**Ecocultures 2012: Transitions to Sustainability
A Conference to take place at the University of Essex, 17th -18th April 2012
Ecocultures are communities from whom we can learn the art and science
of sustainable living.
The aim of Ecocultures 2012 is to advance knowledge of how communities
adapt successfully to social-ecological change, maintain resilience and
enhance wellbeing. The conference will present and synthesise the best,
current, multi-disciplinary perspectives of the barriers and bridges
encountered by Ecocultures and how they can contribute to a global
transition to sustainability.
*Context*
In an emerging ‘perfect storm’ of pervasive and sometimes turbulent
ecological, social and cultural change human communities will need to
find ways to adapt creatively and sustainably. In doing so, we will need
to learn how to mitigate emerging global threats such as climate change
and resource degradation through changes in individual behaviour,
community actions, state-level responses and international governance.
We will need to adapt – psychologically, socially, economically,
politically and culturally – to the new social and environmental
conditions of the anthropocene. And finally, we will need make these
adaptations creatively, in a way that maintains or improves well-being.
The scope and urgency of these challenges require us to critically
examine current efforts to live sustainably, and understand the nature
and mechanisms of sustainability.
The Ecocultures research programme at the University of Essex examines
how traditional and newly emerging communities across the world are
already responding to these challenges relatively successfully.
Designated as ‘Ecocultures’, these communities provide living examples
of sustainability in resilient social-ecological systems. They offer us
lessons on how sustainability looks, possible pathways for transition,
and offer hope that high levels of ecological well-being are consistent
with the flourishing of society and culture. In doing so, they provide
hope that there is more than one way to develop and more than one way to
be happy, whilst maintaining a commitment to environmental and societal
well-being.
The Ecocultures 2012 conference will bring together members of these
communities, researchers who work with them, policy makers interested in
applying their lessons and development practitioners looking for
innovative ways to enhance social-ecological well-being. Together, we
will examine the principles and practices of ‘Ecocultures’ from multiple
disciplinary perspectives and at every scale, from the individual to the
community and beyond. The questions we will address will range from the
deepest organising principles of alternative development paradigms (how
do the members of Ecocultures view their place in the world and accord
value to nature?) to the practicalities of their social and economic
organisation. We invite submissions from across the spectrum of the
social sciences and humanities; trans-disciplinary and
multi-disciplinary submissions are particularly encouraged.
*Conference Themes*
We invite submissions from academics, policy makers and development
practitioners engaged in work on resilience and sustainability. Papers
could include (but are not limited to) the following themes:
* Case studies on communities successfully adapting to
social-ecological change;
* Historic examples of highly resilient communities and their
current status;
* Analyses of the ‘traditional’ practices contributing to
sustainable lifestyles, the stresses to which these provide resilience,
and the barriers and bridges to the continued practice of such
traditional lifestyles in today’s world;
* The emergence of ‘new’ Ecocultures, such as cultural
revitalisation initiatives, ‘back to the land’ initiatives and the
transition movement; the barriers and bridges to sustainability within
these initiatives, the potential for their spread, their contribution to
well-being and to social-ecological resilience at community level and
beyond;
* Critical analyses of current and alternative notions of
‘development’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘resilience’;
* Analyses of struggles for resources: how do, for example, the
extractive industries and multi-national corporations affect the
sustainability of communities;
* Conflicts between different notions and practices of
‘sustainability’;
* Meta-analyses of the social, economic, political and cultural
barriers and bridges to sustainability;
* Analyses of the role played by current policies, economic and
corporate initiatives for ‘sustainability’, including the potential for
sustainable governance, the links between international trade and
sustainable growth, and the potential role played by consumer awareness,
environmental regulations, new methods of environmental valuation and
corporate social responsibility initiatives.
*Conference keynote address
*
One of the conference’s keynote addresses will be delivered by Professor
Jules Pretty, Professor of Environment and Society at the University of
Essex.
He is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability and Resources),
Pro-Vice-Chancellor responsible for the Faculty of Science and
Engineering, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor. His books include This Luminous
Coast (2011), Nature and Culture (co-authored, 2010), The Earth Only
Endures (2007), Environment (4 vols, ed 2006), The Earthscan Reader in
Sustainable Agriculture (2005, ed), The Pesticide Detox (2005, ed),
Agri-Culture (2002) and Regenerating Agriculture (1995). He is a Fellow
of the Society of Biology and the Royal Society of Arts, former
Deputy-Chair of the Government's Advisory Committee on Releases to the
Environment (ACRE), and has served on advisory committees for a number
of government departments. He is currently member of the Lead Expert
Group for the UK Government's Foresight Global Food and Farming Futures
Project, member of the Expert Panel for UK National Ecosystem Assessment
and member of BBSRC's Strategy Advisory Board. He received an OBE in
2006 for services to sustainable agriculture, and an honorary degree
from Ohio State University in 2009.
*Conference Arrangements*
The conference will take place on the Colchester campus of the
University of Essex from the morning of Tueday, 17th April until the
afternoon of Wednesday, 18th April 2012. Conference costs will be kept
to a minimum and confirmed by the end of January 2012.
For maps and travel directions, see
http://www.essex.ac.uk/about/getting_here/
*Submissions and Contacts*
Paper proposals, in the form of an abstract (400-700 words) and Panel
proposals (max 1000 words), should be sent to Prof. Steffen Böhm
([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>) and Zareen Bharucha
([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>) by 16th January 2012.
Please make reference to the conference in the subject line of your
email by marking it ‘Ecocultures 2012’. Authors will be notified of
acceptance by 30th January 2012.
For general inquiries, please email Zareen Bharucha
([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>). A visa letter can be
provided for delegates who will require it for travel to the UK. Please
let us know if you need one.
Dr Steffen Böhm | Professor in Management and Sustainability | Essex
Business School | University of Essex | Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK | Rm
5NW.4.4 | Tel. +44(0)1206 87 3843 |
www.essex.ac.uk/ebs/staff/profile.aspx?ID=727<http://www.essex.ac.uk/ebs/staff/profile.aspx?ID=727>
| www.essex.ac.uk/ebs/ECA<http://www.essex.ac.uk/ebs/ECA> |
www.essex.ac.uk/ebhr<http://www.essex.ac.uk/ebhr> |
www.interfacejournal.net<http://www.interfacejournal.net/> |
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