August 25, 2016
Rodina, L & L. M. Harris (2016). Water Services, Lived Citizenship, and Notions of the State in Marginalised Urban Spaces: The case of Khayelitsha, South Africa. Water Alternatives 9(2): 336-355.
Resilience in South Africa’s urban water landscape
https://theconversation.com/resilience-in-south-africas-urban-water-landscape-60461
Photo credit: (South Africa) Christopher Griner from flickr/Creative Commons
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
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Abstract: Wastewater reuse has become an accepted practice in cities and peri-urban areas. However, in developing country settings, wastewater reuse presents multiple challenges. First, water treatment infrastructure is limited, implying that water reused may not meet the required water quality standards. Second, food crops grown in peri-urban areas and irrigated with contaminated urban wastewater pose health risk. Third, in water stressed cities, demand for wastewater may result in competing claims over it and lead to or aggravate conflicts between various users, such as urban residents and peri-urban farmers. I will draw upon research conducted in the water stressed city of Bangalore (also known as Bengaluru) in India and its peri-urban areas to illustrate these issues. In particular, I will focus on how peri-urban agriculture in the region has changed over the last 20 years, the role of urban wastewater and possible contestations around it.
Bio: Bejoy K Thomas is a social scientist, and Fellow in the Water, Land and Society programme at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore, India. He has a Masters in Economics (Cochin, 2001) and a PhD in Development Studies (Tilburg, 2009). Thomas has a strong record of conducting problem driven research and working in interdisciplinary teams along with environmental scientists and engineers. His early work was on multidimensional poverty and participatory development. He has recently been part of a large research initiative on water in urbanizing areas, looking specifically at peri-urban areas and villages around Bangalore. Visit http://www.atree.org/research/ced/lwl/ACCUWa
Byramangala reservoir near Bengaluru, India
Photo credit: ACCUWa project team
Below is the video shown in Bejoy Thomas’ presentation.
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Abstract: It is often claimed that decisions should be based on the best available evidence. For conservation practitioners, managers and policy-makers, this requires an understanding of both the natural and human dimensions of environmental issues. The term “human dimensions” refers broadly to the set of social, economic, cultural, political, and institutional considerations related to a problem. The social sciences are one means through which we can seek to understand the human dimensions of conservation. In this talk, I will explore the results of a recent collaboration that examined the scope, focus, tools and contributions of the conservation social sciences. Next, I will turn to a discussion of how the results of social science can be communicated to guide conservation policy and practice at local and global scales. To illustrate, I will draw from my recent research projects, publications and a global “think tank” on the human dimensions of marine conservation.
Bio: Dr. Nathan Bennett is a broadly trained environmental social scientist whose work interrogates various aspects of the complex relationship between the marine environment and human society with a solution-oriented lens. His publications and research interests are broad – with projects focusing on the human dimensions of small and large-scale marine protected areas globally, responses of coastal communities to environmental change in Southeast Asia and North America, marine planning initiatives in North America, the social side of fisheries management and issues related to global ocean politics and governance. Nathan has a PhD in Geography (UVic, 2013), an MS in Environmental Studies (Lakehead, 2009) and a Bachelor of Education (UVic, 2002). He is currently cross-appointment as a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington and a Liber Ero Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia. He is also an affiliate of the Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford, the OceanCanada Partnership, and the Community Conservation Research Network and serves as a senior advisor to the IUCN’s Global Economics and Social Science Program.
Affiliations:
Contact: nathan.bennett@ubc.ca and http://nathanbennett.ca
Photo credit: Sameer Shah
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
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Abstract:
Global climate change and local air pollution both result from the combustion of fossil fuels and biomass. In addition to their local impacts, air pollutants also influence the global radiative balance. Some local pollutants such as Black Carbon particles (BC) and Ozone contribute to heat trapping while others such as Sulfate Aerosols cool the global atmosphere. The idea that that there are common sources of air pollution and greenhouse warming has led analysts to search for ‘co-benefits’, i.e., ways of reducing air pollution that secondarily help meet climate reduction goals, or conversely, meeting climate goals while improving local air quality as an attendant consequence. The co-benefits framing is particularly attractive for developing countries, because it suggests a ‘win-win’. In this ‘win-win’ framing of the problem, developing countries can improve air quality – an important short term development goal, while reducing radiative forcing of the planet and contributing to longer term climate goals. This talk examines the validity and usefulness of a ‘co-benefits’ framing in a major developing country. I use India – a country that is the world’s fourth largest emitter of GHGs, and also one facing severe and often catastrophic air pollution – to examine the scope of the air pollution challenge that India faces and to assess the extent to which there is, in fact, a climate/air quality win-win.
Bio:
Milind Kandlikar is Professor at IRES and the Liu Institute of Global Issues. He works at the intersection of technology innovation, human development and the environment, and his current projects are in two thematic areas. First, his work on the risks, benefits, regulation and social acceptance of emerging bio and nano technologies includes research on differences in expert and lay understanding of risks, expert judgment tools for assessing novel risks, and new/novel regulatory challenges of emerging technologies. He also works on the science, policy and politics of biotechnologies in the developing world, and more recently, on the emerging challenges of gene editing and gene drives. His second area of work relates to climate change in the developing world – including climate co-benefits from air quality improvements, climate finance and adaptation, and assessments of ‘development friendly’ technologies such as off-grid solar and improved cook-stoves. Milind has also published extensively on the science and policy of climate change including: on the role of uncertainty in scientific assessments and climate mitigation policy; on questions of detection and attribution of climate change; on modeling agricultural adaption in industrialized and developing countries. He is a visiting professor in the Climate Studies Program at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, and was a Reid Fellow (2012-13) at Princeton University. He has been a contributing author to four reports of the IPCC. He has a Bachelors from IIT Bombay and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University.
Photo credit: Global Panorama from flickr/Creative Commons
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
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Abstract:
The Columbia River Treaty is an international water agreement between the U.S. and Canada governing the use of upper Columbia River water for hydro-power efficiencies and flood control of urban areas. Signed in 1961 and implemented in 1964, the treaty did not take into consideration the loss of agricultural land, ecological values such as fish and riparian losses, or tribal/First Nations needs. With the treaty now up for possible renewal, how might the agreement be altered to support the return of a more sustainable and ecologically integrated Columbia River system? What would a more sustainable system of dams and storage reservoirs look like? What are the cultural challenges that stand in the way of achieving this goal?
Bio:
Eileen Delehanty Pearkes lives in Nelson, B.C., where she writes about landscape and human history. Particularly interested in the indigenous world view, her book A Geography of Memory (2002), about the only “extinct” First Nation in Canada, has opened many eyes to a long lost story and increased understanding of the dramatic changes experienced by the landscape and First People where she lives. A River Captured: the Columbia River Treaty and Catastrophic Change (2016) is the result of 10 years of research and writing. An American educated at Stanford University (BA, 1983) and the University of B.C. (MA, 1992), she has lived in Canada for three decades. Her perspective is uniquely bi-national and firmly grounded in place.
Website: edpearkes.com
There will be some copies of A River Captured: the Columbia River Treaty and Catastrophic Change (2016) for sale in the AERL Theatre after Eileen’s seminar. Total cost $21. Payable by cash, credit card or debit. This book is also available for sale in the UBC Bookstore.
Eileen’s second book, The Geography of Memory: Recovering Stories of a Landscape’s First People, will also be for sale in the AERL Theatre after the seminar. Total cost $20. Payable by cash only.
Photo Exhibition
Where:
Liu Institute for Global Issues, Lobby Gallery
6476 NW Marine Drive
Vancouver, BC Canada, V6T 1Z2
When:
Photographs will hang from 1 September to 30 November 2016
Exhibition Description:
High places––mountains and the Arctic––are home to some of the planet’s most distinctive cultures, unique ecosystems, and compelling landscapes; they are also among the most environmentally sensitive areas on the planet. This sensitivity, and its attendant social and ecological implications, is a timely concern now that the planet has entered the Anthropocene, a period when human activities are driving rapid, global-scale changes in the biosphere. However, while scholarly work on the Anthropocene is of growing interest, engagement with the topic to date has been primarily theoretical. In this exhibition environmental change researcher Graham McDowell draws together photographs from his work in high places (e.g. Greenland, the Himalayas, and the Canadian Arctic) to help ground-truth our understanding of this new period in Earth’s history. His photographs reveal the multitude of ways in which places, people, and ecosystems in high mountains and the Arctic experience and respond to environmental change, drawing attention to the tension between profound change and often underappreciated occurrences of socio-ecological continuity. His exhibition aims to provoke more meaningful and productive discussions about how the Anthropocene intersects with concerns related to sustainability, social justice, and human security, within and beyond high places.
(Photo credit: Graham McDowell)
Photographer Bio:
Graham McDowell is an environmental change researcher working in high mountain and Arctic regions. His research is focused on vulnerability, adaptation, and transformation with a particular emphasis on the development of governance strategies that promote human well-being and ecological resilience in the context of a changing cryosphere. Graham has led projects in the Nepal Himalaya, Rocky Mountains, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic as well as numerous global-scale assessments of environmental change in cold regions. As a photographer, he believes that compelling images from the frontlines of environmental change provide a strong complement to text-based communication approaches. He is also motivated by the challenge of obtaining compelling images in demanding situations, where factors such as cold, altitude, and cross-cultural differences require high levels of tact and resourcefulness in addition to photographic competence. He has been actively involved in the use of photography-based science communication methods for several years, with photos appearing in numerous popular and academic outlets including Vice, CBC News, and Nature Climate Change. Graham is currently a PhD student, Vanier Scholar, Liu Scholar, and Public Scholar at the University of British Columbia, where he is affiliated with the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES). Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, he obtained an MSc in Environmental Change and Management at the University of Oxford and an Honours degree in Geography at McGill University. For more information about Graham’s background and research please see: grahammcdowellresearch.com
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
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This seminar video will be available in 1 to 2 months once Zia Mehrabi’s article is published.
Abstract: Natural disasters can lead to devastating crop yield losses. These yield losses can in turn impact on global food production, influencing trade dynamics, prices and global food security. Despite a well-voiced appreciation that we need a better understanding of how future global food production can absorb or resist shocks, the mechanics of exactly how this can be done is poorly understood. Many questions remained unanswered. Is the world prepared for breadbasket failure? What losses might we expect from multiple co-occurring disasters? Have humans created a global food production system which houses unnecessary risk? In this lecture I will attempt to address these questions with quantitative analysis of global food production data. We will explore if the world currently has all its ‘eggs in one basket’, and what steps we might be able to take to mitigate the risks associated with global food production into the future.
Bio: Zia Mehrabi is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at IRES, with adjunct positions in The Liu institute for Global Studies & The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems. He works on issues of sustainability, resilience, and positive change in the global food system.
Twitter: @ZiaMehrabi
Web: http://www.ramankuttylab.com/
Photo credit: Jill Guerra
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
This IRES Professional Development Seminar will focus on the opportunities, challenges, and tradeoffs of pursuing/holding jobs in academics (e.g. faculty positions).
It will feature a panel discussion with IRES faculty all stars Navin Ramankutty, Jiaying Zhao, and Mark Johnson. Kai Chan will moderate.
Bios:
Dr. Mark Johnson is working to understand how land use practices influence interactions between hydrological and ecological processes, and how these ecohydrological processes further affect ecosystem services including carbon sequestration. Unraveling interactions between the water cycle and the carbon cycle is essential for improving the sustainability of land and water management, especially under changing climatic conditions. Dr. Johnson’s research in ecohydrology demonstrates that soil carbon processes are also integrally important to the health of freshwater ecosystems and drinking water supplies. Dr. Johnson and his team are testing carbon and water cycle interactions to address questions such as: How much carbon does water transport from the land into freshwater systems? His research can also help to answer very applied questions related to soil fertility and water use such as: How much food can be produced in urban environments, and how much water would that require? To address these and other related questions, Johnson is developing innovative approaches to ecohydrological research in partnership with communities, natural resource management agencies and organizations, and industry.
Dr. Navin Ramankutty is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change and Food Security at the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. His research program aims to understand how humans use and modify the Earth’s land surface for agriculture and its implications for the global environment. Using global Earth observations and numerical ecosystem models, his research aims to find solutions to the problem of feeding humanity with minimal global environmental footprint. He contributed to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report and to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He was an editor of the journal Global Food Security and Global Ecology and Biogeography, and is an Associate Editor of Environmental Research Letters. He is a Leopold Leadership Fellow.
What is psychology good for? How can psychology contribute to sustainability? To answer these questions, Dr. Jiaying Zhao aims to use psychological principles to design behavioral solutions to address sustainability challenges. This approach offers insights on how cognitive mechanisms govern human behavior, and how behavioral interventions can inform the design and the implementation of public policy. Dr. Zhao is currently examining the cognitive causes and consequences of scarcity, what behavioral interventions improve the performance in low-income individuals, how to promote recycling and composting behavior, water and energy conservation, what cognitive, motivational, and sociocultural factors shape the perception of climate change, and how to engage the public on biodiversity conservation.
Photo credit: Graham McDowell
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Speakers: RES PhD Candidates Michiko Namazu and Jason Brown
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Abstract:
Vancouver is a metropolitan hub of the carsharing world. The region holds 4 independent carsharing services (Modo, Zipcar, Car2go and Evo) that offer over 2,000 carsharing vehicles in total. A quarter of Vancouver residents are members of carsharing services, and the carshaing fleet size per capita is the largest in North America. However, even though Vancouver is a leader in carsharing, very few attempts have been made so far to understand the roles and meanings of these services. Do these services contribute to reduce greenhouse gases? How about their effects on vehicle dependency? In my talk, I will present my latest findings about the environmental benefits yielded from carsharing. My talk also covers the macro picture of carsharing – the evolution of carsharing services. Vancouver, a pioneer of carsharing, is an ideal region to explore what benefits carsharing services have provided already, and what benefits these services can provide in the future.
Bio:
Michiko is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests are focused around sharing economies, where people share goods rather than own them. She is interested in examining how/whether this shift from ownership to access, enhanced by internet-communication technologies, leads to fewer energy and/or material consumptions. For her Ph.D. thesis, she analyzes carsharing services as an example of a sharing economy. She explores the environmental impacts of carsharing, vehicle ownership reduction by carsharing, characteristics of carsharing users, travel behaviour changes induced by carsharing, etc.
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What is the relationship between religious belief, embodied experience, and the environment? Spiritual Ecology, an emerging discipline at the nexus of the sciences and the humanities, sometimes referred to as Religion and Ecology, seeks to explore this terrain. Jason’s presentation, a case study in Spiritual Ecology, will focus on the relationship that four monastic communities in the American West have developed with their landscapes including both management practices and spiritual practices, embodied experience and religious belief, their sense of place and their sense of ultimate meaning. It is a contemplative ethnography, a geography of the heart, and a spiritual ecology.
Bio:
Jason was born in Southern California, but since 2001 has lived in many different places including the Dominican Republic, Connecticut, Utah, Oregon and, now Vancouver. His undergraduate work was in anthropology at Brigham Young University, where he studied traditional Guatemalan forestry practices. As a joint Master’s student at Yale he studied forestry and theology, going on to work as a professional forester and adjunct professor of Ethics and Religion in Salt Lake City. He is currently a fourth year PhD Candidate with the Institute for the Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) working with Terre Satterfield. His dissertation research focuses on the spiritual ecology of four Catholic monastic communities in the American West, their land use and management, beliefs, sense of place, and embodied spirituality. He is the Co-Founder of the Salish Sea Spiritual Ecology Alliance, and a Co-Producer of Experiencing the Sacred: Where Spirit Meets World in Vancouver, a weekly radio program on Vancouver Coop Radio CFRO 100.5 FM. His blogs on Patheos.com is called Holyscapes. He recently contributed to a volume entitled Coming of Age at the End of Nature: A Generation Faces Living on a Changed Planet.
