June 2024 Update

Dear POLLEN Members and Friends,  We are pleased to share with you today the latest publications, vacancies, CfP, and much more from our vibrant community. Before we begin, we want…

Dear POLLEN Members and Friends, 

We are pleased to share with you today the latest publications, vacancies, CfP, and much more from our vibrant community.

Before we begin, we want to extend a big thank you to all POLLEN24 participants, those who followed and joined the conversation on X (Twitter), and all the volunteers and workers across Dodoma, Lima, and Lund who made the conference possible. Mark your calendars: POLLEN2026 will be held in Barcelona in two years.

If your Node is keen to share its work, vacancy opportunities, or others in our upcoming newsletter, please write to us at politicalecologynetwork@gmail.com. Everyone in the POLLEN community contributes to making this newsletter informative and valuable, so don’t hesitate to get in touch and share your work with us.

Enjoy the reading !

With best regards from your POLLEN Secretariat  

Fabiola Espinoza, Torsten Krause, Mine Islar and Wim Carton  

IMPORTANT! To get the best view of this newsletter, please enable the media content at the top of the e-mail. 

Publications 

Journal articles 

  1. Ozen, Hayriye (2024) Why is ‘clean’ energy opposed? the resistances to geothermal energy projects in Turkey. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space. https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486241254684

  2. Wachira, J., Atela J., Stacey P., and  Outa G., (2024). NGO-Led Community-Based Conservation: A New Frontier of Territorialization with Implications for Pastoralists’ Land Tenure and Climate Change Adaptation. Land 13, no. 6: 740. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13060740 

  3. Darmon, I. (2024). Equality, not sufficiency! Critical theoretical perspectives on the inequality-unsustainability nexus. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 20(1), 2338588. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2024.2338588

  4. Müller, F. (2024). Energy colonialism. Journal of Political Ecology, 31(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5659

  5. Bluwstein, J., & Paolo De Rosa, S. (2024). Political ecologies of the future: Introduction to the special issue. Geoforum, 153, 104023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2024.104023

PhD Thesis  

  1.  Dorkenoo, Kelly (2024). “Seeing loss through land: On the emergence of disproportionate climate-related loss and damage in agrarian Cambodia”.   A PhD thesis with a critical social science lens on climate-related loss and land in Cambodia. Available at this link: https://portal.research.lu.se/en/publications/seeing-loss-through-land-on-the-emergence-of-disproportionate-cli 

Events & Announcements 

  1. Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice – A new campaign coordinated by the Arms, Militarism and Climate Justice Working Group (September 21-28, 2024).
    It is a great chance for researchers, organizers, journalists, artists, scientists, teachers, practitioners and concerned individuals and communities to come together to address militarism and climate injustice from a variety of angles and with a variety of aims. I can also be used to launch new research outputs/artistic works/events/resources/campaigns or to promote existing ones. It is also a great opportunity for researchers to share their political ecology work relating to war, militarism, peace and climate justice with a wider non-academic audience and support public education efforts. More will be added to the website soon, including a newsletter and campaign toolkit. In the meantime, please save the date, spread the word and start thinking about how you might like to participate!  
    More info: https://climatemilitarism.org/weekofaction/. Any questions, feel free to email me directly or contact: weekofaction@climatemilitarism.org

  2. 2024 Earth-Space Symposium on Sustainability, Governance, Futures (12-13 November 2024)
    The 2024 Earth-Space Symposium in Utrecht, the Netherlands, provides a much-needed forum to gather theoretical consideration, identify gaps and synergies, and exchange ideas to chart a new line of science and policy inquiry on our changing Earth-Space systems. The Symposium will bridge the currently separated fields to derive an overview of the state-of-the-art problems, approaches, and their points of interconnection to derive an integrative Earth-Space agenda addressing sustainability, governance, and future-making. We welcome contributions from diverse disciplines and knowledge backgrounds, covering a broad range of topics, methods, cases, and empirical work. We furthermore encourage transdisciplinary exchange and participation by non-academic practitioners.
    More info: https://www.uu.nl/en/events/2024-earth-space-symposium-on-sustainability-governance-futures

Vacancies 

  1. Fellowship Programme – Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam
    Brief description: Each year around 30 fellows come to the Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam to pursue research projects in the field of sustainability.For 2025, RIFS is looking for individuals from academia, public administration, business, politics, civil society and culture who want to contribute to the Institute’s mission with their sustainability ideas. RIFS offers fellows a platform and support to develop their ideas and plans in an international community of highly qualified researchers within the Institute and in the research region of Potsdam-Berlin. They will join the global community of fellows, which spans diverse aspects of sustainability and all continent
    With the Fellowship, the Institute offers the opportunity to explore innovative ideas in a transdisciplinary research environment. 
    More info: https://www.rifs-potsdam.de/en/news/rifs-invites-applications-2025-fellowship-programme
    Deadline: 14th July, 2024

  2. Lecturer in Human Geography (Teaching and Research)- The University of Manchester
    Brief description: We are currently expanding our research, teaching and impact activities in the field of human geography and we would expect the successful applicant to contribute to teaching in areas such as socio-environmental geography, political ecology, energy geographies, environmental governance and socio-spatial inequalities. The appointee will be expected to teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as undertake a range of administrative and pastoral duties.
    More info: https://www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetail?JobId=29334
    Deadline: 11th July, 2024

Calls 

  1. Call for contributions to special issue “The Social Sustainability of Food Systems: Addressing the Inequality-Unsustainability Nexus. Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies.
    More info: It has become somewhat of a trope to say that inequality and unsustainability are twin challenges of our times. But there is evidence that they are not just parallel but rather very intertwined issues, forming what can be called a ‘nexus’. Understanding such inequality-unsustainability nexus is crucial for any transformative project toward environmental sustainability. This special issue will build our understanding of the inequality-unsustainability nexus and will help to reconceptualise ‘social sustainability’ in the food sector. The SI welcomes both theoretical and empirical contributions at various levels, encompassing the broader food and agri-food system, subsystems, or specific transition/transformation interventions. We particularly invite submissions that engage with and discuss the inequality-unsustainability nexus, emphasizing the use of social sustainability as a lens and method, i.e. placing equality at the centre to address this critical intersection. We expect contributions addressing one – or more – of the following issues: (i) political-economic dynamics and mechanisms underpinning the food-system’s inequality-unsustainability nexus; (ii) the collective organisation of food practices and their links with other practices; (iii)modes of collective and public support, regulations, and social protection that ensure the durability of sustainability transitions and transformations of food systems and practices over the medium and long-term. Guest Editors: Isabelle Darmon (University of Edinburgh), Wesley Dean (University of Copenhagen), Severine Gojard (INRAE/Centre Maurice Halbwachs), Monica Truninger (Instituto de Ciências Sociais, University of Lisbon), Marisa Wilson (University of Edinburgh).Check the following link for abstract and full call: https://link.springer.com/journal/41130/updates/26653000 for abstract and full call.
    Deadline: 30th September, 2024

  2. Call for articles for the thematic issue “Future Urban Sustainability: Lessons Learnt From the SDGs andPerspectives for a Post-2030 Agenda”- Urban Planning Journal
    More info: Edited by Florian Koch (HTW Berlin), Sarah Beyer (HTW Berlin), and Kerstin Krellenberg (University of Vienna). The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, with its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), plays a key role in urban sustainability. Cities around the world are using the SDGs as a framework to implement a more sustainable form of urban development. However, SDGs have been criticised for their lack of transformative potential, the difficulty of measuring implementation, as well as their reliance on voluntary action and their alignment with economic growth. Based on existing experiences in cities, this thematic issue takes a critical stance on local implementations of the SDGs and seeks contributions on lessons learned, existing problems, as well as indications for the future design of global sustainability agendas from a city perspective. In this way, the thematic issue aims to contribute to the ongoing debates on the post-2030 agenda. Contributions to the thematic issue may address questions such as the usefulness of global policy agendas for promoting local sustainability in general, the limitations of sustainability indicators and monitoring systems, accountability in urban development and planning, and whether innovations such as new forms of governance can support the 2030 Agenda and its successor. For this thematic issue, we are looking for contributions from different geographical backgrounds and theoretical approaches, as well as case studies and comparative work. Authors interested in contributing an article to this thematic issue are asked to read the full call for papers at: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/pages/view/nextissues#FutureUrbanSustainability
    Deadline: 15th September, 2024

  3. Call for papers for the session “Transitioning Nordic Ruralities: between extraction and care” – 6th Nordic Conference for Rural Research – Kiruna 3-5 December 2024.
    In this working group we welcome contributions that analyze and problematize the large socioeconomic and environmental hidden costs that the European Green Deal has on Nordic ruralities. We, for instance, are interested in exploring whether such sustainable transition can truly bring about social and environmental justice in the form of fair and equitable inclusion for the most marginalized groups in improving their wellbeing or whether it relies on low income, un-skilled, immigrant workers and women of color who do the industrial – as well as the reproductive work and suffer from social and economic marginalization. Moreover, we question how an effective just transition going beyond the greening of energy policies but addressing elements of socio-environmental justice and the prioritization of care and labor wellbeing could look like in practice. Additionally, we welcome contributions examining whether the policies and actions taken by the greening mining, steel, and automobile sector strengthen or weaken social reproductive systems focused on welfare and sustainable working life in the context of the current climate crisis.Proposals with a max of 250 words should contain a title of max 150 characters, the name(s) of the author(s), and their affiliation. More information: https://www.slu.se/en/departments/urban-rural-development/nordic-ruralities/call-for-abstracts/
    Deadline: 15th August, 2024

Other news items 

  1. Survey on researchers’ expectations of conferences. The doctotal student Ariane Wenger from Transdisciplinarity Lab (TdLab) at ETH Zurich is conducting a survey on researchers’ expectations of conferences to analyze differences between various groups of researchers (e.g., different scientific disciplines) and conference formats. The short (10 minutes) online survey is aimed at researchers of all scientific disciplines and career stages who are planning to attend scientific conferences. In particular, opinions and views of researchers from all around the world are appreciated. Participation in the survey will not only enrich this study, but will also help to identify avenues for enhancing current conference practices, benefiting the wider academic community. The survey can be accessed here: https://ww3.unipark.de/uc/cexp1/.

  2. New blog entry- POLLEN Blog. “The unsustainability of the southern African wildlife economy” by Stasja Koot, Lerato Thakholi, Bram Büscher. You can read it here: https://politicalecologynetwork.org/category/pollen-blog/
  3. We welcome Cristobal Balbontin, from the Universidad Austral de Chile as a new POLLEN NODE. Remember that you can locate the contact details of the new nodes and their members on the POLLEN Blog Website under the “NODES” section.