Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis 2020 has been another successful year for PERC, with more national and international activities and publications. In conjunction with the Sociology of Development and Change (SDC) group at Wageningen University, we ran our third nearly carbon neutral online conference Extraction. This conference bought together over 80 presenters across 18 panels and featured …
On the Brink
One million species are facing extinction within the next decade. It is estimated that 200 species go extinct every day. PERC member Laura Jean McKay is taking part in On the Brink, an online event to raise awareness of this threat of extinction. Bringing together 20 writers and cultural figures, the event features readings of new work and speeches on …
Breaking the Plastic Wave: A comprehensive assessment of pathways towards stopping ocean plastic pollution
PERC co-director Trisia Farrelly is a contributor to this new report published by the Pew Charitable Trust that uses a first-of-its-kind model of the global plastics system to “create a global analysis that evaluates various strategies to reduce ocean plastic flows and quantifies the associated economic, environmental, and social implications of each pathway”. Read the full report here.
Plastic Pollution Prevention in Pacific Island Countries: Gap analysis of current legislation, policies and plans
This report was prepared by PERC Co-director Dr Trisia Farrelly, Dr Stephanie Borrelle (University of Toronto, Canada) and Dr Sascha Fuller (University of Newcastle, Australia) for the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Access the report here. Image Brian Yurasits.
Webinar: Laying the Pacific Building Blocks for a Global Agreement to Prevent Plastic Pollution
Thursday 20 August 15:00 – 16:30 Samoan Time (WST) 14:00 – 15:30 NZST As the scale of the plastic crisis is being increasingly documented, it is already clear that the large-ocean small-island developing states of the Pacific will pay a disproportionately heavy price for its ecological, economic, social, cultural and health impacts. How are the Pacific island nations responding to …
2020 Eric Wolf Prize
The Political Ecology Society (PESO) announces the 2020 Eric Wolf Prize for the best article-length paper. The competition offers a great opportunity as it involves a cash prize of US$500 and publication in the Journal of Political Ecology! The award will be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in 2021 (the committee is open to …
Call for new APPA members
Calling all kaitiaki who are concerned about plastic pollution: The Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance (APPA) is seeking new members. APPA is a network of researchers, educators, scientists, industry, campaigners, artists, and conservationists working to prevent and mitigate plastic pollution in Aotearoa and Oceania as an integral part of restoring the mauri of Papatūānuku and Tangaroa. Since late 2018, APPA has …
CFP: Sustainability special issue
PERC members and contributors may be interested in contributing to a planned special issue of the journal Sustainability “Understanding the Society-Environmental Policy-Practice Nexus and its Implications for Sustainability Transformations Under Uncertain Futures”. From the abstract: A rapidly expanding body of literature has explored various aspects of sustainability transformations, ranging from technical, governance, practice, to justice and personal contexts. However, how …
Government to regulate environmentally harmful plastic packaging, tyres, e-waste
PERC is delighted by the Government’s decision to declare plastic packaging, tyres, electrical and electronic products (e-waste), agrichemicals and their containers, refrigerants, and farm plastics “priority products”. The Ministry for the Environment invited Dr. Trisia Farrelly to speak at the launch at Remarkit in Porirua yesterday on behalf of the New Zealand Product Stewardship Council. The declaration means that product …
“Extraction: Tracing the Veins” online conference a success
The Political Ecology Research Centre (PERC) at Massey University, New Zealand, and Wageningen University co-hosted PERC’s third online conference, titled “Extraction: Tracing the Veins”, on June 29 – July 10, 2020. The conference sought to re-examine extraction and its contested place in contemporary capitalism. Presentations from across the globe included more than eighty pre-recorded video presentations as well as live …