Blog

Advancing research and beyond: Impressions on an ecosystem services summer school

Tuesday, October 24, 2017 by Ana Carolina Esteves Dias

12th ALTER-Net summer school
August 30 – September 10, 2017

ALTER-Net summer school was a laboratory on what it means to be a scientist – personally and professionally. The summer school is organized every year by ‘A Long-Term Biodiversity, Ecosystem and Awareness Research Network’ (ALTER-Net), a European network. Its 12th edition, “Biodiversity, ecosystem services: Science and its impact on policy and society”, focused on putting science into practice and demystifying myths about academia.

‘Finding a Home’: Reflections on Resilience 2017

Thursday, September 28, 2017 by Evan Andrews

Resilience 2017, Stockholm, Sweden (August 20-23, 2017)

Before I began my PhD, my Master’s supervisor encouraged me to “find a home” with a community of scholars and practitioners with whom I could share my ideas and engage in discussions. I have heard other scholars mention the importance of their homes, when they say things like, “I am going to this conference because these are my people.”

Exploring Access Issues in Coastal and Marine Social-Ecological Systems in Canada

Tuesday, September 19, 2017 by Irene Brueckner-Irwin and Sondra Eger

On World Oceans Day (June 8, 2017), we met for a 2-day workshop at the University of British Columbia to discuss oceans and fisheries access issues in Canada. Access cluster co-leads – Megan Bailey and Nathan Bennett – organized the workshop in order to launch the OceanCanada Access working group, with the goals of taking stock of access issues in Canada, as well as identifying the linkages between access and the wellbeing of coastal communities.

Building Narratives Through our Connections with Nature

Monday, June 5, 2017 by Irene Brueckner-Irwin

Another doom and gloom story, another reason to disengage. Even the most passionate students around me toil with feelings of apathy and desensitization when we hear about our impending doom as millennials. Sustainability discourse reminds us that we’ve been dealt a rough hand when it comes to the significant environmental threats we will face, and we’re only the first wave of ‘future generations’ who will encounter them.

Enhancing the achievability of SDG 6

Monday, March 20, 2017 by Dani Lindamood

The United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are centered around the ideas of social and environmental justice. Within each goal, the targets seek to address both human and environmental issues – to strike a balance between the needs of our species and the planet that gives us life. Continue reading Enhancing the achievability of SDG 6.

An inside look at the Collaborative Water Program

Monday, March 20, 2017 by Dani Lindamood

Dedicating my life and studies to the world of water is one of the most beautiful accidents that has ever happened to me. This accidental foray into water began for me in 2014. With a background in global studies, I found myself working as a sustainable development intern in The Gambia with low-tech waste water systems and community-based water solutions. Continue reading An inside look at the Collaborative Water Program.

Governance across the Land-Sea Interface: Challenges and Opportunities

Friday, August 26, 2016 by Jeremy Pittman and Jorge Álvarez-Romera

In the context of increasing pressures on the land-sea interface, the role of governance is a potentially important, yet unfortunately an understudied consideration in our pursuit of sustainability. Existing governance can set the course for the fragmented decision-making that currently spawns many inappropriate uses of coastal areas and watersheds (e.g., land-clearing for agriculture without considering reef sedimentation).

Uncertainty in the Bay of Fundy

Tuesday, June 21, 2016 by Irene Brueckner-Irwin, MES Candidate

Last week, I attended the “Fundy in Flux: Challenges for Science, Policy and Society” science workshop, hosted by the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership (BoFEP) in Fredericton. BoFEP is a transdisciplinary partnership which promotes ecological integrity, biodiversity, and productivity for the wellbeing of coastal communities.

Communities, conservation & the ECGG: an international partnership

Sunday, June 14, 2015 by Samantha M. Berdej & Cheryl Chan

Earlier this month, four ECGG members headed to beautiful Tofino, British Columbia as part of the Community Conservation Research Network (CCRN). The SSHRC-funded CCRN is an international partnership of university researchers, aboriginal and government organizations, community partners, and non-government organizations that have come together to explore linkages between communities, conservation and livelihoods around the world.

Transversal topics in the governance of the commons

Wednesday, May 20, 2015 by Michael Tjendra

No matter the research context or question, transversal or cross-cutting topics are embedded within political, social, economic and cultural dimensions of governance. Colonialism, paternalism and conflict are some examples of transversal topics often influencing who makes decisions and what roles and responsibilities different actors may have in the governance of common resources. Research that acknowledges these topics provides broad perspectives on justice, inequality, and power.