Event - Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability will take place on January 29-31, 2020 at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile & University of Chile, Santiago, Chile. The special focus will be Sustainability Lessons in the Global South: Priorities, Opportunities, and Risks. Much of the sustainability literature focuses on the Global North and on issues salient to policy makers in developed countries, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and ozone depletion. By contrast, comparatively little is written on environmental issues in the Global South, which is rich in sustainability experiences and lessons learned in natural resource conservation, and where many of the challenges are being faced on a daily basis with limited financial and human capital resources.

In Latin America, Africa, and much of Asia, communities struggle on a daily basis with environmental hazards as varied as land degradation, drought, salinization, and lack of access to fresh drinking water. ‘Land grabs’ drive deforestation and biodiversity loss, while across the Global South, conflicts between communities, firms, and the state for resource rights and access present risks to livelihoods and life, which in turn are highly uneven according to localities, socio-economic groups, ethnicity, and gender.

A variety of creative thinking and imaginative responses to such challenges can be found across the Global South. Communities are organizing to defend their neighborhoods, forests, and land from incursions by property developers, poachers, and business corporations. A plurality of different visions of environmental justice and social justice have flourished based on gender rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, and rights of nature. Within Latin America, the Andean notions of buen vivir (good living) has found expression in the constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia.

The question of how the sustainability lessons garnered in the Global South can contribute to the transformative social changes necessary to promote sustainability on a global scale, and define short-, medium-, and longer-term priorities, will be considered at the Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability in Santiago, Chile. We warmly welcome proposals for papers, workshops, interactive sessions, posters, and exhibits on this theme and on all dimensions of sustainability. The conference will appeal to scholars, social activists, business people, and policy makers.

Conference Themes

Theme 1: Environmental Sustainability
Theme 2: Sustainability in Economic, Social and Cultural Context
Theme 3: Sustainability Policy and Practice
Theme 4: Sustainability Education 2020 Special Focus - Sustainability Lessons in the "Global South": Priorities, Opportunities, and Risks

Plenary Speakers

Maisa Rojas: Director, Chilean Centre for Climate Science and Resilience (CR)2; Researcher, Millennium Nucleus on Paleoclimate; Associate Professor, Department of Geophysics, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Carolina Schmidt: Minister of the Environment, Government of Chile
Joseluis Samaniego: Director, Human Settlements and Sustainable Development Division, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Conference Chairs
David Humphreys: Professor of Environmental Policy, The Open University, United Kingdom
Jonathan Barton: Associate Professor, Institute of Geography, and Associate Researcher, Centre of Sustainable Urban Development, Pontifical Catholic University, Santiago, Chile
Maria Fragkou: Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

Click here to register.