Nicola Thomas, Blake Ewing, Enaiê Mairê Azambuja & Nsah Mala
October 22, 2024 | 12.00-13.00 | Auerbach library
(Wienand house, back building, 3rd floor, Weyertal 59, 50937 Cologne)
This multi- and transdisciplinary research project, funded by the British Academy, seeks to uncover the ways in which different conceptualisations and experiences of time and temporality in conservation wetlands can inhibit or facilitate environmental interventions to preserve biodiversity. Time is central to conversations about climate change and conservation practice in the Anthropocene, which unsettles human narratives of progress, development, and freedom. But the accompanying prescription for ‘deep time’ and planetary thinking to solve ecological problems often threatens to dominate and overwrite the messy, locally-specific and culturally sensitive times that underpin the human relationship with nature. This project uses the 'temporal ecosystems' of three global wetland sites (Morecambe Bay, UK; the northern European Wadden Sea; and the Congo Basin peatlands) to investigatethe different ways in which time is conceptualised, experienced, and described in these vulnerable and complex landscapes, and show how productive use of (dis)ordered, multiple temporalities can be made. Findings will inform conservation and environmental education practices across these three sites by enriching understanding of time in the Anthropocene, empowering communities to reconsider prevailing temporal narratives, and facilitating knowledge exchange between wetland research and visitor centres. In our talk, we briefly present the project framing and provide updates on its implementation, including what has been done, what remains to be done, and potential avenues for collaboration, as well as alignment with ongoing initiatives at BRIDGES-MESH-GSSC.