Archive for ‘presentation’ Category

Anja Claus presents “Chicago Wilderness: A Case Study in Ethics of Place”

October 20th, 2011

“Chicago Wilderness: A Case Study in Ethics of Place” to be presented at this year’s fifteenth annual International Association for Environmental Philosophy conference, October 23-24, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This paper is a synopsis of Anja Claus’, Center for Humans and Nature Program Organizational Coordinator, master thesis at Northeastern Illinois University, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies. (Click here for the abstract)

Anja’s research focuses on understanding how urban spaces can facilitate the development of environmental ethics. How do we inspire people to have a feeling and respect for nature with in metropolitan areas where most of the human population now resides – spaces often misunderstood as un-conducive to an ethics of place? She argues that such spaces do exist and can be intentionally shaped with in urban settings; for example, by the environmental consortium, Chicago Wilderness.

Ethics of Place

The theoretical element of the thesis is based on philosopher Mick Smith’s ‘ethics of place’ theory presented in his book “Ethics of Place: Radical Ecology, Postmodernity, and Social Theory”. Here Smith lays the foundation for an environmental ethic based in complexity and multiplicity of place and focused on individual autonomy taking precedents over distant, top-down managerial schemes. Anja argues that Chicago Wilderness fosters such an ethical ethos.

Mick Smith’s ‘ethics of place’ is an alternative to current ethical theories which often confine ethics to an abstract theoretical tool for passing judgment and evaluating actions at a distance, rather than embedded in an intimate relation to relevant others. Smith’s goal is to reconstitute our ethical relations to natural others by encouraging us to imagine new forms of ethical space where moral and physical spaces are reconnected. For Smith this requires the human passions, our emotions, feelings, be reconnected with our experience of co-habiting with human and non-human others – where social, historical, and environmental particularities of place are not denied. And this calls for sensitivity to locality and context.  A space not conducive to the homogenization of place, this ethical space must instead recognize prior presences and stories in all of their difference.

Ecological Conception of Place

Central to this argument is an ecological conception of place. This place is a process of interactions between humans, non-human others and the environment itself. Here place is produced through continual interactions between things encountering each other. In a very real sense, places are constitutive of all our interactions.   It produces affective encounters through its spatial layouts and by triggering cues to memory and behavior.  Geographer, Nigel Thrift sees place as a complex process of embodiment where place is an actor in producing affects – like love, hate, sympathy, hope and despair.  Thus certain places can and do bring us to life in certain ways, whereas others do the opposite. An ‘ethics of place’ conceptually requires this different understanding of place – one based on changing relations with community and environment.

Chicago Wilderness?

So what would this ethics look like on the ground? Looking to Chicago Wilderness we can uncover a model for such an ethical ethos. Anja argues that Chicago Wilderness is not only an effective restoration entity but an organization that expresses an ‘ethics of place’ through the values it holds, the activities it facilitates and the creation of places where natural others can express their differences.

For more information about this project please contact Anja Claus at anjaclaus@humansandnature.org or stay tuned for future entries as the thesis work continues.

More posts about environmental ethics, ethics, philosophy, presentation, public policy

“Solar Nun” Headlines Creation Care Events in South Carolina

Regional Cultures of Conservation,

May 26th, 2010

Sister Paula Gonzalez, SC speaks at South Carolina forum

Sister Paula Gonzalez, SC speaks at South Carolina forum

Sister Paul Gonzalez, PhD, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, delivered the keynote addresses at two recent conferences in South Carolina devoted to the care of creation within faith-based communities. On May 20, more than fifty religious leaders from a wide variety of Christian denominations met at Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, SC, where the Center for Humans and Nature (CHN) joined with Audubon-South Carolina and the brothers of the Abbey to offer “Caring for Creation: A Forum for Religious Education Leaders.” On May 21-22, John Wesley United Methodist Church in Charleston hosted “God’s Wonderful World: Creation Care for the Lowcountry Faith Community,” a gathering also sponsored by CHN and Audubon-South Carolina.

On both occasions Sr. Paula, introduced by Fr. Guerric Heckel, OCSO, as an “ecological evangelist” and known as “the solar nun” because of her commitment to a solar-powered future, spoke on the urgent need for humans to undergo a conversion, to repent of self-serving exploitation of the earth and become God’s hands in the world. Drawing upon the Earth Charter, in her words a “spiritual document,” she declared that humans are to live with renewed reverence for the earth; deeper gratitude for the gift of life; and genuine humility in their relationship with nature.  “Liberation theology,” Sr. Paula stated, “has democratized theology,” so that we can choose to move radically toward a sustainable economy, freed from an outmoded industrial model.

Sister Paula’s theological challenges were supplemented by practical training during the afternoon sessions of each day. Church leaders and environmental professionals offered workshops on energy conservation; teaching creation care; and the promotion of sound environmental practices within churches and homes.

More posts about South Carolina, environmental ethics, presentation, religion, solar power, sustainability

CHN Senior Fellow Delivers Paper at Global Ecological Integrity Group Conference

June 25th, 2009

Ron Engel, CHN Senior Fellow, delivered a paper (read in abstentia by Professor Klaus Bosselmann) at the opening session of the Global Ecological Integrity Group conference, “State Sovereignty, International Law and Ecological Integrity,” in Firenze, Italy. Ron’s paper was titled “Contesting Democracy: Thin versus Thick Interpretations of the Democratic Ideal.” Engel serves on the steering committee for the Global Ecological Integrity Group. Engel and Professors Westra and Bosselmann are editing the proceedings of the conference for publication.

More posts about J. Ron Engel, citizenship, democracy, ecology, presentation

Curt Meine Publishes Story Honoring Leopold and the Arboretum at the University of Wisconsin

June 10th, 2009

Arboretum burn2Aldo Leopold (second from left) and students conduct early prescribed burns at the UW Arboretum in Madison, WI

This year the University of Wisconsin Arboretum in Madison celebrates its 75th anniversary. Since 1934 the Arboretum has played a central role in developing the science and practice of ecological restoration. In the midst of the Depression and Dust Bowl years, university scientists, students, and Civilian Conservation Corps workers worked to establish at the Arboretum the world’s first restored prairies, setting a precedent for ecosystem restoration efforts around the world. Aldo Leopold, the first research director, noted in his dedication address the goal was to provide “a reconstructed sample of old Wisconsin, to serve as a bench mark, a starting point, in the long and laborious job of building a permanent and mutually beneficial relationship between civilized men and a civilized landscape.”

CHN’s Director for Conservation Biology and History Curt Meine tells the story of the Arboretum in a new article published in the Isthmus, Madison’s widely read alternative weekly. Meine, an alum of the UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, was a guest speaker this spring in a special graduate seminar that reviewed the past, present, and future of restoration ecology and the Arboretum. Meaine’s article, “Back to Nature” can be read at www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=26006.


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Leopold Centennial Gathering at Yale University features CHN Colleagues

Ideas of Humans and Nature, Advancing the Land Ethic

April 3rd, 2009

On April 3 the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies held a special symposium and celebration to honor the centennial of the graduation of Aldo Leopold. Dean of the School and CHN Board Member Gus Speth welcomed some 150 attendees to the gathering, which was co-sponsored by the Aldo Leopold Foundation of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Presenters at the symposium included Curt Meine, Leopold biographer and CNH Director for Conservation Biology and History; Bruce Jennings, CHN Director of Bioethics; CHN advisor Wes Jackson; and CHN Senior Fellow Peter Brown. Also representing CHN were Board Member Vivian Donnelley and Acting President Brooke Hecht.

The day featured roundtable discussions on four themes: Leopold’s place in American environmental history; his legacy in natural resource management; his contributions to philosophy and ethics; and his meaning for contemporary students in the environmental sciences and conservation. Leopold’s daughter (and Yale alumna) Estella Leopold and great-granddaughter Clare Kazanski (currently working with Environmental Defense) offered personal recollections of life in the Leopold family. Attendees were also able to watch a special “sneak preview” of the film-in-progress Green Fire: The Life and Legacy of Aldo Leopold. The Yale School plans to make netcasts of the symposium discussions available soon. If you would like to be notified of their availability, please send an e-mail to leopold@yale.edu. For more information on the Yale-Leopold centennial events, visit the website http://environment.yale.edu/leopold.

More posts about Aldo Leopold, Board of Directors, Gus Speth, Peter Brown, ecology, presentation, sustainability

“Another World is Possible”: CHN returns from the World Social Forum

Global Program, The Biosphere Ethics Initiative

February 1st, 2009

kintzele_World Social ForumCHN colleague Katy Kintzele recently returned from the World Social Forum in Belém, Brazil, the Amazonian capital city of Pará. The Forum was created to offer an alternative to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, held during the same dates. In the current state of the western economic model, it was considered a timely and necessary event. Over 120,000 individuals from 150 countries attended the Forum, including President Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. On the opening day, the Forum’s founder Francisco Whitaker said participants would discuss ideas to create “a new civilization, based on other values.”

To advance the work of the Biosphere Ethics Project, Katy was joined by Karla Monteiro Matos, Director of Citizenship and Social Environmental Responsibility of the Brazilian Ministry of Environment and Patrick Blandin, Professor at the Paris Museum national d’Histoire naturelle. Katy presented the work of the project at the Local Agenda 21 Day events, which attracted large numbers due to the participation of Carlos Minc, Environment Minister of Brazil. Katy then chaired the CHN workshop, “Keeping Nature Alive: the Biosphere Ethics Project and Brazil’s Local Agendas 21,” which featured Karla and two Local Agenda 21 experiences. Gilberto Puig Maldonado, Gerente de Relacionamento Comunicação Institucional of Petrobras, presented the relationships between Petrobras and the 15 Local Agenda 21s that were created as a result of a refinery proposal near Rio de Janeiro. He spoke of the need to move away from “clientelism” and that corporations should extend their corporate social responsibility beyond legal requirements and risk assessment. Sirlene de Almeida, Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente for the city of Contagem, spoke of the Local Agenda 21 in Contagem, their process and their motivations, including the power “to dream of a better life.”

Katy’s personal observations of the Forum and the main themes resulting from the workshops will be in the upcoming edition of CHN’s Minding Nature. The formal report, to be published by the IUCN Environmental Law Center in Bonn, is currently being drafted. The work will then be taken to the CHN North American Global Responsibilities Annual Symposium, September 17-19, 2009 at Windblown Hill, Libertyville, Illinois. This meeting will consist of a critical ethical review of the project’s work-to-date, and in the nature of this “living project,” a dialogue on the ethics of protected and non-protected areas.

More posts about bioethics, carbon emissions, citizenship, climate change, conservation biology, democracy, ecology, economics, environmental ethics, globalization, presentation, property rights, sustainability

Bruce Jennings presents at international political theory symposium

September 12th, 2008

Bruce Jennings, CHN Director of Bioethics, gave an invited presentation on liberty and public health ethics at the 2008 Manchester Colloquium on Political Theory, an international gathering of scholars in political theory, ethics, and philosophy held at the University of Manchester in the UK. Approximately 100 scholars from the UK, Europe, and North American attended the gathering on September 10-12, 2008.

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