GW4 Environmental Humanities
University of Bath: Axel Goodbody
University of Bristol: Peter Coates
Cardiff University: Ria Dunkley
University of Exeter: Nicola Whyte (PI)
Background
Some of the most pressing challenges of our time are climate and environmental change, but scientists and policy-makers cannot solve these problems on their own. The shaping of perceptions of environmental problems and solutions by historical experience and cultural values needs to be foregrounded in current research and debate. Moreover, while public engagement with climate and sustainability action is recognised as being central to processes of societal transition, the barriers to such engagement have yet to be overcome. Therefore, there is a critical imperative to bring these issues under further scrutiny from an interdisciplinary humanities perspective, that will have wider relevance beyond Wales and the South West.
Project Summary
Funding was used to run two workshops on two consecutive days. The first day focused discussions on cultural memory and sustainability, bringing together GW4 academics to realise their common ground, share cross disciplinary perspectives and ideas and look ahead to building collaborative research projects. Discussions on the second day were more strategically focused on devising a practical plan to facilitate ongoing work and mapping the future trajectory of the community. The community continued collaboration via an internal webpage, compiled a bibliography of key texts from each discipline to share and reached out to external stakeholders to join the group.
