EEDN was initiated in early 2018 in order to bring together academics and practitioners working on issues of environment and development from around Edinburgh. Image The network aims to promote discussion around topics of interest, a sharing of knowledge and experience, a greater awareness of each other’s work, potential to collaborate on proposals and projects, and just a chance to get to know each other. We meet once a month (except in the summer; June-August) for discussions on topics introduced by members of the network, with facilitation aimed at sharing expertise and experiences amongst all those present. Sessions take place on Thursdays 16:00-17:30 at ECCI, with refreshments provided. We welcome all new members and all ideas for topics and formats for meetings, so please do get in touch if you’d like to join or share your ideas: Sam Staddon (sam.staddon@ed.ac.uk) and Clare Barnes (c.barnes@ed.ac.uk). Our 2023/2024 Spring programme Date and time Title Speaker(s) Location 25 January 16:00 - 18:00 Regenerative forestry, what is it and is Scotland ready for it? Addendum in response to Q&A: Look to Ireland for how to move gently towards different silvicultural systems: Landmark Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) Scheme Announced - Pro Silva Ireland Willie McGhee, The Forest Policy Group The Pod, ECCI 15 February 16:00 - 18:00 Urbanisation and Environmentalism in Malawian State Building: Turning Tensions into Synergies? Matt Lane, University of Edinburgh The Pod, ECCI 21 March 16:00 - 18:00 Christianity and conservation agriculture in Kenya Peter Rowe, University of Edinburgh The Pod, ECCI 2 May 16:00 - 18:00 Just transformations: Grassroots Struggles for Alternative Futures Iokiñe Rodríguez, University of East Anglia Training & Skills, ECCI 6 June, 16:00 - 18:00 Climate adaptation Sarah Knight and Simon Mercer, Mercy Corps Training & Skills, ECCI Our 2023/24 Autumn programme Date and time Title Speaker(s) Location 24 August 16:00 - 18:00 Why promoting a conservation ethos in Australia is a challenge Dr Rochelle Steven, School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Murdoch University Training & Skills, ECCI 21 September 16:00 - 18:00 'Cattle in the Community Forest': Documentary Film Screening & Discussion James Robinson High School Yards Teaching Centre Room G.02 12 October 16:00 - 18:00 Supporting community-led conservation in Scotland International conservation organisation Fauna & Flora, and the community initiatives Edinburgh Shoreline and Restoration Forth will discuss their experiences in supporting and delivering community led conservation in Scotland, including supporting the Coastal Communities Network Conference Room, ECCI 30 November 16:00 - 18:00 Restoring Peace with Nature - to coincide with 'Lost Species Day' https://www.lostspeciesday.org Julian Caldecott Conference Room, ECCI 14 December 16:00 - 18:00 Nitrogen with a social sciences twist Dr Annie Yang, University of Edinburgh Training & Skills, ECCI Our past sessions Our 2022/23 programme Date and time Title Speaker(s) Location 15 June 16:00 - 18:00 Presentation of a short film showcasing Clare and Sam's recent work with colleagues in Nepal: Collective Reflective Learning for Social Justice in Nepal’s Community-Based Natural Resource Management EEDN annual summer social Sam Staddon and Clare Barnes Training & Skills, ECCI 25 May 16:00 - 17:30 "What is 'coexistence'? Considering the case of Nepal's tigers and people" Bivishika Bhandari, WWF Nepal The Pod, ECCI 30 March 16:00 - 17:30 "Land for What? Land for Whom? Senses of Place and Conflict in the Scottish Highlands" Bonnie Vandesteeg High School Yards Teaching Centre Room G.02 12 January 16:00 - 17:30 "The health effects of air pollution: democratizing models and measurements to inform global policy decisions" Dr Sumil Thakrar, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota Training & Skills, ECCI 1 December 16:00 - 17:30 "A clash between project desires and investor desires: Examples from the voluntary carbon market". Discussing the market trade-offs when it comes to scaling up the conservation or restoration projects around the world. Luke Howard, Plan Vivo The Pod, ECCI 27 October "What can Conservation and Agriculture take from Political Ecology?" We aligned with the POLLEN online workshop 'Political Ecology, Conservation & Agrarian Change'; watching some of the presentations and following with a panel discussion Panelists: Dr Shubbhi Sharma, feminist political ecologist, School of Social and Political Sciences Dr Silvia Perez-Espona, conservation geneticist and Coordinator of Edinburgh Conservation Science) Dr Alfy Gathorne-Hardy, agricultural scientist, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems Conference Room, ECCI 12 October 16:00 - 17:30 "Gendered Surplus People, Food Security, and Maladaptation to Climate Change in Northern Ghana", a co-sponsored event between the Centre for African Studies, EEDN, and POLLEN (the Political Ecology Reading Group) Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong 7 George Square, Room S.1 29 September 16:00 - 18:00 PhD Sharing (...of passion, tips, connections, ideas, solidarity from across the network) Document One piece of advice to other PhD students and to yourself (180.43 KB / PDF) Anyone wanting to share their PhD-related experiences Training & Skills, ECCI Our 2021/22 programme Date and time Title Speaker(s) Location 23 June EEDN Summer Social catered for by Edinburgh Food Social, with delivery by Farr Out. 7 April Document 'Tipping points and deadline-aware climate emergency investments' (3.61 MB / PDF) You can click on the pdf link above for slides of the talk, or watch it here. Dr Julian Caldecott Conference Room, ECCI 17 March Document 'Opening the ‘black box’ of international development projects: methods and opportunities for exploring project practices' (770.65 KB / PDF) Jack Covey, PhD candidate at University of Edinburgh Conference Room, ECCI 27 January Document Water Witness on 'How to solve the global water crisis: five imperatives and the key questions we face' (6.26 MB / PDF) Gaia Marini and Nick Hepworth from Water Witness Conference Room, ECCI 18 November Document Policy making: science or scientists-led? Exploration of the use of evidence in development and environment policy and practice (3.94 MB / PDF) Yvan Biot Conference Room, ECCI Spring 2020 Date and time Title Speaker(s) Location 23 January, 16:00 - 17:30 Document Long-term engagement in Nepal's environmental governance (5.16 MB / PDF) Prof Andrea Nightingale, University of Oslo, Norway ECCI 27 February, 16:00 - 17:30 (cancelled due to the pandemic) UK housing policy learning from former colonies in the global South Matt Lane, University of Edinburgh ECCI 26 March, 16:00 - 17:30 (cancelled due to the pandemic) Indigenous map making in the Ecuadorian Amazon Aliya Ryan, Digital Democracy ECCI Autumn 2019 Date Title Speaker(s) 17 October Document When tree planting damages ecosystems (4.89 MB / PDF) Caroline Lehmann, University of Edinburgh 14 November Document Pracademic: bridging the gap between science and practice for disaster management and climate change adaptation (6.33 MB / PDF) Kate Crowley, University of Edinburgh 12 December Document Faith in the Forest: the enjoyments and challenges of working for an environmental Christian organisation (5.92 MB / PDF) Nicholas Warren, A Rocha Spring 2019 17 January Coastal livelihood interventions Mike Riddell, The Landscapes and Livelihoods Group 28 February Learning lessons from projects, places & people Clare Barnes, Gary Watmough, Sam Staddon, University of Edinburgh 14 March Technologies in natural resource governance Margherita Scazza, University of Edinburgh 4 April Ecosystems and urban vulnerability: why is research evidence ignored in Asia and beyond? Jim Jarvie, Thismiafocus Autumn 2018 25 October Livelihoods and Rights-based approaches to natural resource management Peter O’Hara, Participatory Natural Resource Management 22 November Involving business in conservation and development Tillem Burlace, LTS International 13 December Indigenous communities Peter Branney, a private consultant Some thoughts from our members I really liked the dynamic of the EEDN session, nice interaction between practitioners and researchers I thought. Great initiative…nice to catch up with old colleagues and meet new people. It was a fantastic session, and really great to see you and lots of familiar faces, and of course the students who really bring a lot to it. The presentation and research was really topical and thought-provoking, particularly as I came to the session from designing a similar project ...and so really nice to have a space to step back and think about these approaches. A quick note to thank you and your team for the event yesterday. A stimulating talk and great to meet people with similar interests. I’m certainly interested in continuing attendance. This article was published on 2022-10-27
