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Introduction
The Environmental Inequalities seminar series will bring together academics and
practitioners from all disciplines engaged in environmental inequalities
research. Focusing on a wide range of environment and social justice issues, the
series seeks to review and consolidate progress on environmental inequalities
research in the UK, and to build capacity and help shape the future direction of
interdisciplinary research in this important area.
Environmental inequality refers to the unequal social distribution of
environmental risks and hazards and access to environmental goods and services.
Researchers and policymakers in the UK are increasingly recognising that poor
local environmental quality and differential access to environmental goods and
services have a detrimental effect on the quality of life experienced by
deprived communities, vulnerable individuals (such as the very young, very old
and those experiencing chronic ill health) and socially excluded and
marginalised groups. As such, addressing environmental inequalities is
recognised as a significant policy challenge from local to global levels and has
been identified a cross-cutting priority within the UK Government’s Sustainable
Development Strategy (www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/publications/uk-strategy/uk-strategy-2005.htm)
Aims and objectives
The overall aim of the seminar series is to promote interdisciplinary
collaboration and capacity building to better equip the researchers,
policymakers and practitioners to address the challenges of addressing
environmental inequalities. In particular, it will:
- Establish a network of interdisciplinary scientists, policymakers and practitioners
concerned with addressing environmental inequalities
- Map and review the current state-of-the-art of environmental
inequalities research in the UK
- Promote the exchange of information about current research both within
the UK and with selected international colleges
- Improve the conceptual, theoretical and methodological basis for future
basic, applied and policy research
- Identify opportunities for strengthening the research base through
future interdisciplinary collaboration and capacity building
An interdisciplinary approach
Addressing environmental inequalities requires a knowledge and
understanding of both natural and socio-technical systems, and the
adoption of a range of disciplinary and methodological approaches. In
each of the topic-focussed seminars, an interdisciplinary approach will
be used to demonstrate the relevance of environmental science and social
science to questions of social justice. The seminars will enable
challenging questions to be explored around the role and legitimacy of
different research methodologies, the use of evidence in policy making,
and understandings of environmental science amongst different social
groups.Cross-cutting
themes
There are seven cross cutting themes for the seminar series:
- Conceptualisation
How can we understand and conceptualise environmental inequality and injustice?
- Prioritisation
What cases and forms of environmental inequality and injustice become important and why?
- Evidence
What evidence is needed and being used in order to substantiate claims of environmental inequality and injustice?
- Science
What challenges are presented for the environmental and health sciences by the need to assess and evaluate evidence of environmental inequalities?
- Causation
What processes and policies create and contribute to the existence and sustenance of environmental inequalities?
- Response
How can the non-governmental and governmental community respond to and address environmental inequalities/injustices?
- Transdisciplinarity
What are the disciplinary implications of seeking to understand and address environmental inequalities?
Funding
Financial support for the SDRN Environmental Inequalities seminar series
has been provided under the ERSC/NERC Trans-disciplinary Seminar Scheme,
with additional support from the Environment Agency and Defra.
Participation
In order to facilitate meaningful discussion and exchange each of the
seminars will involve a maximum of 25-30 participants. Given the
limitation of space and other resources, participation will be strictly
by invitation. Particular emphasis will be placed upon interdisciplinary
dialogue, and facilitating the active participation of
junior/postgraduate researchers, as well as policymakers and
practitioners from local and regional government and the NGO community.
Outputs & dissemination
The seminar series will be promoted through the Sustainable Development
Research Network (SDRN). The Environmental Justice Research and
Resources web site at Lancaster University will host the seminar series
web pages providing access to copies of all agendas, working papers and
presentations from the seminars. The final seminar in the series will be
held at Defra in London and will be specifically geared towards
disseminating key messages to a policy and practitioner audience.
Seminar speakers will be encouraged to develop papers for publication in
peer reviewed journals. In addition key papers from seminar series will
form the basis special issue of the journal ‘Local Environment’ on
Sustainable Consumption and Inequality (with papers from seminar 2) and
an edited book.
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Seminar 1