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NEWSLETTER
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Dear ESEE Member,
We are pleased to send you the summer edition of the electronic ESEE newsletter.
Supported by the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management the
Sustainable Europe Research Institute SERI is able to maintain the website of the European Society
for Ecological Economics (ESEE) and publishes this newsletter.
The newsletter is distributed only to members of the European Society for Ecological Economics.
To join ESEE or renew your membership please visit
www.euroecolecon.org.
If you want to publish interesting news, or information about events, job openings and new publications
on the website or in the newsletter, feel free to send an email to
esee@seri.at. We are also open for suggestions to improve our
communication channels.
Content:
1. Editorial
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Is there hope for a New Deal on Climate Change in Copenhagen?
2. News from ESEE and its members
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Report from the 8th International ESEE Conference 2009 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
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ESEE Board Elections: Call for Candidates
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News from Ukraine
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Newsletter from Romania
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News from EPG
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Main conclusions of the fourth meeting of the Spanish Network on Ecological Economics
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Summer course: "Is another interpretation of the economic crisis possible? A vision based on ecological economics"
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Report from the 2009 ESEE Student Camp
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News from Romania
3. Other news
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Management of Protected Areas - an international M.Sc. programme
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Call for evidence on long-term global trends
4. Hot topic
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Valuation of Regulating Services of Ecosystem - by Pushpam Kumar
5. Events
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2nd International Wuppertal Colloquium on Sustainable Growth
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Behavior Energy and Climate Change Conference 2009
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GDC09: Responsibility Climate Change as Challenge for Intercultural Inquiry on Values
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Sussex Energy Group Conference (Conference Call)
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Conference on "Governance of Natural Resources in a Multi-Level Context"
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ANZSEE 2009 Conference
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11th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics (first call for papers)
6. Job openings
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Governance of Clean Development Visiting Fellowship - Call for Applications
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[eco-eco] 20 Ph.D. positions and 3 postdoctoral positions
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PhD position in ecological-economic modelling
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Sozialwissenschaftler für partizipative Szenarienentwicklung und Stakeholderanalyse (german)
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W2-Universitätsprofessur für Wandel und Nachhaltigkeit (german)
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Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Corporate Social Responsibility
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Lecturer in Environment & Development
7. Publications
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Environmental Conservation (Call for Papers)
Themed Issue on Community-based Natural Resource Management
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Environmental Conservation (Call for Papers)
Themed Issue on Interdisciplinary Progress in Environmental Science
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WI Spezial "Eco-Innovation"
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Beyond Developmentality - Constructing Inclusive Freedom and Sustainability
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Multifunctional Rural Land Management - Economics and Policies
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Ecological Economics: Critical Concepts in the Environment
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[ecrea] CFP: Communicating the Environment
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International Journal of Sustainable Development (IJSD)
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New Ph.D. dissertation from Aalborg University
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1. Editorial:
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Is there hope for a New Deal on Climate Change in Copenhagen?
by Jouni Paavola
A scientific consensus is emerging that global warming should be kept under about 2 degrees Celsius to
avoid unacceptably large risk of dangerous climate change. This translates to stabilisation of
atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases at the level of 450-550 ppm and 50-80 percent cuts to
global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 compared to year 1990. In light of the needed reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions, the collective 5 percent greenhouse gas reduction commitment agreed in Kyoto
is clearly insufficient.
Serious preparations for a new agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions for the post-2012
period have been underway since the Conference of the Parties in Bali in 2007. These preparations have
been spearheaded under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by the so called Ad-Hoc
Working Group on Long Term Cooperation under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the Ad-Hoc Working Group on
Further Commitments under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP).
To date, the efforts of AWG-LCA and AWG-KP have focused on the extension and expansion of solutions that
were already used in the Kyoto Protocol, such as the use of emissions trading and other market
mechanisms, but they are also integrating new elements to mitigation toolbox such as the reduction of
deforestation in developed countries and carbon capture and storage. There is some agreement on the
key design principles of the architecture of climate change governance for post-2012 period, but
other questions such as the level of actually adopted commitments and the distribution of burden of
meeting them have not really been addressed yet.
On the positive side, there are signs about greater willingness to negotiate seriously on a global
agreement to reduce GHG emissions to the atmosphere. The United States and Australia have taken a
more active stance towards international climate change negotiations and have started building
their domestic policy frameworks for carbon management. Several non-trivial unilateral pledges
of GHG emission reductions have also been presented, most prominently by the European Union who
has pledged a unilateral 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
The Group of 77 and China is also undergoing a sort of re-organisation into several new, internally
more homogeneous groupings that will play different roles both in the international negotiations and
in climate change mitigation efforts. Intimate involvement of large developing countries such as Brazil,
India, China, South Africa and Mexico in mitigation efforts is not anymore as foreign notion as it was
some years ago, particularly under what is called "Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions" or NAMAs.
Greater attention to solutions such as CCS may also alter the position of oil producing and energy
exporting countries as a group towards climate change mitigation.
Several concurrent initiatives and processes are underway that seek to facilitate the reaching of an
agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009. These include the remaining meetings of the AWG-LCA and AWG-FC
as well as various other formal and informal bilateral and multi-lateral meetings. Therefore, areas of
agreement and issues of contention will be discussed and clarified over the months preceding the
Copenhagen negotiations. However, it is likely that the agreements and disagreements will surround
the following key issues:
- The scale of collectively agreed GHG emission reductions by 2020 and 2050.
Ambitious targets are obviously needed to mitigate climate change. If international emissions
trading will be a key policy instrument for the next commitment period, the level of agreed GHG
emission reductions will influence the potential benefit of large developing countries from the
agreement - more ambitious targets will translate to more CDM projects and larger export volumes
for green energy investments. Thus, ambitious commitments may increase the willingness or large
developing countries to accept a mitigation role or commitments for themselves.
- Burden sharing of mitigation. Developed countries will need to adopt the main burden
of mitigating climate change and agree on burden sharing amongst them. The stronger the agreement
on GHG emission cuts, the more likely it is that some of the developing countries will agree on
sharing the burden of mitigation. How the responsibilities of developing countries will be
formulated will be one of the most contentious issues for negotiations. For example, will the
commitments of developing countries imply per capita entitlements to GHG emissions comparable
to those enjoyed by developed countries now or after their emission cuts? Convergence with current
global per capita emissions of about 4.5 tons of carbon would allow growth of CO2 emissions only
for developing countries, and imply 50-65% emission reductions in Europe and North America. But
that would not be enough - maintaining the global warming within 2 C, the global per capita CO2
emissions should be cut to about 2 tons. Convergence with this figure would imply greater emission
reductions to developed countries and significant emission reductions to most developing countries,
too, except the LDCs.
- Comprehensiveness and instrument choice. Deep cuts in GHG emissions demand broad
coverage of GHG sources and moving to bunker fuels, international aviation, land use and land use
change. However, these new issues will demand new management strategies that will be difficult to
agree on. Instrument choices will be important across issues, for example choices over explicit
targets and trading vs. regulatory, tax or softer approaches.
- The length of agreed-upon commitment periods. Shorter periods may be politically easier
to agree on but they do not create a basis for credible longer-term expectations. These would be
needed to stimulate technological change and investment in decarbonisation of economies, as well
as to make carbon trading systems work appropriately.
- Agreement on adaptation to climate change is likely to be a key issue for an agreement
on mitigation as well. All developing countries are going to be in the receiving end of climate
change impacts and they, particularly the least developed countries, are both vulnerable to climate
change impacts and have limited capacity to adapt. They are likely to tie their participation in
mitigation efforts and indeed possibly their agreement to any mitigation proposals to an agreement
on governance and financing of adaptation. This is already highlighted by China’s new position
paper on negotiations in Copenhagen.
There are also several possible obstacles for an agreement on climate change in Copenhagen. Firstly,
the global economic downturn may juxtapose efforts to mitigate climate change and to secure employment
and economic stability. There is no necessary conflict between the two, as arguments and already made
public spending decisions on green economic stimulus demonstrate: promotion of renewable energy and
energy efficiency, as well as more sustainable energy and transport infrastructure, are examples of
carbon-friendly forms of public spending that can bolster economic activity. Furthermore, the economic
downturn itself will reduce global GHG emissions, improve energy efficiency and to give an initial
boost for mitigation efforts.
There are also other factors that can prove to be obstacles for an agreement in Copenhagen. For example,
domestic opposition to a more active stance to climate change in the United States could compromise
the current Administration’s ability to adopt effective domestic policies and to adopt international
commitments. The willingness of energy exporters such as Australia and OPEC countries to accept GHG
reduction targets will in turn depend partly on technological progress with Carbon Capture and Storage
and on their ability to get CCS included into the part of measures to be accounted in an agreement.
Finally, the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen do not cover the whole relevant domain that has
implications for climate change and efforts to mitigate GHG emissions. For example, significant variations
in the level of mitigation commitments will create incentives to relocate carbon intensive production to
countries that have low mitigation commitments. Carbon intensive industries in these countries would
also grow on their own without relocation because of altered relative costs. As highlighted by China's
comments on carbon footprints and responsibility for GHG emissions, this already is an issue for
export-oriented manufacturing economies. These and many other issues related to climate change will
require attention in negotiations on world trade, so that arrangements governing trade and investment
will support efforts to mitigate climate change, not undermine them.
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2. News from ESEE and its members:
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Report from the 8th International ESEE Conference 2009 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
by Andrej Udovč, head of the local organising committee
"Transformation, Innovation and Adaptation For Sustainability - Integrating Natural And Social
Sciences" was the theme of the ESEE conference, which took place from 29 June to 2 July. More
than 250 participants from 33 countries attended the conference (the number of participants
from new EU member states has increased), which was organised by a team from the Biotechnical
Faculty of the University of Ljubljana.
A major reason for the success of the conference was the high quality of the plenary sessions,
which stimulated discussions among participants. Herbert Gintis talked in his opening speech
about the major findings in behavioural decision theory and game theory in the past several
years and of their relevance for social sciences. Marco Janssen gave a presentation on the
fit between institutions and ecosystem dynamics, and Wander Jager spoke about the meaning
of social complexity for ecological economics. Lučka Kajfež Bogataj opened with her speech
the topic of climate change, which was continued by the presentations of Richard B. Howarth
on uncertainty and the ecological economics of climate change and of Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz on
climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability in Central and Eastern Europe. Susan
Baker held a stimulating presentation about the elaboration of existing governance practices
for sustainable development, and Frank Biermann closed the conference with insights of the
Earth System Governance as a global research programme strategy to steer societies towards
preventing, mitigating and adapting to global and local environmental change.
ESEE 2009 also continued with the ESEE Award for Doctoral Students. A total of nine papers were
submitted for the consideration of the prize panel. The panel awarded the prizes to Arnim Scheidel's
paper "Diet, trade, and land use. The social ecology of the food system. Case study olive oil"
and to Catherine Jolibert's paper "Need assessment in multi-level governance: A tool for
environmental conflict?"
An evaluation carried out by questionnaires led to the result that more than 80% of the respondents
enjoyed the conference. The organising team is thankful for the many positive comments and for the
helpful suggestions for improvements, which will be taken into consideration for the next conference.
The 9th biennial ESEE conference will take place in Istanbul (Turkey) in June 2011.
ESEE Board Elections: Call for Candidates
The terms of office of the ESEE President, both Vice Presidents, and seven other Board members will end
this year. Therefore, the Society will hold elections to fill these positions in the Board in October
2009.
The 2009 elections will be organised by the Secretary of the Society (Tatiana Kluvankova-Oravska) in
collaboration with the Election Committee (Jouni Paavola, Inge Røpke and Juan Sanchez). This autumn
will see the first electronic elections in the ESEE history, after earlier enabling changes to our
Constitution. Further information about the elections will be provided to all members via email.
Being on the ESEE board provides an opportunity to influence the direction of the Society and Ecological
Economics in Europe. If you have any questions please contact any member of the ESEE Board or Election
Committee and we will be glad to provide further information.
If you are interested in standing the election to the ESEE board, please provide a short, one
paragraph personal statement on your merits and mission, and obtain the endorsement of your
candidature from 5 paid members of the Society.
Email your statements and the list of your endorsers to Tatiana
(progkluv@savba.sk) and Jouni
(j.paavola@leeds.ac.uk). The deadline for candidature
submissions is Monday 10 September 2009.
News from Ukraine
Professor Stepan Gensiruk is a devoted scholar who all through his career has made an exceptional
contribution to the development of ecological economics and forestry science. Being the Head of the
Department of the National Academy of Sciences, with committed dedication and great personal efforts,
he rose about four decades ago, to the defence of Ukrainian forests that remained over-exploited until
the mid 1970s. Since then until now, he has put forward implications for the reconsideration of our
views on forest from seeing it as source of timber towards the recognition of environmental role of
forest and its multiple ecosystem services. The major theme through his papers (total list exceeds
500 items) is that of sustainable development, with his articles deliberating the principles of
ecological economics and the role of forests for economy, people and the environment. Recently,
his work resulted in publication of the books "Sustainable Use of Natural Resources" and "Forests
of Ukraine" and of two volumes of the "Ukrainian Encyclopaedia of Forestry". The major significance
of his inputs in ecological economics is in the reconsideration of the forest policy, particularly
as it is considered through the impacts on political, economic and social life of Ukraine. His work
is highly important for this country’s transition to a new society, with its new democratic, economic
and cultural values.
Professor Gensiruk is a holder of the Ukraine's Scientific Awards and of the Ukraine’s Award in
Science and Technology. Recently, he received the International Union of Forest Research Organisations
Golden Medal (IUFRO, 2000). Today, when the scientific community in Ukraine celebrates his 86th
birthday, Professor Gensiruk is a consultant to the Ukrainian National Forestry University, and the
National Academy of Sciences. For his distinguished contribution to research and knowledge transfer,
he has just been awarded the National Honour of Ukraine and the Silver Medal of the Ukrainian
National Academy of Sciences. The colleagues and students of Stepan Gensiruk both from Ukraine and
beyond, are sending their congratulations to his birthday and his new splendid achievements.
Newsletter from Romania
Recently, the first issue of the Bulletin of the Romanian group of ISEE/ESEE has been published. It can
be downloaded here.
News from EPG
The journal 'Environmental Policy and Governance' (EPG) will produce an issue covering material from
the ESEE 2009 conference. We hereby invite you to send in your paper to be evaluated for the
'conference issue'. We have set the deadline for submission to September 15.
The paper should include an abstract of up till 250 words and being not longer than 8,000 words in
length (standard EPG rules).
Please, submit the paper over ConfTool system
www.conftool.com/esee2009.
For entering the system you can use the same user name and password as you have used it for the
ESEE conference. The submissions can be done by selecting the menu item Your Submissions and then
EPG special issue contribution. The preferred submission format is MSWord. The email to be used
for FAQ about submissions is office@esee2009.si. Indicate also if you want your paper to be sent to
the EPG ordinary evaluation procedure if it does not make it for the conference issue - the
editorial board of the journal have indicated that they would welcome paper submissions from the
conference.
Concerning the evaluation procedure, we will first select papers that fit well to a conference issue
and seem to have the potential to pass the review process. These will be taken to a full review.
Authors of papers that do not get beyond this screening will be informed a.s.a.p. so that their
paper can be taken to other outlets. Certainly, if the author(s) has asked us to send the paper to
EPG for normal evaluation, this will be done at this stage.
We plan to finish the review process (two rounds if necessary) by the end of February.
The conference issue will then be out in June 2010 and made available for all participants at
the ISEE 2010 conference.
Best wishes
Andrej Udovč |
Arild Vatn |
Conference organizer |
ESEE president |
Main conclusions of the fourth meeting of the Spanish Network on Ecological Economics
The Fourth Meeting of the Network has been organized in Santiago de Compostela on June 11th-12th 2009
and has been coordinated by Santiago de Compostela University.
The actual situation of the Spanish Network of Ecological Economics has been discussed and the plans for
this year as well as the Summer Course in September at the University Pablo de Olavide in Carmona.
For more details click here.
Summer course: "Is another interpretation of the economic crisis possible? A vision based on ecological economics"
The Spanish Network of Ecological Economics (www.EcoEcoEs.es)
will celebrate at the University Pablo de Olavide in Carmona, from September 14-18, 2009, the summer course:
"Is another interpretation of the economic crisis possible? A vision based on ecological economics".
Summary of the course: At EcoEcoEs we still having detected that there is an important lack of diffusion of
Ecological Economics (EE) ideas in Spain. This is specially worrisome among college students, because official
programs in Economics and Environmental economics are basically based on neoclassical tenets and do not incorporate
other frameworks. In this regard, and in the framework of economic crisis that we have seen, it is interesting to
ask if it can interpret the economy from another perspective.
Thus, the proposed course aims to contribute to answer the following questions:
- Is possible another interpretation of the economic crisis?
- What are the conceptual and methodological that allow such other interpretation?
- What could be, for example, some approaches to this other economic reality? We will present case
studies, relating to the participation in the management of water and new technologies of water, the
management of urbanism and the economic crisis, and organic farming and Genetically Modified Organism).
This is a 30 hours course mainly directed to last year college students and, in general, to all people
interested in Ecological Economics.
More information: Centro Cultural Olavide en Carmona. Casa Palacio de los Briones.
C/ Ramón y Cajal, 15. 41410-Carmona. SEVILLA. Tlf. 954.144.355. E-mail: olavideencarmona@admon.upo.es
The programme (in Spanish) can be downloaded
here.
Report from the 2009 ESEE Student Camp
The 2009 ESEE Student Camp took place in Slovenia from the 3rd to 5th of July, just after the ESEE
Conference. Twenty young researchers from all over Europe and even further attended this meeting and
enjoyed, during the first day of the Student Camp, the presentations of Arild Vatn (ESEE President,
Norwegian University of Life Sciences), Romina Rodela (University of Nova Gorica) and Ms. Keršič
(Svetel, NGO representative). We use this occasion to sincerely thank all of them for their
participation and the enthusiasm they put on this encounter. Their presentations furnished a
perfect starting point for very animated debates among us. We also thank Romina Rodela and Andrej
Udovč for their logistical and organisational support.
The focus of the Student Camp was on a local case study: the conflicts existing around the Triglav
National Park. The participants visited the area during an exciting one-day field-trip, in which they
explored some areas of the National Park and found an ideal landscape to relax and exchange ideas.
Very stimulating and interesting discussions emerged thus among ESEE Students in relation to their
organisation, their expectations and some project ideas. One of the basic agreements reached by the
attendants was the need for going on with that kind of encounters and, more concretely, to organise
the next Student Camp just before the 11th ISEE Conference in Bremen-Oldenburg (August 2010).
For more information about such issues, please send an e-mail to the ESEE Student Representatives:
Charlotte Da Cunha and Albert Merino Saum.
Minutes can be sent by e-mail to those who are interested in.
News from Romania
Following the official revision of the Romanian National Strategy for Sustainable Development (by
Governmental Decision 1460 from 12th November 2008), a series of funding priorities have been set for
the Romanian research projects for the LIFE+ financial instrument of the European Commission, most
notably indicators of sustainable development. LIFE+ projects can (in deed, this is an advantage in
the project evaluation process) include partners from several EU member states. The Romanian members
of ESEE are following this opportunity and hope to set up one or more projects.
Among the themes of interests most debated by the Romanian Group are: "City and city hinterland
sustainability", "River basin-scale sustainable land uses", "Development of scenarios of sustainable
vs. un-sustainable development", "Ecological, social, economic and mixed indicators of sustainability",
"Sustainable tourism", "Sustainable ecosystems, including biodiversity and ecosystem services". ESEE
fellows interested in common or contiguous projects should contact Ioan M. Ciumasu,
ciumioan@yahoo.com.
The next deadline for submission of project proposals to the Romanian authority is 15 September 2009.
Details can be found at:
ec.europa.eu/environment/life/funding/lifeplus.htm (EU)
www.mmediu.ro/life/sesiune_propuneri_proiecte.htm (Romania)
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3. Other news:
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Management of Protected Areas - an international M.Sc. programme
in September 2009, the postgraduate Master-of-Science (M.Sc.) programme "Management
of Protected Areas" will be started at Klagenfurt University (Austria) for the third time. The two-years programme
is international, interdisciplinary, and supported by important institutions in the fields of
biodiversity conservation such as IUCN, CDB, WWF, Ramsar, UNESCO, and by a broad range of
lecturers from Europe and USA. It is called for applications from qualified students who want to
concentrate on managing nature conservation and protected areas - the courses offer all necessary
tools and instruments for this important task. The programme is organized in modules with extensive
e-learning support.
More information can be downloaded at the programme's website at
www.mpa.uni-klu.ac.at
Call for evidence on long-term global trends
The European Environmental Agency has launched a call for evidence on long-term global trends in
support of Part A of the European State of the Environment and Outlook Report 2010 and other
forthcoming assessments on its website. The call can be accessed at
soer2010.ew.eea.europa.eu/consultation/call-evidence.
The call for evidence is open until 15 September 2009.
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4. Hot topic:
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Valuation of Regulating Services of Ecosystem
by Pushpam Kumar
Valuation of goods and services people care about has been one of the central issues for decision makers and the economists
in particular. Economists are expected to provide ways to resolve hard and conflicting choices that people face in everyday
life. The structured debate on the concept of economic value and valuation methodology goes back to Dupuit, Smith, Marshall
and Hicks and many others in the early Nineteenth century. Economic value of resource usually shuttles between 'value for use'
and 'value for exchange' through the famous 'Water-Diamond Paradox' described by Adam Smith.
Until the mid twentieth century, economic value was measured through consumer surplus as propagated by Marshall and Hicks. The
gradual reliance on market price to measure the economic value also became popular (and it still is) as it combines demand
(something that has worth to people) and supply (costs incurred to obtain it). Although valuation should be based on demand,
economists tend to use the cost of supply due to ease in estimation Ethics, morality and related issues in the management of
ecosystems are also central in valuation of ecosystem services. Similarly, there could be a view that policy on environment
and ecosystems should be addressed through deliberate political process. This seems to be correct and valuation would further
enrich that process. In the debate on the usefulness of economic valuation invariably intrinsic / true value also appear, which
is more related to subjective human preference rather than objective human need. Valuation attempts to address the latter.
Economic valuation may be seen as a tool for use in resolving conflicting choices and tradeoffs involving limited and
competing resources.
Since environmental goods and services are not fully transacted through the market, people attempt to estimate the value
through non market routes known as non market valuation methods (e.g. revealed preference, stated preference methods).
They are usually applied to facilitate the decision making process in the following context:
- Public policy (Cost benefit analysis)
- Evaluation of damages to nature
- Resource allocation for conservation goal
The term economic value invariably gets misconstrued when addressing the problem of ecosystems and natural environment where
interdisciplinary and methodological pluralism take the centre stage, for legitimate reason. It is evident that various
services as an outcome of structure, process and functions of ecosystems, contribute to individuals and societal well-being.
The services fall into provisioning (food, timber), regulating (climate regulation, waste minimisation), cultural (education
and aesthetics) and supporting (soil formation, nutrient cycling). This typology of services is useful for awareness for
conservation goal and practice; however, it does pose challenges for economic valuation. Provisioning and cultural services
can be captured through market and non market method but regulating and supporting services would be difficult to estimate.
Waste minimisation by cleaner 'ecospace', bioremediation by wetlands, and carbon storage by forest are not normal goods.
Economic science lays down taxonomy of final and intermediate good, stock and flow for accounting and valuation purposes.
A lack of clear understanding about them might blur the distinction and might lead to double counting and mix income with
wealth- not a good way to practice meaningful economics! For example, land cover-related variation in soil formation may
get reflected through variation in agricultural productivity at the national level (adjusted national income accounting / green
accounting). So, here one does not need to do accounting and valuation separately. However, hydrological functions of forest
providing potable water to downstream people must not be left unaccounted. This value is not just for the sake of valuation
but to help and design effective response policy like payment for ecosystem services or strengthening the resource allocation
issue to the local decision makers.
In valuation of regulating services of ecosystems services, methodological deliberation, consensus building, sharing of
practical experiences and identification of data needs, knowledge gaps and future research priorities are extremely
challenging but intellectually stimulating issues in the domain of ecological economics today.
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5. Events:
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2nd International Wuppertal Colloquium on Sustainable Growth
The international colloquium will be held from 10th to 12th of September 2009 at Wuppertal, Germany.
It shall bring together top experts on sustainable growth and sustainable resource management and
aims to analyse the contribution of increasing resource productivity to sustainability. Having a
focus on economics, the international colloquium shall also cover the technological, the
environmental and the international dimensions. The number of participants and presentations is
strictly limited in order to facilitate high-level academic discussion.
It is organised by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Energy and Environment in conjunction with
the Schumpeter School of Business and Economics at the University of Wuppertal. It is chaired
by Professor Dr. Raimund Bleischwitz, in cooperation with Professor Dr. Paul J. J. Welfens.
Download the Call for papers here.
Behavior Energy and Climate Change Conference 2009
This conference is co-convened by the California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE), University
of California Office of the President; the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center (PEEC), Stanford University;
and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
It will be held in Washington, D.C. from November 15-18, 2009 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
For more details click here.
GDC09: Responsibility Climate Change as Challenge for Intercultural Inquiry on Values
Climate change requires globally concerted initiatives that cannot be motivated by direct practical
self-interest and economic incentives alone. The aim of this conference is to compare conceptions of
ecological responsibility across cultures (and religions), and to explore the role of intercultural
value studies for the development, communication, and practical implementation of new models of
future-oriented and collective responsibility.
The GDC09 will be held from 3rd to 6th of November 2009 in Aarhus, Denmark and is the first of a series of
five biannual international interdisciplinary conferences presenting and promoting intercultural
dialogue on values, as a means of proactive conflict mitigation and social innovation. The conference
will conclude with the bestowal of the Global Dialogue Prize
(www.globaldialogueprize.org).
GDC09 is an integrated four-track meeting for researchers, journalists, educators, and business representatives.
We invite submissions of research contributions from the areas of philosophy, political science, psychology,
anthropology, theology/religious studies, sociology, conflict research, education, journalism and media
science, management, organization, and finance theory.
Please submit full papers (5000 words) by May 31st, for papers to be included in pre-conference publications
available at the conference. Please submit abstracts (500 words) by June 15th, (full papers due November 30th
for inclusion in post-conference publications in special issues). Please see conference webpage for timeline
and guidelines of submisssion and publication venues.
For more details visit www.globaldialogueconference.org
Sussex Energy Group Conference (Conference Call)
The conference will be held at the University of Sussex on the 25th and 26th February 2010 and is
open to academics, policy makers, industry and non-governmental organisations working in the field of
energy transitions. Abstracts are welcome, that outline theoretically robust and empirically informed
contributions to one or more of the following:
- Low carbon energy innovation
- Secure and resilient energy systems
- The politics of sustainable energy transitions
The complete conference call can be downloaded here.
For more details about the conference visit www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexenergygroup/conference.
Conference on "Governance of Natural Resources in a Multi-Level Context"
GoverNat invites the research community, administrators and NGO representatives to discuss the
project's results and present own approaches and experiences in natural resource governance in an
attempt to bridge the present distance between abstract theoretical formulations and specific but
isolated case descriptions. The conference will be held from 19th to 22nd of January 2010 in Leipzig, Germany.
The call for papers can be downloaded
here.
ANZSEE 2009 Conference
The conference will be held from 27th to 30th of October in the Darwin Convention Centre.
The overall theme will be "Green Mileage in the Global Meltdown: An Ecological Economics Way Forward"
and the keynote speakers will be Prof. Bob Costanza, Director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics
at the University of Vermont, and Prof. Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for
Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics.
The flyer can be downloaded here.
11th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics (first call for papers)
The 11th ISEE Conference will be organised from 22-25 August 2010 in the adjacent cities of Oldenburg
and Bremen in Northwestern Germany. Both hosts, Bremen and Oldenburg University have a strong record
in ecological economic research and teaching and are centres of interdisciplinary environmental and
sustainability research with a strong focus on social science and economic dimensions of
sustainability problems.
The conference will have different formats including full plenaries for all participants,
semi-plenaries with keynote speeches held in parallel and different formats of parallel sessions,
including a discussion session for innovative ideas or short project outlines. In addition, a poster
session will be organised with short presentations of poster presenters.
Prior to the conference, a number of pre-conference events like workshops, regional chapter meetings,
book authors meetings and alike will be scheduled on Friday and Saturday 20-21 August 2010. The official
conference will start on Sunday 22 August in the afternoon with an inauguration ceremony and a
reception. It will continue with the scientific sessions on Monday to Wednesday (23-25 August 2010).
The conference dinner is scheduled for 24 August 2010 to be held in Bremen.
There will be five tracks for abstract submissions:
- Long presentation (approx. 15 min. presentation on the basis of a full paper)
- Short presentation (approx. 5 min. presentation within a discussion session)
- Poster presentation
- Special sessions (on the basis of full papers with up to four 15 min. presentations organised by a session chair)
- Discussion sessions (thematically focused session with about four short presentations organised by a session chair).
All of them require an online abstract submission of max. 400 words via the conference website at:
www.isee2010.org. Online submission will be open
starting 15 September 2009. Deadline is 31 October 2009. Submissions will be reviewed by an
international review panel before being accepted.
For full paper presentations, the paper has to be submitted no later than 1 July 2010. Full papers can
also be submitted before 31 October 2009. Session proposals must include an abstract introducing the
rationale of the session, the name of the session chair(s), and the abstracts of the individual
contributions (can be submitted individually if relevance to the session is mentioned). Alternative
innovative formats are welcome in coordination with the conference organisers.
Conference organisers are undertaking all efforts to ensure funding to reimburse travel costs and
participation fees of presenters coming from non-OECD countries and of young researchers.
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6. Job openings:
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Governance of Clean Development Visiting Fellowship - Call for Applications
The ESRC-funded Governance of Clean Development (GCD) Project is inviting applications for the
first of its visiting fellowships, offering the opportunity for a practitioner or academic to work
alongside the GCD team at the University of East Anglia on a topic relating to governance of clean
development.
What is included in the fellowship?
The selected candidate will be based at the University of East Anglia (UEA) for a period of 4 - 6
weeks between March and June 2010. The candidate will work closely with the GCD team to produce an
agreed output on a theme relevant to the research programme on clean development. This will include
opportunities for meetings with key actors in clean energy governance in London and at the Tyndall
Centre, conference participation and exchange of ideas with senior academics in the School of
International Development and other schools at UEA. The fellowship includes international and UK
travel costs, visa, insurance, accommodation in UK and a small per diem. Salary replacement costs
are not covered.
Expected outputs: The Visiting Fellow will be expected to engage with the GCD team and other
members of the department, present a seminar at the School of International Development and prepare a
paper for the GCD Working Paper Series.
Who should apply?
The visiting fellowship scheme is open to academics and practitioners working on topics relating
to the governance of clean energy. Candidates from India, Argentina and South Africa are
particularly encouraged to apply (since these are the countries where we are doing most of our
field work), but we are open to applications from candidates working in relevant areas from across
Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
How to apply?
To be considered for the Visiting Fellowship, candidates should submit the following:
- Proposal (maximum 3 pages) detailing the work you would conduct during the fellowship, how this
is relevant to the themes of the GCD project and how the fellowship would benefit you and your work.
More information on the GCD project and its research themes is available at
www.clean-development.com.
- CV including the names and full contact details of two referees that can be contacted in the
event that your application is short-listed
- Applications should be sent to Dr. Nicky Jenner (Nicola.Jenner@uea.ac.uk)
Short-listed candidates will be interviewed by telephone.
When to apply?
The deadline for applications is Friday 25 September 2009. If you are in any doubt as to the relevance
of your work to the themes of the GCD project please contact us in advance of this date. Applicants
must be available to take up the 4 - 6 week fellowship between March and June 2010. A second call
will be made later in 2010 for a visiting fellowship to be undertaken in 2011.
[eco-eco] 20 Ph.D. positions and 3 postdoctoral positions
CREAM includes 20 PhD (three years) and 3 postdoc (two years) projects. All projects are related to
developing ecological models for the risk assessment of chemicals, primarily pesticides. Many projects
include, or even focus on, empirical work.
They are looking now for candidates for CREAM's 23 projects. Projects should start preferably on
January 15, 2010, but earlier (or later) starts are possible. The official job announcments will be
released on September 1, deadline for applications will be October 15.
More details can be found here.
PhD position in ecological-economic modelling
The Department of Ecological Modelling (OESA) at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research -
UFZ, Leipzig (Germany) is inviting applications for a PhD position in ecological-economic modelling
(f/m) to commence at the earliest possible date. The work will be embedded in a research project aiming
to model the influence of various policy instruments and markets on land use decisions and to assess
the resulting regional land use patterns in terms of their impacts on crop yield, biodiversity, carbon
balance, and costs (using input from other models). Special focus will be on instruments governing
land use decisions in connection with biomass production for energy. Final goal will be to identify
an appropriate policy mix for mitigating land use conflicts and harmonizing the demand for energy
and food with other societal goals such as climate protection, biodiversity conservation and regional
value addition.
Requirements:
- University degree (Diploma, MSc, or equivalent) in applied systems sciences, economics,
biology, physics, or a related discipline;
- Experience with spatial dynamic modelling in ecology or regional economics, ideally
ecological-economic or agent-based modelling;
- Experience with simulation-based approaches and a modern programming language (e.g. Delphi,
C++ Builder, Java) are required; good mathematical skills are beneficial;
- Interest in interdisciplinary work on ecological-economic aspects of land use change;
- Good skills in English (speaking and writing);
Conditions:
The candidate will be recruited for three years under employment contract with the UFZ. Salary will be
according to the appropriate civil service level (TVöD). Working place is Leipzig. The candidate will
have access to the programme of the Helmholtz Interdisciplinary GRADuate School for Environmental
Research HIGRADE (www.higrade.ufz.de). The graduating faculty will be selected in dependence of the
candidate's disciplinary background.
The UFZ is an equal opportunity employer. Women are explicitly encouraged to apply for increase
their share in science and research. Physically handicapped persons will be favoured if they are
equally qualified.
For more detailed information, please, contact:
PD Dr. Karin Frank (ecology & modelling), Phone: +49/341/2351279; Email: karin.frank@ufz.de
Prof Dr. Erik Gawel (economics), Phone: +49/ 341/2351940; Email: erik.gawel@ufz.de
Applications are taken until the position is filled. Please send your complete application documents until
30.09.2009 under the code digit 61/2009 to the personnel department, P.O. Box 500136, D-04301 Leipzig,
Germany or by E-Mail to application@ufz.de.
Sozialwissenschaftler für partizipative Szenarienentwicklung und Stakeholderanalyse (german)
Im Department Ökonomie ist zum 01. Oktober 2009 die Stelle eines wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiters
(m/w), zunächst auf 2 Jahre befristet, zu besetzen.
Der/die Bewerber/in arbeitet im Rahmen eines größeren Teams von Natur- und Sozialwissenschaftlern
an der Entwicklung von Szenarien der Landnutzung und des Landnutzungswandels im Kontext des
Klimawandels. Er/Sie leitet eigenständig Projekte, die auf die Entwicklung integrierter
Anpassungsstrategien an den Klimawandel ausgerichtet sind und wendet dabei partizipative
Verfahren an. Besondere Schwerpunkte der Arbeit sind die Akteursanalyse von regionalen
Landnutzungsentscheidungen und ihre treibenden Faktoren auf regionaler, nationaler, europäischer
und internationaler Ebene.
Weitere Informationen finden sie hier.
W2-Universitätsprofessur für Wandel und Nachhaltigkeit (german)
An der Universität der Bundeswehr ist in der der Fakultät für Wirtschafts- und Organisationswissenschaften
zum 1. April 2010 die W2-Universitätsprofessur für Wandel und Nachhaltigkeit zu besetzen.
Die Professur thematisiert Veränderungsprozesse unter einer integrativen Sicht, die ökonomische,
ökologische und soziale Implikationen für die globalisierte Gesellschaft einschließt. Gesucht wird eine
Persönlichkeit, die in Forschung und Lehre transdisziplinäre Denk- und Lösungsansätze für eine
nachhaltige Entwicklung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung folgender Themenbereiche vertritt:
- Bedingungen und Merkmale einer nachhaltig globalen Gesellschaft
- Anforderungen für Wandel und Nachhaltigkeit an Verantwortungsträger in Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft
- Herausforderungen von Wandel und Nachhaltigkeit an individuelle Lebensentwürfe
- Der künftige Umgang mit neuen Risiken
Weitere Informationen finden sie hier.
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Corporate Social Responsibility
The Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) is seeking to appoint a Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This exciting permanent post will strengthen our innovative
research and teaching programmes relating to CSR and business, environment and sustainability.
Lecturer - University Grade 7 (£32,458 - £35,469 p.a.), University Grade 8 (£36, 532 - £43,622 p.a.)
or Senior Lecturer - University Grade 9 (£44,930 - £52,086 p.a.). Applicants should have a strong
publications record on CSR or related topics and relevant teaching experience.
Applications from early career academics are also welcome. Informal enquiries to Professor Jouni
Paavola, Director of SRI on j.paavola@leeds.ac.uk. To apply online please visit
www.leeds.ac.uk and click on 'jobs'.
Alternatively, application packs are available via email recruitment@adm.leeds.ac.uk
Lecturer in Environment & Development
The Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) is seeking to appoint a Lecturer in Environment & Development.
This fixed term one year appointment at university grade 7 (£32,458 - £35,469 per annum) is available from
September 2009 until 31st August 2010. It offers the opportunity for the successful candidate to enhance their
research capabilities in the area of environment and development. Based in the Sustainability Research Institute
which is now the largest grouping of environmental social scientists in the UK, the position will offer a range
of collaborative research opportunities linked to major research programmes within SRI, including the ESRC
Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. Informal enquiries to Professor Jouni Paavola,
Director of the SRI, School of Earth and Environment, e-mail:
j.paavola@leeds.ac.uk. To apply online, please visit
www.leeds.ac.uk and click on 'jobs'. Alternatively
application packs are available via email recruitment@adm.leeds.ac.uk.
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7. New Publications:
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Environmental Conservation (Call for Papers)
Themed Issue on Community-based Natural Resource Management: Designing the next generation of models
Submitted papers may address, but are not limited to, the following subjects (reporting on or
reviewing case studies where appropriate):
- Review: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) - past, present and future
- Are the goals of community development and natural resource conservation truly compatible?
- The role of local or traditional ecological knowledge in advancing CBNRM
- Unveiling the conservation benefits of CBNRM
- Dealing with spatial and temporal complexities in CBNRM formulation and implementation
- CBNRM - conserving the community or conserving natural resources?
- Designing CBNRM models to accommodate multiple and contrasting community actors
- The future face of CBNRM
- One size does not fit all – how to build in flexibility and adaptability in CBNRM
- Is Intra-community CBNRM the future?
- When is a community ready for CBNRM?
- Despite the local focus, an enabling macro context is the foundation for successful CBNRM
For more information click here.
Environmental Conservation (Call for Papers)
Themed Issue on Interdisciplinary Progress in Environmental Science
Environmental issues encompass huge problems that evidently require 'interdisciplinary' science and
management, yet these approaches seem to be few and there are many barriers (e.g. institutional
structures) to progress. With much discussion about the need for interdisciplinary thinking to improve
understanding and management of the global environment, the Foundation for Environmental Conservation
is planning the 6th International Conference on Environmental Future (6ICEF, Lausanne provisionally
5-11 July 2011) to comprehensively debate what 'interdisciplinary environmental science' is and what
it might be in future.
For more information click here.
WI Spezial "Eco-Innovation"
The Wuppertal Institute has published a study
on eco-innovation, which was done for the European Parliament. The study discusses the implications of
resource scarcity, analyses findings on barriers and drivers, and draws policy conclusions. It
recommends, inter alia, a European Trust Fund for Eco-Entrepreneurship, a Technology Platform for
resource-light industries, a European Program for Refurbishing old Buildings, and a minimum tax
directive for construction minerals.
Beyond Developmentality - Constructing Inclusive Freedom and Sustainability
written by Debal Deb, with foreword by Richard Norgaard
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This incisive, epic work turns the dominant industrial development model and its economics upside down
and argues for a new way of thinking about the meaning of development and the complexion of our economy.
The book traces the origin and development of the concept of development in the economic context, and
suggests a way to achieving post-industrial development with zero industrial growth. It argues that
sustainable development is possible only when concerns for biodiversity and human development are put
at the centre of the economy and social policy. It both provides a theoretical foundation to
sustainability and presents practical instances of sustainable production systems.
Order here.
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Multifunctional Rural Land Management - Economics and Policies
edited by Floor Brouwer and C. Martijn van der Heide
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Multifunctional Rural Land Management provides insights into viable strategies of sustainable management
practices allowing multiple functions sustained by agriculture and natural resources in rural areas.
It shows how the rural economy and policies can balance and cope with these competing demands and
includes numerous case studies from Europe, North America and developing countries.
Order here.
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Ecological Economics: Critical Concepts in the Environment
Edited by Clive Spash. ISBN: 978-0-415-43145-3. Published by: Routledge. 2080 pages.
Publication Date: 29/06/2009
This new four-volume Routledge Major Work brings together canonical and cutting-edge research in
ecological economics. In tracing both the development of thought in the field, as well as exploring
the most recent scholarship, diverse elements of the rapidly expanding literature are brought together
for the first time, providing an overview of-and vision for-ecological economics.
[ecrea] CFP: Communicating the Environment
Call for manuscripts for special issue of the International Communication Gazette
Communicating the Environment
Guest editors: Anders Hansen (University of Leicester, UK) and Julie Doyle (University of Brighton, UK)
Manuscript deadline: 1st October 2009
2009 represents a significant year for International political negotiations on the environment, marked by the
December meeting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, where a new global treaty
on climate, to replace the Kyoto Protocol, will be established. As international governments seek
political responses to global environmental problems, how environmental issues are communicated and
given meaning is of equal importance, helping to shape public and political perceptions, and thus the
kinds of responses/actions advocated to address environmental issues.
This special issue focuses upon the role of the media, and mediation, in the construction and communication
of contemporary environmental issues. As social actors, the mass media play a crucial role in defining and
communicating about the environment. Yet their status and efficacy as environmental actors differs according
to social, political, economic, national and local contexts. As environmental issues are also issues of justice
and human rights, and as alternative forms of mediated communication seek to empower citizens as environmental
communicators and activists, the question of democracy and power is central to how environmental issues are
understood and addressed at the local, national and global level. Indeed, as global environmental change
affects countries both differently and disproportionately, how the media frame and debate these issues is of
crucial importance.
With this special issue we invite contributions that examine the role of media in the definition, construction
and communication of environmental issues. We welcome work from a variety of theoretical and methodological
approaches. We particularly welcome papers offering a global and/or international comparative perspective,
and we are keen that the issue should include contributions from Africa, South East Asia, the Middle East
and Latin America.
Topics may include, but are not restricted to, the following:
- Environmental justice, human rights and the media
- Media, governance and environmental citizenship
- Media representations of global environmental protest/activism
- Alternative media and (local/national/global) activism
- The politics of media coverage of environmental issues/environmental disasters
- Environmental journalism, sources, PR and political spin
- Environmental pressure groups and the media
- Cultural constructions of nature and the environment
Manuscripts should be prepared in English in Microsoft Word, and should not exceed 8,000 words including
notes and references. Manuscripts should be accompanied by an abstract of 100-150 words and up to 10
keywords. The manuscript must contain a separate title page that should include: the title of the
manuscript; the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s); full contact details of the author(s);
the author's brief biographical information. Please send the manuscript as an email-attachment to
Anders Hansen (ash@le.ac.uk) and Julie Doyle (j.doyle@brighton.ac.uk) by no later than 1
October 2009.
International Journal of Sustainable Development (IJSD)
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The IJSD is a forum for publication of refereed scientific work, of an interdisciplinary character,
at the interface of science, technology, policy and society. A particular emphasis is placed on the
value and importance of stakeholder partnerships for effective communication on issues of
sustainability.
Order here.
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New Ph.D. dissertation from Aalborg University:
Louise Takeda: Transforming Forestry on Haida Gwaii: The Politics of
Collaboration and Contestation in the Struggle for Justice and Ecological Integrity
Advisors: Johannes Dragsbæk Schmidt (Aalborg University) and Inge Røpke (Tech. Univ. of Denm.)
The indigenous Haida Nation has been fighting accelerated industrial forestry on their homeland,
Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), Canada, for the past four decades. This dissertation narrows
in on the latest stages of this conflict and the provincial government's attempt to ameliorate it through
a collaborative ecosystem-based land planning process. Drawing on a political ecology perspective, the
problematic relations of power and domination inherent in the planning process are contrasted with the
community's enhanced capacity to mobilize resistance against unbridled exploitation and domination.
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