Title: Reframing Global Environmental Change: fostering interdisciplinary approaches to socioecological transformation through insights from Wales.
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: As societies grapple with issues such as climate change and species loss, and following a widespread loss of faith in the notion of "sustainable development", reframing debates about what constitutes a sustainable future is an urgent task in the 21 st Century. The aim of the proposed fellowship is to contribute to this endeavor by developing interdisciplinary approaches for understanding and responding to global environmental change, building on novel insights from my PhD research. The issues the fellowship will explore and communicate are (1) the role of emotion, imagination and creativity in bringing about transformations, as opposed to exclusively technological and scientific approaches; (2) the importance of language in constructing our perceived relationships with one another and the environment; (3) insights from artistic practice which might help people to allow for, and work with, future complexity and uncertainty. These issues are important because they bring new ideas about the root causes of environmental crises and their possible solutions to light, and thus-if communicated effectively-will contribute to wider social transformation. A major aim of the fellowship is to share insights and engage with research stakeholders in Wales (where the research is based). In particular, I will disseminate my findings regarding the Welsh Government's Well-being of Future Generations Act (2015). This is a pioneering piece of legislation that has been praised by the United Nations, but which, as indicated in my PhD, reproduces some troubling ideas about how best to respond to environmental change. By organising workshops, I will bring these findings to light with policy-makers and practitioners, and will facilitate dialogue so that other framings can be adopted in the future. In addition, I will invite other stakeholders, such as artists and grassroots organisations to communicate their own approaches to social and ecological transformation, therefore stimulating cross-sector discussion and igniting possibilities for cultural changes. The insights from my PhD are also of international academic interest, particularly in relation to environmental governance and transformation. The fellowship will be directed at making specific contributions to the emerging research field known as the Environmental Humanities (EH), and towardsestablishing myself as a leading researcher in this field. EH has an ambitious and important agenda, in academia and beyond. It recognises that sustainable futures are not going to be achieved solely through science, technology, and engineering, and urges that fundamental questions about what it means to be human, and about what kinds of politics, cultures and economies we want, must underpin our transformations in response to environmental crises. My aims for the fellowship are well aligned with this agenda, as I seek to combine theory and practice from the social sciences, arts, humanities and the natural sciences. Such an approach blurs traditional disciplinary boundaries, therefore fostering the kinds of interconnected and holistic forms of knowledge that are necessary for responding to complex global problems. Finally, I will also use the fellowship to diversify my writing skills in service of non-academic readerships. By publishing in public platforms (magazines and blogs, for example) in addition to academic journals, I will not only expand the reach of my research findings and ideas, but I will also contribute to one of the key aims of EH, that is, to find and generate new narratives that are capable of helping people understand---individually and collectively---how to live with and respond to environmental change.


Research activity codes: 1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE