Call for papers: Understanding environmental change

2021-03-16

Understanding environmental change: Creating integrated knowledge of the Seas of Norden and Arctic. Editors are: Savitri Jetoo, Silja Laine, Otto Latva, Jaana Kouri and Anna Törnroos-Remes.

The current global environmental crisis can be traced to the relationship of humans with the environment. Problems such as land use changes, overfishing and eutrophication are further compounded by the effects of climate change. The sea and coastal areas are especially vulnerable to these stressors, which can be characterized as wicked problems. These wicked problems facing the seas of Norden and the Arctic, that is the Norwegian, Barents, Greenland and Iceland Seas as well as the Baltic and North Seas togheter with the ocean areas connecting them, invite conflicting stakeholder values due to incomplete or seemingly contradictory knowledge. This makes it important, for example, to integrate local and experience based knowledge with scientific knowledge but the question remains how to do this. The problems facing these sea areas are  multidimensional and as such, there is an urgent need for interdisciplinary study that pools knowledge sources. The wicked 
problems have ecological, social and cultural dimensions. For instance, human perceptions and interaction with the sea environment have affected and are behind the current marine crisis, which is a result of culture and cultural perceptions. This  crisis is global, but we are looking especially at how it has taken shape along the coasts and seas of Norden and the Arctic region. 

We are looking to gather an anthology, which has the objective to make room for cross- and interdisciplinary dialogues among researchers oriented to marine issues. The volume focuses on the production, interaction, and circulation of knowledge regarding open sea, archipelago and coastal areas. In this project we see research integration as the means of 
synthesizing different knowledge from various disciplinary and stakeholders’ viewpoints to examine the issues facing these seas in the Northern hemisphere. In addition to results or case studies produced through such dialogues, the ways disciplines have worked to integrate knowledge and methodologies are specifically of interest. How can integrated knowledge from different research perspectives contribute to greater understanding of  the seas of Norden and the Arctic and their coastal and  marine environments? We see that the interdisciplinary collaboration between different disciplines is necessary to answer for  the present environmental catastrophe, like climate change and biodiversity loss. 

The focus of the volume is to identify, produce and contribute to the recognition and dialogue of the different kinds of knowledge, methods and methodologies on scientific communities that are relevant in various situations and networks of actors during environmental changes. We are particularly interested in successful outcomes/ways/examples of conducting  integrated knowledge, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research. The abstract may also be an offer to collaborate with  other researchers on the subject matter of the author’s own research. We look forward to receiving contributions from all disciplines including natural, educational, environmental, humanistic, legal and social sciences.

We invite both empirical and conceptual papers on the following or other relevant thematic areas: 

  • Experience based, local environmental knowledge and scientific knowledge  Heritage and change 
  • Environment, biodiversity, and ecosystems 
  • Resilience and sustainability 
  • Ecosystem functioning and management 
  • Relationships and connections 
  • Risks and threats 
  • Agency and networks/webs 
  • Time and place 
  • Scientific and vernacular language(s) 
  • Theoretical constructs and concepts 

If you are interested in contributing a chapter, please submit a 400-500 word abstract by the 19th of April 2021 to: 

email:  seaherblog@gmail.com. Writing and interactions are supported by an online workshop, to which the selected authors  are invited. The workshop is scheduled for May 18th 2021. For any questions, please contact: silja.laine@abo.fi and/or 
anna.m.tornroos@abo.fi   

We aim to publish this anthology with an established international publisher such as Routledge.

News from 2021

Last modified: 2023-01-12