Mnemonic Ecologies: Conservation in wounded landscapes and green frontiers

On the 30^th of June Prof.Sonja Pieck (Bates College) will present her book ‘Mnemonic Ecologies’ (2023, MIT Press) which explores the interconnections between memory and nature conservation along the former Iron Curtain. Grief sits in places. That is how the book starts, and from there she explores how ‘the restoration and conservation of wounded land must merge ecology with memory’ for fostering a novel conservation ethos that is collaborative, empathetic and more sensitive to the ways in which people make sense of their vernacular landscapes.

The book presentation will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Prof. dr. David Mwambari from KU Leuven, who will add additional insight from a memory studies perspective and vernacular memories in the African Great Lakes region, Dr. Dat Nguyen from the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies , who will reflect on the relation between conflict and the environment in Vietnam from a historical perspective, and Dr George Iordachescu from WUR who will unpack the frictions between conservation in marginal spaces and EU’s green growth vision. Dr. Esther Marijnen from WUR, will conclude, with insides from her wounded landscapes project – on political ecologies of grief and mourning.

Programme:

• 15.00-15.30 - Book presentation ‘Mnemonic Ecologies’ by Sonja Pieck
• 15.30-16.10 - Roundtable discussion: David Mwambari (KU Leuven),
  Dat Nguyen (NIOD), George Iordachescu and Esther Marijnen (WUR)
• 16.10-17.00 - Discussion
• 17.00-18.00 - Drinks

Organised by CSPS political ecology cluster, Wounded Landscapes VENI/ NWO project, and GreenFrontier ERC project