We would like to inform you of the recently initiated South-South Initiative of the Earth System Governance Project. At the 2022 Toronto Conference in October, scholars held an Innovative Session to discuss some of the following questions:
To what extent the ESG’s new research framework (conceptual conditions and research lenses) speak to the realities faced by Global South scholars? Are there gaps that need to be filled? What are the possibilities and limitations to teaching ESG and fostering new generation of scholars in the Global South? Do we need to develop different pedagogical approaches and tools? Are ESG scholars in/from the Global South able to influence public policies, societal views and institutional changes in general, and if so, how? Which are the possibilities and limitations for societal interactions (science-policy interface, dialogues with the private sector, civil society, traditional communities and indigenous peoples) and transdisciplinary and knowledge co-production?
The ultimate goal of The South-South Initiative is to foster the ESG network in the Global South, increase exchange between Global South scholars, and strengthen relationships.
From the feedback we received, the following projects emerged:
1. Designing regular virtual workshops & webinars for scholars from or based in the Global South, with technical and promotional support
2. Exploring a call for a special issue in the ESG Journal
3. A day of South-South Dialogues’ workshops at the 2023 Conference at Radboud University (the day before the conference, 23rd October 2023)
A committee was set up to lead the steering of some of these initiatives, beginning in March. If you would be interested in contributing to the initiative in the areas of 1) workshop content 2) publications or 3) the South-South Day at the Conference, please contact ipo@earthsystemgovernance.org specifying to which you are most interested. The committee will be assisted and supported by staff members at the International Project Office to decrease scholar’s workload on coordination, communication and administrative tasks.
Do not hesitate to share the South-South initiative further to your network. This initiative is not restricted to the Earth System Governance research fellows, though we encourage relevant scholars to apply to join the ESG network as a (senior) research fellow should they find a benefit in joining this global community.
All questions related to the South-South initiatives and the call for papers for the Radboud conference can be directed to the International Project Office.
We are looking forward to pursuing this initiative with you!
