CLIMATE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH
By Dorte Larsen, Communications Officer
The initiative ‘HUM Climate and Green Transition’ brings together researchers at the Department of Culture and Learning who work with climate, sustainability and green transition - or simply have an interest in the topics. The aim is to strengthen humanities research in this field and to raise awareness of the topics and perspectives that constitute the results of the researchers’ work. A new website will help render visible the humanistic perspectives in the areas of Climate, Sustainability and Green Transition.
Climate changes lead to expectations and demands for green transition in different forms and compositions all over the globe. Both phenomena - climate and green transition - call for humanities research and its important, diverse contributions. The field of humanities research is distinguished by, e.g., the ability to ask ethical, qualitative, value-focused and justice-related questions to our way of life.
The network has just completed a workshop
During the network’s initial workshop, Associate Professor Lill Rastad Bjørst gave a brief historical retrospective of the concept of sustainability. Lill said:
“Climate research today lacks focus on the human dimension, and there is an urgent need for SSH climate research. In climate research, interdisciplinary initiatives are needed, and here AAU has special advantages when it comes working across research fields”, Lill Rastad Bjørst concluded.
Then Head of Department Keld Thorgård spoke and emphasised, in particular, the following:
“We know that climate changes are here, and climate matters to us humans. The effects of climate changes are noticeable in many different ways, which is reflected in the research that takes place both here at the department and across SSH. In the network, we will now gather and coordinate the effort in the field more efficiently. We will do this partly to stimulate cooperation across the department but also to stimulate cooperation with other research communities and other external partners”, Keld Thorgård concluded.
Presentation of six green research projects
At the workshop, six researchers presented their work on themes related to climate and green transition. The presentations helped shed light on what is being researched within the green area at the Department of Culture and Learning and two other SSH institutes. The six perspectives presented were:
- Jesper Willaing Zeuthen, Department of Politics and Society: “Totally Green. Green as an development model in an authoritarian state”
- Jens Kirk, Department of Culture and Learning: “Green transitions and English contemporary literature”
- Lill Rastad Bjørst, Department of Culture and Learning:
“FACE-IT - The Future of Arctic Coastal Ecosystems - Identifying Transitions in Fjord Systems and Adjacent Costal Areas”
- Laura Bang Lindegaard, Department of Culture and Learning “Travelling together”
- Anders Horsbøll, Department of Communication and Psychology “People, climate and green transition”
Astrid Oberborbeck Andersen, Department of Culture and Learning:
“Muskox Pathways: Ecologies and Resources in Greenland”. Astrid posted a video greeting from her fieldwork in Greenland and encouraged participation in The Network for Global Justice and the Environmental Humanities.
Lill Rastad Bjørst: about the FACE-IT research project (In Danish)
Funding opportunities and further progress
Finally, the participants were informed about the possibilities for funding and EU funds, as Funding Advisor Esben Hjuler from the Office for Fundraising and Project Management gave a presentation at the workshop.
The next event in the network is in November. Here, the focus will be on business-oriented cooperation in relation to private and public companies and organisations.
Contact persons at the Department of Culture and Learning
Lill Rastad Bjørst, Associate Professor, rastad@hum.aau.dk
Jes Lynning Harfeld, Associate Professor, harfeld@hum.aau.dk
Nikolaj Stegeager, Associate Professor, nikolaj@hum.aau.dk
Astrid Oberborbeck Andersen, Associate Professor, aoan@hum.aau.dk
