14-15 October 2021, School of Humanities, Tallinn University, Estonia.
Please follow the links for the workshop programme, thematic focus and to register for the event. Read more
In a time of profound anthropogenic environmental change and severe ecological crises, environmental anthropology is a key subject in helping us understand our shared world and futures. As scholars, practitioners and students, we want to hone our learning and teaching on these crucial themes and anchor them at the core of the anthropological endeavour. This online workshop aims to inspire learning through and with environmental anthropology, by gathering teaching resources and reflecting on ethics and teaching practices.
The workshop is divided into two short sessions. In each session, the first half will be dedicated to watching short pre-recorded presentations, introducing particular resources for teaching environmental anthropology. We will then have an open discussion, sharing further ideas and resources to help meet our teaching or learning goals, as well as some of the ethical and philosophical aspects of such endeavours.
SESSION 1 (9-11am CET)
ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/94398521848
Participants and Themes:
Anna S. Antonova — ‘Reinventing Oktoberfest’: Imagining alternative environmental Futures in the interdisciplinary environmental Humanities Classroom
Maria Ayala — Walking backwards into the Future. Teachings from Māori People
Mengyi Zhang — Why it was Difficult for me to study Anthropology and how I overcame these Difficulties
Tim Ingold — Manifesto for an Outdoor Anthropology
Martín Fonck — Environmental Autobiography
Sandro Simon — Navigating Multi-Sensory Re-Assemblages
SESSION 2 (4-6pm CET)
ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/93189996646
Participants and Themes:
Eunice Blavascunas — Decolonizing Classroom Expectations: Pre-colonial Ingenuity and evolutionary Debates
Jodie Asselin — Unpacking the Notion of Complexity through student-led Case Studies
Nicole Katin — Mock-Museum Exhibits Exploring present-day human-environment Relations across Cultures
Jared Schultz — From Pedagogical Discourse to Modeling Humans in Trophic Cascades
Diane Russel — Practitioner Roles in Teaching Environmental Anthropology
Angela Storey — Exploring Urban Environments through Participant Observation
Liliana Duica Amaya — War ecology in the Colombian Amazon: Warscapes as an insightful methodology
Montse Pijoan — How can knowledge be gained despite losing our relationship with our environment? Is there something missing in science or modern ways of learning?
If you would like to attend the workshop, please write to Jana Pfeiffer to register, at this address:jana.pfeiffer@student.uni-tuebingen.de. We will send you the programme and zoom links prior to the workshop.
The workshop is organized by Jeanne Féaux de la Croix (University of Tübingen) and Alessandro Rippa (Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society) and is the first initiative of the Teaching Environmental Anthropology Working Group that was recently founded through the EASA Environmental Anthropology Network.
Teaching Environmental Anthropology in Fearful and Inspiring Times
An Online Workshop on Goals, Ethics and Resources
Convenors: Jeanne Féaux de la Croix, Alessandro Rippa
21 April 2021, 10am-3pm (CET)
In a time of profound anthropogenic environmental change and severe ecological crises, environmental anthropology is a key subject in helping us understand our shared world and futures. As scholars, practitioners and students, we want to hone our learning and teaching on these crucial themes and anchor them at the core of the anthropological endeavour.
The “Teaching Environmental Anthropology Working Group” was recently founded through the EASA Environmental Anthropology Network. Its aim is to foster conversations around key dimensions of teaching environmental anthropology. We are particularly interested in the ethical and pedagogical aspects of teaching an often-overwhelming subject, and in the interdisciplinary impetus of environmental issues. How can we encourage scholars, practitioners and students to engage with the subject beyond academia? How can we ensure that critically discussing the environmental challenges we face is not only anxiety-inducing, but also generative of tangible change and healing?
This short online workshop aims to inspire learning through environmental anthropology. We therefore explicitly welcome not only academics but also students and other kinds of practitioners in the arts of environmental teaching. In addition to reflecting on goals and teaching practices, we will gather and comment on available teaching resources such as syllabi, literature, objects, practices and films. We envision each participant briefly introducing their ‘problematic’ and sharing a favourite resource that helped meet their teaching or learning goals. We are particularly interested in examples that speak to the following issues, but also definitely welcome suggestions well beyond these concerns:
● The “ethics” of teaching environmental issues that may spell the end of the world as we know it and can generate significant anxieties.
● Interdisciplinary resources, and ways of bridging the gap between anthropology, environmental sciences and activism.
● Non-English resources, particularly indigenous scholarship on environmental change that might challenge some of our dominant assumptions.
● Perspectives from students or activists who want or have taken courses on environmental anthropology.
We intend to share some of the outputs of the workshop, particularly in the form of short commentaries by participants, on the EASA network website. We hope the website will grow into a lively arena for resources, recommendations and connections for developing a pedagogy of environmental anthropology in many styles. Confirmed speakers include Anna Antonova (Rachel Carson Center), Tim Ingold (University of Aberdeen), and Ursula Münster (University of Oslo).
Participants are asked to pre-record:
● a brief (1 minute) introduction of yourself, your work and interest in environmental anthropology.
● a brief (3-4 minute) presentation of a particular resource that you find useful when teaching/learning a related topic. This could well be a favourite reading, but also a practice, a field-trip, object lesson or audio-visual material.
Following presentations, we will take time for a common discussion around some of the themes that are certain to emerge and further ideas for the working group and website. The event is limited to 20 participants on a first come first serve basis, with additional listening slots. If there are more requests, we will work towards a second event. We will include breaks and off-screen time as part of the workshop’s programme.
If you are interested, please register by sending an email to Jeanne Féaux de la Croix (jeanne.feaux@uni-tuebingen.de) or Alessandro Rippa (alessandro.rippa@rcc.lmu.de) with a brief abstract (max 200 words) detailing your presentation idea and resource, as well as a short bio (max 150 words). The deadline for registration is January 22, 2021.
2020 was a difficult year for tropical rainforest conservation efforts. Some key considerations in 2021 include: the post COVID recovery; the transition of power in the U.S.; deforestation in Indonesia; deforestation in Brazil; the effects of the La Niña climate pattern; ongoing destabilisation of tropical forests; government to government carbon deals; data that will allow better assessment of the impact of COVID on tropical forests; companies incorporating forest-risk into decision-making; ongoing violence against environmental defenders; and whether international policy meetings can get back on track.
The Environment and Anthropology Network held its business meeting on July 20th 2020 from 11am to 1pm (Lisbon time) during the EASA biennial conference. As with the rest of the conference, the meeting was held virtually on the Shindig platform. There were up to 54 people in attendance at any one moment.
The current network conveners, Aet Annist (University of Tartu, Estonia) and Franz Krause (University of Cologne, Germany) welcomed the participants. They provided a brief overview over the network’s short history, having been founded in 2018 following an initiative at the biennial EASA conference in Stockholm. The network’s purpose was to be both internal coordination among environmental and ecological anthropologists and other professionals in the field, and external representation of the field, its expertise and the membership to a non-anthropological audience. The current meeting was the network’s first business meeting during an EASA conference.
During EnviroAnt’s inaugural workshop in December 2019, four working groups were envisioned to take forward some of the tasks identified at the workshop.
The network’s inaugural workshop took place in Cologne, Germany, on December 12th and 13th, 2019, co-organised by the EnviroAnt convenors and Michaela Haug (University of Cologne, Germany). A motivated group of 60 registered participants (including 29 presenters) came together to discuss the theme “Perspectives and stories in a world of facts and figures? Exploring the potential of anthropology in tackling environmental issues.” Comprising three keynotes and twenty-five Pecha Kucha presentations, the workshop provided opportunities for the members of the new network to get to know each other’s work, develop the purposes and strategies of the network, and plan possible collaborations. Presentations and discussions were grouped by three questions: 1) What can we contribute?, 2) How can we make ourselves heard/present? And 3) What are our future activities, inspirations and strategies? The programme is available and a summary workshop report can be downloaded at https://easaonline.org/networks/enviroant/cologne-2019.shtml
We discussed possible topics and venues for the next inter-EASA-conference workshop. It seems most likely that the 2021 workshop will take place in Tallinn, Estonia, co-organised by Aet Annist and local colleagues. We hope this can be an in-person event, but it might have to be held online if Covid19 conditions continue. Allessandro Rippa suggested that the following workshop (2023) might be organised in Munich, Germany, where he is based. Raj Puri (University of Kent, UK) reported that the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) is planning a conference on Anthropology and Conservation at the University of East Anglia for September 2021. The call for panels is due to be published in November 2020, and they would welcome a panel and/or other input from EnviroAnt. Since this year’s EASA conference is held online, the association is planning a series of smaller events for summer 2021 to happen physically in Lisbon, which may provide another opportunity for organising a small EnviroAnt session.
An initiative since the setting-up of the network has been to publish a searchable members’ directory on the network’s website. The convenors have circulated a google form on the listserv for members to enter their information. The convenors will find a way of publishing the directory and adjust its format to meet the needs of the membership and interested publics. However, this may not happen before either EASA has a new website with better direct editing access for network convenors, or the network has its own website.
Franz Krause presented the draft document with EnviroAnt’s Focus and Principles and put it to the vote. In spite of difficulties with using the Shindig voting system, a large majority of the participants voted in favour of adopting the document as the network’s statute. It will be published on the network’s website in due course.
Elections for the network convenors for the coming two years were held using google forms for lack of a better alternative. The elections confirmed Aet Annist and Franz Krause as convenors, and also showed strong support for three new candidates who will join the convening team: Katrine A. Callander (University of Kent, UK), Alexandra Coțofană (Zayed University, UAE) and Arvid van Dam ( University of Leeds, UK).
Network members exchanged information on the many environment-related panels and presentations at the conference. Only two of them are officially marked as EnviroAnt network panels.
The 2020 Annual Report for the EnviroAnt Network has been filed with EASA. It provides an overview of the recent activities of the Network, including the inaugural workshop, the activities of the EASA Conference panels and business meeting in July 2020 and the newly selected convenors. In addition, it provides an update on the work of the Working Groups – media/messaging, teaching, publishing/grants, events and focus/mission. The full report can be found HERE
The Environment and Anthropology Network held its business meeting on July 20th 2020 from 11am to 1pm (Lisbon time) during the EASA biennial conference. As with the rest of the conference, the meeting was held virtually on the Shindig platform. There were up to 54 people in attendance at any one moment.
This paper proposes an empirical investigation of the impact of social relations, referred to as structural social capital, and cultural values, referred to as intangible cultural capital, on tribal agricultural production in New Caledonia. By using micro-data from an original survey on tribal communities, we construct a simultaneous equations model to explore the mechanisms by which cultural values and social relations interact with agricultural performance.
Held after the deadline for last year’s report, the network’s inaugural workshop took place in Cologne, Germany, on December 12th and 13th, 2019, co-organised by the EnviroAnt convenors and Michaela Haug (University of Cologne, Germany). A motivated group of 60 registered participants (including 29 presenters) came together to discuss the theme “Perspectives and stories in a world of facts and figures? Exploring the potential of anthropology in tackling environmental issues.” Comprising three keynotes and twenty-five Pecha Kucha presentations, the workshop provided opportunities for the members of the new network to get to know each other’s work, develop the purposes and strategies of the network, and plan possible collaborations. Presentations and discussions were grouped by three questions: 1) What can we contribute?, 2) How can we make ourselves heard/present? And 3) What are our future activities, inspirations and strategies? The programme is available and a summary workshop report can be downloaded at https://easaonline.org/networks/enviroant/cologne-2019.shtml
In late 2019, the network had chosen the panel to be put forward as guaranteed EnviroAnt contribution to the biennial EASA conference in virtual Lisbon. Among four proposed panels that had been gathered through a call via the network’s email list, the panel “Privileged Fear: Europe and the concern for environmental catastrophes” was selected by voting on a google form. Another panel convened by network members, “Wet horizons: Hydrosocial re-articulations in the Anthropocene” was subsequently also selected by the conference’s Scientific Committee. When browsing the conference programme, we noticed that there were several other environment-related panels that we had not heard about before. Environmental issues are thus discussed even beyond the network.
The business meeting at the conference, which was the network’s first, included a report on previous activities; a presentation, discussion and favourable vote on the “statute” document that summarizes the network’s focus and mission; plans for the coming year; and the election of convenors (see separate minutes).
Until the 2020 business meeting, the network had been convened by the founding conveners Aet Annist (University of Tartu, Estonia) and Franz Krause (University of Cologne, Germany). During the business meeting elections, these two were confirmed and three new candidates were voted into the convening team: Katrine A. Callander (University of Kent, UK), Alexandra Coțofană (Zayed University, UAE) and Arvid van Dam ( University of Leeds, UK).
After the inaugural workshop, the network formed working groups to concentrate on selected tasks. With the new convenors since the business meeting, these working groups have been restructured and currently comprise the following:
The media networking group commenced its work after the inaugural Cologne workshop in December 2019. The group consists of Aet Annist, Dan Podjed, Arvid van Dam, Elvira Wepfer and Katrine Callander. At the first meeting in February 2020, we continued the discussions from the event on the exciting research taking place within the network and the potential benefits of reaching out on these topics across disciplines and beyond academia.
With this in mind, we discussed a structure of aims/goals and practical steps for the media group in supporting the main ambitions of the network:
– Raising awareness of the network
– Getting the message across to a wider audience through emails, threads, newsletters, outreach to established media and social media platforms
– Raising awareness of environmental anthropology messages and relevant projects
– Inspire audiences across disciplines of the interconnectedness of environmental anthropology
– Showcase topics/projects that highlight this message
– Illustrate how applicable the discipline is to a wide variety of sectors
In addition to the network’s EASA page, work has started on utilising social media platforms and building up a separate network-specific website to achieve these aims. Plans are in place for a regular online newsletter, a potential series and links to specialist media in our field. In addition to the EASA email list, a dedicated email address that could be used as point of contact for the platform registrations was set up: enviroant.network@gmail.com.
The working group is also gathering information on what other networks and organisations with similar remits (environment/ecology/anthropology) and strategic interest for us exist, and to forge links with them for potential collaborations, communication and developing synergies. This includes environment-related networks within the national anthropology associations, especially from countries in Eastern and Central Europe, which so far have been underrepresented in EnviroAnt.
Our Facebook page has existed since the first year of the network’s existence and has been steadily growing in terms of reach and scope. In addition, we set up the network LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram pages in May 2020. Content has been posted across the four platforms and we have seen the online communities grow to a combined audience reach of over 1100 people. We have been able to showcase research projects from the Network’s members as well as broader environmental anthropology issues from both general and specialist media. Audience engagement continues to grow.
In September 2020, we started work on the network’s dedicated website. We registered the domain www.environmental-anthropology.com and started design work on the site using WordPress. The website is still in progress, but the core information has been included. Content includes information about the network, mission statement, links to members’ research, environmental anthropology news, courses, information on funding, publishing and visual resources. In addition, the website also features material on past and future network-specific events and panel material from the EASA 2020 conference. Links are also provided for the social media platforms, the possibility to register for the upcoming newsletter, ways to contact and bios of the convenors as well as the option to join as a member of the network. A survey has been sent out to all members to allow input on the direction of the website and the priorities of the content.
Though in the early stages, we are building a strong foundation for outreach and engagement both within academia and broader audiences. We are aware that some of the potential platforms and formats will take longer to establish. In the meantime, the social media platforms and website are providing forums for engagement across our discipline and the many strong potential avenues for cross-discipline collaborations.
Since the business meeting, this working group is convened by Jeanne Féaux de la Croix (University of Tübingen, Germany) and Alessandro Rippa (Rachel Carlson Center, Germany). The group is to develop concepts for teaching environmental anthropology to our students, for example by exchanging experiences, practices and syllabi. Its plans include a half-day, online workshop on teaching environmental anthropology in spring 2021.
This activity is coordinated by Alexandra Cotofana and is meant to help with the specific publishing and grant needs of academics at all stages of their career, whether they are independent, practicing, or work in a research and teaching institution. EnviroAnt will seek to support research and travel for academics through grants, on the one hand, and also produce an open access series annually, highlighting new research and activism in the field of environmental anthropology.
This working group, coordinated by Arvid van Dam, is in charge of organising upcoming events. Current plans include a network workshop in Tallinn, Estonia in October 2021, a panel at the RAI’s conference on conservation at the University of East Anglia, UK, in September 2021, a contribution to the summer 2021 EASA jubilee in Lisbon, and the Teaching workshop in March 2021.
After the inaugural workshop, a working group consisting of both network convenors and Mattias Borg Rasmussen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) elaborated a document on EnviroAnt’s focus and mission to clarify how the network works and what it is about. A draft document was circulated on the mailing list, presented and discussed at the business meeting, and endorsed by a large majority vote. It will be published on the network’s website in due course.
Surely, 2020 has been a strange year. But while much of social and cultural life was disrupted globally, this did not stop quite a number of fascinating books in environmental anthropology from being published. The environment–including a myriad of themes such as multispecies relations, landscape transformation, resource extraction, waste, pollution, wildlife conservation, climate adaptation, and disasters–has been a growing topic of interest to anthropologists. The selected 15 ethnographies and 5 edited volumes listed here (in no particular order) represent some of this exciting trend.
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EnviroAnt 