ServCollab has Joined the Wellbeing Economic Alliance!

April 22, 2025

On this Earth Day, ServCollab is excited to share that we have joined the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEALL) - https://weall.org/.

This announcement summarizes key information about WEALL, why ServCollab decided to apply to become a member, and our hopes for collaborating within WEALL.

What

On the WEALL landing page - https://weall.org - they share a video with the theme "For an economy in service of life".

This About page link - https://weall.org/about-weall - shares their vision, mission, and values.

This Members page link - https://weall.org/members - shares their news about members: "Our alliance has already brought together over 500 organisations and thousands of individuals who agree that our economic system is not working fairly for everyone and that we need to put people and planet in front of profit."

Why

ServCollab has been shopping for organizations to collaborate with since our early days. After careful research, WEALL became a very interesting potential collaborator because of our shared commitment to wellbeing. We can learn from each other and help each other.

Hopes for Our WEALL Membership

It is especially noteworthy that WEALL members are all service organizations, but they don't seem aware of service research.

We can help WEALL grow and prosper, and they can help ServCollab grow and prosper. That is the essence of collaboration.

Announcing Two ServCollab Scholarship Winners

Earlier this year, ServCollab created a scholarship to recognize PhD students doing innovative research that aligns with Transformative Service Research’s (TSR) purposes and presenting their research at a 2025 service research conference. This message announces the winners and follows with details about the scholarship process.

Griffin Colaizzi and Floriane Goose are the winners of

the 2025 ServCollab Scholarship

Griffin Colaizzi

Griffin is a doctoral researcher in Psychology at Northeastern University, USA. He is specializing in collective action, sustainability, and behavioral science. His research explores how psychological factors—such as empathy, moral reasoning, and obligations to future generations—can motivate sustainable and prosocial behaviors. With extensive experience designing and implementing interventions, Griffin focuses on strategies that promote pro-environmental action and policy support. He employs a wide range of experimental methods from lab-based studies to large-scale field research and enjoys interdisciplinary collaboration. His other research interests include pluralistic ignorance, intergenerational cooperation, and moral decision-making. Griffin earned his B.A. from Williams College and his M.S. from Northeastern, where he is a current PhD candidate.

Floriane Goosse

Floriane Goosse is pursuing her PhD at the University of Namur in Belgium within the NADI-CeRCLe laboratory, a renowned service and marketing research center. She is privileged to be mentored by Dr. Wafa Hammedi from the University of Namur and Dr. Dominik Mahr from Maastricht University.

  Her research focuses on Transformative Service Research (TSR), with a particular emphasis on including vulnerable consumers with disabilities in the era of AI-driven services. Her current project, which explores how Smart Voice Assistants can empower visually impaired individuals, has the potential to significantly enhance their well-being and preserve their dignity. This work highlights users' capabilities rather than limitations by adopting a unique strength-based approach.

  Beyond academic inquiry, Floriane is deeply committed to creating a meaningful societal impact. This dedication was recognized at the prestigious SERVSIG 2024 conference, where her research earned the Best Paper Award, underscoring its potential for positive change.

The Scholarship Process

We were delighted to receive 37 applicants for the scholarship. The scholarship committee was chaired by Amir Raki. The other committee members were Andrew Gallan, Joy Parkinson, and Rodoula Tsiotsou. The committee represented four universities in four countries. The committee carefully reviewed all applicants in a two-step process.

In addition to the two scholarship winners, the committee selected three runner-ups for recognition: Lucas Endres at University of Bayreuth, Germany, Ilona Weeterings at Radboud University, Netherlands, and Alexandra Zimbatu at Maastricht University, Netherlands.

Griffin and Floriane have received their $1,000 scholarships from ServCollab.

Griffin will be attending the July 2025 Frontiers in Service Conference in Montreal, Canada. Floriane will be attending the June 2025 QUIS Conference in Rome, Italy,

Finally, these ServCollab Scholarships were the result of donations from among 16 ServCollab Officers and ServCollab Volunteers.

Those 16 donors are arranged alphabetically: Linda Alkire, Amanda Beatson, Janet Davey, Ray Fisk, Andrew Gallan, Kristina Heinonen, Sertan Kabadayi, Werner Kunz, Joy Parkinson, Amir Raki, Maria Francesca Renzi, Rebekah Russell-Bennett, Karim Sidaoui, Mahesh Subramony, Jorge Texeira, and Rodoula Tsiotsou.

Biomimicry for sustainability: Upframing service ecosystems

Gallan, Andrew S., Alkire, Linda, Teixeira, Jorge Grenha, Heinonen, Kristina & Fisk, Raymond P. (2025

AMS Review

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-024-00296-4

Five Practices for Upframing Service Ecosystems for Sustainability

ABSTRACT:

Amidst an urgent need for sustainability, novel approaches are required to address environmental challenges. In this context, biomimicry offers a promising logic for catalyzing nature’s wisdom to address this complexity. The purpose of this research is to (1) establish a biomimetic understanding and vocabulary for sustainability and (2) apply biomimicry to upframe service ecosystems as a foundation for sustainability. Our research question is: How can the principles of natural ecosystems inform and enhance the sustainability of service ecosystems? The findings highlight upframed service ecosystems as embodying a set of practices that (1) promote mutualistic interactions, (2) build on local biotic and abiotic components supporting emergence processes, (3) leverage (bio)diversity to build resilience, (4) foster resource sharing for regeneration, and (5) bridge individual roles to optimize the community rather than individual well-being. Our upframed definition of a service ecosystem is a system of resource-integrating biotic actors and abiotic resources functioning according to ecocentric principles for mutualistic and regenerative value creation. The discussion emphasizes the implications of this upframed definition for sustainability practices, advocating for a shift in understanding and interacting with service ecosystems. It emphasizes the potential for immediate mutualistic benefits and long-term regenerative impacts.