New Directions in Conservation

This seminar is jointly organised by the PGR’s of IDD and the Forum for Global Challenges. The theme will be: 'New Directions in Conservation'.

We are at a critical juncture: conservation as usual has failed to protect species from widespread biodiversity loss. Meanwhile, the 2019 WWF controversy demonstrates that traditional approaches to conservation have continued to negatively impact human rights. The time is therefore ripe for new approaches that draw on political ecology’s critique of fortress conservation; that respond to calls for conservation to decolonise and recognise the importance of indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ knowledge and experiences; and that critically reflect on the Anthropocene and human agency in a more-than-human world. This event will bring several new approaches to conservation into dialogue. 

Speakers: 

• C. Anne Claus, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at American University and author of 'Drawing the Sea Near: Drawing the Sea Near Satoumi and Coral Reef Conservation in Okinawa' 
• Bram Büscher, Professor and Chair of the Sociology of Development and Change group at Wageningen University and co-author of 'The Conservation Revolution: Radical Ideas for Saving Nature Beyond the Anthropocene' 
• Bas Verschuuren, Lecturer and Researcher at the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University; Co-Chair of the IUCN-WCPA Specialist Group: Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas and Coordinator of the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative
• June Rubis, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Sydney and co-author of Territories of Life: 2021 Report.

Watch the seminar

The IDD Guest Seminar Series brings scholars and practitioners working on international development to the University of Birmingham to share their latest research and ideas. All seminars are open to staff, students, and the general public. 

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