Students and staff

Participation in conferences

Participation in the Fourth World Congress of Environmental History

 

From 19 to 23 August, WaterCultures project researchers Anne Sauka, Artis Svece and Anita Zariņa participated in the 4th World Congress of Environmental History ("Transitions, transformations and transdisciplinarity: history beyond history"), organised by Environmental History Research Organisations in collaboration with the University of Oulu. Artis Svece, together with Anita Zariņa, participated in the section on environmental movements in Eastern Europe and presented the paper "Discourses of cleaning and the Latvian popular environmentalism of 1970-1990", which focused on the discourses of cleaning that were important in the Latvian popular noble trees (dižkoki) "liberation" movement and river collective cleanup competitions in the late 1980s.

Anne Sauka participated in the interdisciplinary section "The Environment Around Us: Relational Approaches as Common Ground". In her paper "Thinking with the environment: an ecophenomenological approach to situated knowledges", she analysed human-water relations in Latvian folklore in the context of environmental philosophy and considered the role of alternative narratives of human-nature interactions in shaping a sustainable future. The paper outlined the multiplicity and historical shaping of experience, and offered folklore as an alternative source of solutions for environmental ethics, drawing on David Abrams' ecophenomenological approach.

Anita Zariņa, together with project researcher Ivo Vinogradov, presented a paper entitled "Caught in the Managerial Ethos: The Transforming Histories of Human-Beaver Relations in Latvia". The presentation focused on the reintroduction of beavers and their discursive significance, which was shaped by political and economic factors during the 20th century. Beaver activity is closely linked to issues of water ecology, management and governance in natural and man-made watercourses, highlighting changing human-water-beaver relations in different socio-ecological contexts and political regimes.

More information about the congress is available here 

   
On the right side of the image, the screen with the heading "Transitions, Transformations and Transdisciplinarity: Histories beyond History. Fourth World Congress of Environmental History. 19-23 Aug. Oulu, Finland". On the left, the project participants (from the left): Anne Sauka, Anita Zariņa and Artis Svece.
On the right side of the image, the screen with the heading "Transitions, Transformations and Transdisciplinarity: Histories beyond History. Fourth World Congress of Environmental History. 19-23 Aug. Oulu, Finland". On the left, the project participants (from the left): Anne Sauka, Anita Zariņa and Artis Svece.
In the picture, a presentation slide with the text "Dainis Īvāns, Artūrs Snips (1986) Thinking about the fate of the Daugava" on the right and a newspaper article on the left, presented by the leading researcher Artis Svece, located on the left side.
In the picture, a presentation slide with the text "Dainis Īvāns, Artūrs Snips (1986) Thinking about the fate of the Daugava" on the left and a newspaper article on the right, presented by the leading researcher Artis Svece, located on the left side.
In the picture, a presentation slide with an image of water lilies on the right and the title "Thinking with the Environment: An ecophenomenological Approach to Situated Knowledges". Presented by leading researcher Anne Sauka, who is located on the lower right edge of the picture.
In the picture, a presentation slide with an image of water lilies on the right and the title "Thinking with the Environment: An ecophenomenological Approach to Situated Knowledges". Presented by leading researcher Anne Sauka, who is located on the lower right edge of the picture.
In the picture, a presentation slide with an image of the river and forest landscape on the right and the title "The How of the Water in Daina". Presented by lead researcher Anne Sauka, who is located on the lower right edge of the picture.
In the picture, a presentation slide with an image of the river and forest landscape on the right and the title "The How of the Water in Daina". Presented by lead researcher Anne Sauka, who is located on the lower right edge of the picture.
In the picture, a classroom where more than 10 conference participants sit at several white tables. On the upper right edge of the picture, a presentation screen showing a woman in a red dress and in smaller windows other conference participants connected remotely.
In the picture, a classroom where more than 10 conference participants sit at several white tables. On the upper right edge of the picture, a presentation screen showing a woman in a red dress and in smaller windows other conference participants connected remotely.

Participation in the 82nd international scientific conference of the University of Latvia

Section “Nature: The Interdisciplinary Perspective”

 

In her presentation at the 82nd conference of the University of Latvia, project researcher Kristīne Krumberga gave an insight into which categories and to what extent water and water-related issues are seen and imagined in the perspective of management or in the long-term plans of various sectors and what kind of future of human-water relations they project.

The main conclusions:

  • the policies of various sectors represent and maintain the prevailing anthropocentric and modern ideas and imaginations about the importance of water/waters in nature and in relation to people.
  • the human-water relationship is subordinate to the human-land relationship.
  • water/waters are recognized as a collective value to the extent that they do not hinder or benefit humans.
  • The results of the analysis also encourage us to reflect on how we look, think and interact with water individually and as a society.

The full conference presentation in latvian is available here.