RHN 117/2024 | Call
Organisers: environmental research unit of the Centre Marc Bloch (Berlin), research centre on environment and society (CERES) of the École Normale Supérieure (Paris), National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) (Paris) and Laboratory of Social Anthropology (EHESS/ CNRS/ Collège de France)
7–10 April 2025, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
Deadline for application: 20 September 2024
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Climate and Biodiversity Crises: Representations, narratives and imaginaries of crisis and the socio-ecological transformation
International Spring School 2025
Over the past two and a half centuries, living beings and their environments have been increasingly impacted by the industrialization of Western societies. In recent decades these developments have globalized and vastly accelerated. As a consequence, inter-related devastating environmental problems are now multiplying: biodiversity disappears faster and faster, and global warming is escalating and causing unprecedented damage to the biosphere, affecting different parts of the world in very different and unjust ways. This spring school proposes to bring together an interdisciplinary range of researchers interested in the many and varied implications and interconnections between the climate and the biodiversity crises. In so doing, its aim is to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and reflexion on the historical development of these crises, their current state, future scenarios as well as possible pathways for their resolution. In short: given the current context, how can researchers from the natural, social sciences and humanities jointly address the causes and effects of climate change and biodiversity loss, and how can they engage with civil society in view of the necessary socio-ecological transformation?
The second edition of this summer/spring school will focus in particular on representations, narratives and imaginaries of the abovementioned crises and of the socio-ecological transformations our societies require in order to face these challenges: How are they represented in our various academic disciplines, by different societal groups and between diverse countries and regions of the world? What kinds of utopias and dystopias are connected to them and how do they shape the ways our societies react to these crises (or not)? How are the transformations of climate, biodiversity and societies perceived,by whom,and how do these perceptions change over time, and with which consequences?
In short, we are especially (but not exclusively) interested in contributions on
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how representations/ narratives/ imaginaries of the climate and biodiversity crises and of the implied societal changes have evolved over time
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how these representations differ between disciplines (in the social sciences and humanities as well as in the natural sciences and engineering), social groups, countries and regions
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how these representations, narratives and imaginaries work to motivate or impede environmentalist action and socioeconomic and political changes seeking to resolve the crises
This spring school co-organized by the environmental research unit of the Centre Marc Bloch (Berlin), the research centre on environment and society (CERES) of the École Normale Supérieure (Paris), The National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) (Paris), and the Laboratory of Social Anthropology (EHESS/ CNRS/ Collège de France) (Paris) will be held on 7-10 April 2025 at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. We warmly welcome applications/proposals from junior scientists whose research engages with issues linked to climate change and/or biodiversity issues and who are interested in their interconnections. Applications from pre-doctoral to doctoral and postdoctoral researchers from any relevant disciplines will be considered, though most places will be reserved for PhD candidates. The spring school will in particular aim at providing young researchers with an opportunity for intensive exchanges with each other as well as with advanced researchers and civil society actors. The format of the spring school will include:
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A common discussion of texts submitted by participants
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Interdisciplinary teamwork for elaborating new research projects
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Lectures by senior scholars on historical and current perspectives on climate and biodiversity crises
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A dialogue between participants and civil society actors, notably from environmental NGOs
The CERES’ Journée David Claessen 2025 (10 April), bringing together students, researchers and civil society actors will form an integral part of the spring school and a framework for the presentation of teamwork results.
How to apply? Any junior researcher interested in the event will be asked to send an abstract of their ongoing work (300 words max.), a CV, and a one-page cover letter outlining their motivation and expectations. Applications must be submitted as a single pdf file by September 20, 2024 to: summerschool_ens_cmb@protonmail.com
Selected participants will be notified by November, and then asked to submit either a draft paper or (part of) a thesis chapter by February 15, 2025 to be circulated among all participants in advance. Texts should be written in English. Last but not least, a limited number of grants covering travel and accommodation costs will be available for applicants whose participation in the spring school cannot be financially supported by their home institution. Please indicate in your cover letter if this is of relevance to you.