CLOSER Doctoral Training 2015

ChaLlenges Of multidisciplinarity in Socio-Environmental Research 

King’s College London

October – November 2015

ABOUT

This is a doctoral training activity for PhD and postdoctoral students interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the development-environment debate from a multidisciplinary perspective. The purpose is to promote debate on linking research and teaching to grounded issues in the context of environmental and social struggles in the Global South. 

The sessions focus on cross-disciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches to the topics covered, which include public policy building, gender, development, protected areas, and the role of local communities in socio-environmental struggles.

The activity is designed and convened by seven doctoral researchers currently studying Brazilian socio-environmental issues in top-universities in London (KCL, UCL and LSE), with Faculty support and collaboration of established scholars.

SPONSORS

King’s Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (www.kcl.ac.uk/kissdtc)

UCL Economic & Social Research Council DTC (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/shs/esrc)

PROGRAMME

The training activity is organised in six 2-hour sessions with a maximum of 15 attendants each, according to the programme below. Participants are encouraged to interact.

REGISTRATION

Participants shall register for each session they intent to attend and are welcome to register for as many as they wish.

Session 1

GOING MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Coordinator: Dr Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho (KCL)

Date: 14^th October 2015

Time: 17h00 – 19h00

Venue: Old Committee room, Strand Building, KCL

Description: Dr Vinícius Mariano de Carvalho will open the training by presenting guidelines to successfully explore different areas of expertise within research. He will expose key benefits and challenges related to working with a multidisciplinary approach. A coordinator will introduce the programme of the training and the expectations of the audience will be discussed.

Session 2

COLONISING NATURE: PEOPLE AND PROTECTED AREAS

Coordinators: Dr Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho (KCL) and Grace Iara Souza (KCL

Date: 21^st October 2015

Time: 17h00 – 19h00

Venue: Old Committee room, Strand Building, KCL

Description: Dr Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho will expose some of the historical views on colonisation and representation of nature and Grace Iara Souza will question the political and academic meanings of human security by analysing environmental conservation in protected areas of the Brazilian Amazon.

Session 3

REGULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Coordinators: Dr Kira Matus (UCL), Larissa Boratti (UCL) and Flávia Donadelli (LSE)

Date: 28^th October 2015

Time: 17h00 – 19h00

Venue: Anatomy Museum, King's Building, KCL

Description: Questions concerning public policy and regulation in the environment-development debate will be addressed. The focus will be on the role of voluntary multi-stakeholder sustainability initiatives in the context of states with limited administrative capacity. Flavia Donadelli and Larissa Boratti will present a case study on private forest regulation in Latin America in order to stimulate an open debate about the role of alternative environmental governance mechanisms in developing countries.

Session 4

GOVERNANCE, INSTITUTIONS AND ACTORS: THE CHALLENGES OF RESEARCHING SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLEXITY

Coordinators: Dr Daanish Mustafa (KCL), Tiago Freitas (KCL), Kay Phanthuwongpakdee

Date: 4^th November 2015

Time: 11h00 – 13h00

Venue: Old Committee room, Strand Building, KCL

Description: Dr Daanish Mustafa will give an overview on the theoretical and epistemological questions that arise in socio-environmental research, namely in what regards interplay of governance, institutions and actors. Tiago Freitas will present a case study from the Brazilian Amazon and Kay Phanthuwongpakdee a case study from Thailand.

Session 5

GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Coordinators: Dr Deborah Potts (KCL) and Giovanna Grandoni (KCL)

Date: 11^th November 2015

Time: 17h00 – 19h00

Venue: Old Committee room, Strand Building, KCL

Description: Dr Deborah Potts will explain the socio-economic aspects of natural resource management from a gender perspective. Giovanna Grandoni will introduce the gendered implications of natural resource management in small rural communities in the Northeast of Brazil.

Session 6

THE SPACE AND PLACE OF INDIGENOUS AND RIVERINE PEOPLES IN THE NATIONAL STATE

Coordinators: Dr Emily Woodhouse (UCL), Carolina Comandulli (UCL) and Rafael Chiaravalotti (UCL)

Date: 18^th November 2015

Time: 18h00 – 20h00

Venue: Council Room, King’s Building, KCL

Description: Dr. Emily Woodhouse will give an introduction about cultural, institutional and livelihood dimensions of indigenous and traditional communities and its interaction with conservation agenda. This will be followed by the presentation of case studies by Carolina Comandulli and Rafael Chiaravalloti focusing on the identification of strategies that can foster the sustainable development in the Amazon and the Pantanal Wetland through promoting maintenance of biodiversity, while supporting socio-economic development.