World expert in political ecology Paul Robbins visits UAB

director de l'Institut Nelson d'Estudis Ambientals de la Universitat de Wisconsin

Paul Robbins, Director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, offered a conference entitled “Coffee, Frogs and Workers: from political ecology to policy for tropical biodiversity ” on Thursday 22 January at the Sala de Graus of the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts.

15/01/2015

Professor Robbins offered a master class on conservation biology of species from the viewpoint of political ecology by explaining his latest research projects, focused on the relations between biodiversity, the economy of plantations and the migration of workers in the case of coffee, rubber and nut production in Southern India.

“We are heading towards a time in which wild life is thriving in areas which are in no way wild, where basic questions about the survival of populations and other species arise. Everything seems to indicate that the destiny of these species will depend on public policies focused on the conditions and aspirations of the poorest rural workers” Robbins says.

Considered to be one of the most renowned researchers in the emerging field of political ecology, Paul Robbins is the author of leading manuals such as Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction and the prized book Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We Are, on politics and the environment. He has also written several articles and scientific texts related to the conservation and management of the environment, social sciences and the humanities.

As director and professor of Nelson Institute, he has been a driver of several innovative initiatives in the field of education and has made the institute one of the world's leading centres in global climate change.

The event has been organised jointly by the environmental innovation company ENT and the UAB Institute of Environmental Science and Technology. It is one of the public events organised for students of the intensive course on political ecology specialising in Project Management and Public Policies (from 20 to 23 January, ICTA-ICP Building, UAB Campus), as part of the FP7 European Network of Political Ecology, ENTITLE, coordinated by the university.