29 July 2021 (5:00-6:00 PM JST)
About the Webinar
Principles of environmental governance have been grounded in informed multi-stakeholder dialogue and hopes that shared interests in environmental challenges will encourage collaboration across diverse interests and political boundaries. Much research effort has been directed at generating scientific evidence so that policy makers can make optimal decisions. Yet in many cases, policy decisions and actions on the ground seem to go against scientific evidence of environmental risk, and indeed common sense.
In this NERPS webinar, Dr Richard Friend will argue the need to understand both the forces that drive patterns of environmental change and the politics of knowledge if we are to exert influence and deliver positive change. Ultimately this requires rethinking science and research as not exclusively the domain of experts, but as engaged, public processes that can mobilise and empower citizens across fault-lines of environmental tension and conflict.
About the Speaker
Dr. Richard Friend is an Associate Professor in Human Geography and Environment at the University of York (UK), and the university’s Research Champion for Risk, Evidence and Decision-making. With an academic background in social anthropology and development studies he joined York in 2016 after a 20 year career as a practitioner in international development. Much of his work has been at the interface of research, policy and practice.
About the NERPS Webinar Series
The Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS) at Hiroshima University in Japan is hosting a series of webinars on the relationship between peace and sustainability in the context of environmental, socio-political, economic, and technological transformations. This series is situated within the urgent need to deal with the implications of global change, including the COVID-19 pandemic, for peace and sustainability. The webinar sessions serve as a platform for rethinking and updating the current discourse on peace and sustainability amidst these global challenges and transformations. Leading experts will discuss the role of resources, digital technologies, migration, governance, and education in peacebuilding, conflict mitigation, humanitarian aid, and capacity-building, among other components that contribute to the achievement of the Sustainability Development Goals, particularly that of Goal 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.