CfP: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Climate and Biodiversity Crises
Over the past centuries, the industrialisation of Western
societies gradually impacted nature, and environmental problems increase with
globalisation during the last decades. As a consequence, we are now
experiencing major crises which are linked with each other: biodiversity is
disappearing faster and faster, and global warming is escalating, not only
causing unprecedented damage to the Earth, but also unequally and unfairly
affecting different parts of the world. In this context, our summer school
proposes to bring together an interdisciplinary range of researchers interested
in the various implications and interconnections of the climate crisis and the
biodiversity crisis. In doing so, its aims is to foster an interdisciplinary
dialogue on the historical evolutions of these crises, their current realities,
and future pathways for socio-ecological transformation. In short: given the
current context, how can researchers from natural sciences, social sciences,
and humanities address together the causes and effects of climate change and
biodiversity loss, and how can they engage with civil society actors in view of
the needed socio-ecological transformation?
To answer these questions, the research centre on
environment and society (CERES) of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris)
and the environmental unit of the Centre
Marc Bloch (Berlin) will be holding a summer school on
11-14/09/2023 in Paris, in cooperation with the Climate Change Centre Berlin
Brandenburg. In that perspective, we warmly welcome any applications
from junior scientists whose research engages with issues linked to climate
change and/or biodiversity, and who are interested in their interconnections.
Applications from pre-doctoral to doctoral and post-doctoral researchers from
any relevant disciplines will be considered. The summer school will aim
at providing young researchers with an opportunity to present their ongoing
research and to discuss it with each other, as well as with senior researchers
and civil society actors. To do so, the summer school will proceed as
follows:
- Each
participant will send in advance a text that will be passed around, and
then discussed during the summer school.
- Senior
researchers will be delivering lectures on historical and current stakes
of climate and biodiversity crises.
- Daily
sessions in small interdisciplinary groups will be dedicated to the
development of new research ideas.
- A
dialogue between participants and civil society actors will be
established.
Bringing together students, researchers and civil society
actors, the Journée David Claessen, organised by the CERES, will be
closing the summer school on September 14, providing the participants with
an opportunity to present the first results of their group work.
How to apply? Any junior researchers interested
to take part in the summer school will be asked to send an abstract of their
ongoing work (300 words max.), a short academic CV, and a one-page cover letter
in which they will detail their motivation and expectations. Applications
must be submitted as a single pdf sent by March 1 at 12:00 (UTC+1) to summerschool_ens_cmb@protonmail.com
Selected participants will be notified as of April, and then
asked to submit either a raft paper or (part of) a thesis chapter by August 15,
in order for it to be read ahead of the summer school. These texts can be
written in French, in German, or in English, but the language of the summer
school (for presentations, roundtables, and discussions) will be English. We
will organise the accomodation and the catering ourselves, so the participants
will only be asked to pay registration fees covering a part of these costs (the
amount of the registration fees will be specifie later, depending on
third-party funding). Travel costs will be at the expense of the participants,
but a few grants might be allocated to applicants whose participation in the
summer school cannot be financially supported by their home institution. Please
indicate in your cover letter if this applies to you.
Contact Info: Benjamin Beuerle, Postdoctoral researcher at the Marc Bloch Center (Berlin)