were established, and at which level (state, civil, company, labour) to mitigate the negative effect of business activity on the natural environment?

Political, Ideological, and Cultural Influences on Business-Environment Relations. Did the numerous political changes in CEE's past influence how entrepreneurs or states viewed, interpreted, and (ab)used the environment? How did regional cultural characteristics and their unequal status (e.g., center and periphery, imperium and colony) shape these relations (Liboiron 2021)?

Business-Environment Relations as an Uncomfortable Legacy. How do enterprises in CEE countries address—or avoid—the controversial and uncomfortable legacy of exploiting the environment for business purposes? Conversely, what examples exist of positive past practices that are now promoted, for instance, for recreational purposes?

Epistemology of Preexisting Business and Environmental History Research. What research has been conducted in (supra)national historiographies of CEE on this topic? Who wrote these works, when, and for what purpose? What key areas, methodologies, and theories are currently being debated?

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The Institute of Contemporary History, in cooperation with the European Business History Association (EBHA), invites researchers, including PhD students, from relevant disciplines to submit paper proposals on these and related research topics.

To apply, please submit an abstract of up to 600 words outlining the research topic, conceptual framework, sources, analytical approach, and contribution. The abstract should be accompanied by a two-paragraph CV that briefly describes the applicant’s education, current employment, and research areas.

Submissions should be sent to Ivan Smiljanić at ivan.smiljanic@inz.si by April 18, 2025.

Proposals selected for presentation will undergo peer review. Accepted presenters will be invited to submit either an extended abstract of approximately 1,500 words or a full paper of no more than 6,000 words. These materials will be circulated among participants before the workshop.

Participants are responsible for arranging their own travel, accommodation, and related expenses.

Organizing Committee: Ivan Smiljanić (Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana), Valentina Fava (Università Ca' Foscari, Venice), Martin Gumiela (University of Vienna), Judit Klement (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest), Volodymyr Kulikov (University College London), Tomasz Olejniczak (Kozminski University, Warsaw), Ágnes Pogány (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest), Alfred Reckendrees (Copenhagen Business School), Maiju Wuokko (University of Helsinki)

References

• Jones, Geoffrey. Profits and Sustainability: A History of Green Entrepreneurship. Oxford University Press, 2017.

• Kochetkova, Elena. The Green Power of Socialism: Wood, Forest, and the Making of Soviet Industrially Embedded Ecology. MIT Press, 2024.

• Liboiron, Max. Pollution is colonialism. Duke University Press, 2021.

• Obertreis, Julia. Imperial Desert Dreams: Cotton Growing and Irrigation in Central Asia, 1860–1991. V&R Unipress, 2017.