Sustainable Places Research Institute keynote lecture

Honorary Distinguished Professor at the Sustainable Places Research Institute Terry Chapin gave a key note lecture examining the relationships between people and nature.

The lecture entitled ‘Sense of place and social action as foundations for stewardship in a polarized world’ highlighted elements of Terry’s work with indigenous communities in Alaska, where he is Professor Emeritus of Ecology at the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Speaking about the lecture Terry said: “Shifting from our current path of environmental degradation and climate change to a more sustainable trajectory for nature and for people society will require a radical shift in this relationship between people and nature.  We need a shift from norms, values and worldviews based on rights and entitlements to approaches that recognize the linkage of rights to responsibilities for the future health of the planet and well being of society.”

Susan Baker, Co-Director of the Sustainable Places Research Institute and Professor of Social Sciences added: “It was an honour to welcome Terry to Cardiff University to deliver this keynote lecture.  He has given us much to think about, including how we can help with this shift to help foster more societal responsibility, and encourage more participatory forms of engagement and democracy.”

Terry Chapin is an Honorary Distinguished Professor at the Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University.  An ecosystem ecologist, his research addresses the sustainability of ecosystems and human communities in a rapidly changing planet. His work studies the impacts of climate change on Alaskan ecology, subsistence resources, and indigenous communities, as a basis for developing climate-change adaptation plans.