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Lincoln Centre for Ecological Justice

"Act as if the house is on fire, because it is."

These words of Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg, sum up the damage that humans are wreaking on the environment. They also serve as a reminder that we urgently need to embed new, or better ways of thinking about the environment in individual and institutional practices if we are to prevent critical planetary boundaries from being breached.  Our failure to think and to act will result in catastrophic effects for human and natural systems. 

Despite our technological and cultural achievements, we remain (and will always remain) critically dependent on healthy, functioning earth-system and ecosystem processes. The accelerating environmental degradation projected for this century, of which climate change, natural habitat loss, over-exploitation of resources and pollution are major drivers, will likely move many key natural systems beyond their capacity for resilience to the limits where sudden and dramatic regime shifts, perhaps even complete system collapses, will occur.

The implications of these changes are profound, both for the natural world and for the goods and services it provides humanity, not least the impacts on food production and threats to health from pollution and emerging diseases. They are also profound in terms of the social and economic disruption and dislocation that will inevitably follow these changes. 

Vision

This is what we are working towards.

A safe and just world for all peoples that respects planetary boundaries.

Mission

This is what we are doing to advance our vision.

We undertake research and practice that crosses between disciplines, sectors and communities to create new knowledge and action for ecological justice.

Core Values

These are the values and principles that embed ecological justice throughout our work.

  • Eco-centric: We celebrate the intrinsic value of nature
  • Witnessing: We listen to and make space for testimonies of ecological harm, refusing silence and erasure
  • Just: We champion and strengthen the voices and stories of marginalised peoples, putting the last first
  • Sustainable: We value maintenance, repair, and the often invisible labour that holds ecological and social worlds together
  • Collaborative: We do accessible and engaging work together with diverse communities
  • Interdependent: We recognise that human and more-than-human lives are inseparably entangled and act with care for these relations
  • Future-facing: We feed imagination about hopeful futures for people and planet
  • Real-world: We take a solutions-focused approach to ecological justice challenges
  • Boundary-crossing: We break down barriers between disciplines, sectors and communities

Place-based: We embrace the opportunities and challenges of different places – a one-size-fits-all approach is never enough

Research Focus

This is what ecological justice research means to us.

Ecological justice research connects people and planet, investigating the intimate and intricate interrelationships we have with our environment and seeking to understand how these can be made more just and equitable for all.

Our research brings together different disciplines, sectors and communities to foster collaboration and common understanding for a better world. Our work is connected to the UN Sustainable Development Goals but is not constrained by them. Our research is guided moreover by an ambition to work with communities on the frontline of environmental change, to protect and value our more-than-human world, including the manifold other species and ecosystems with which we share our planet, and to stimulate hope and imagination for a safe and just future for all.

We recognise that the environmental costs of development are disproportionately experienced by those benefiting least, including people in the Global South and marginalised communities in the North. We seek to ensure that the voices of people on the frontline of environmental change are heard by those with the power to shape policy and practice towards inclusive and equitable outcomes.

We recognise that divides between research disciplines and between communities and decisionmakers, can hinder effective and equitable collaboration on environmental and social issues. We seek to advance collaboration on ecological justice across sectors and disciplines by forming new and inclusive transdisciplinary communities of research and practice.

We recognise that nonhumans have few rights and legal protections for the environment are weak in many parts of the world. This means that the environment is all too often treated as a mere resource to be extracted, with little or no intrinsic value. Our research and practice seek to champion the value of, and strengthen legislative protections for, the more-than-human through interdisciplinary methods.

We recognise that public debate and discourse on ecological justice issues, such as climate change is too often characterised by “doom and gloom” narratives that make people feel disempowered and apathetic about the future. We seek to use our research and practice to stimulate more hopeful conversations and promote just and sustainable futures for all.

Strategic Aims

These are the aims we are working towards in the centre to support our mission.

  1. Embedding ecological justice research on the agenda for the university and our wider community of stakeholders
  2. Empower a diverse community of researchers to put their skills to work for ecological justice
  3. Build innovative and equitable partnerships across multiple sectors, both within and beyond the university, to drive ecological justice at all levels
  4. Establish policy pathways for our research community to advance ecological justice

Attract, inspire and develop the next generation of ecological justice researchers

Objectives

These are the priority areas of work that will help us to meet our strategic aims.

Short-term Objectives

These are our main objectives over the next 1 – 2 years

  1. Create Innovative Projects: Produce innovative, public-facing research and practice projects focused on ecological justice.
  2. Support Research Collaboration: Establish an accessible calendar of community meetings to facilitate knowledge exchange and interdisciplinary collaboration.
  3. Secure External Funding: Pursue external grants to grow ecological justice research across our community.
  4. Enhance Digital Collaboration: Build a dynamic online space and a database of member interests to facilitate communication and collaboration.
  5. Build Interdisciplinary Teams: Grow effective teams across disciplines to pursue ecological justice research based on shared interests and agendas.
  6. Champion Early Career Researchers: Provide opportunities for ECRs, PGRs, PGTs, and UGs, and work with relevant committees to embed ecological justice principles in curricula.

Medium-term Objectives

These are our main objectives over the next 3 – 4 years

  1. Strengthen Internal Collaboration: Work more closely with Estates and lend our expertise, skills and contacts to university-wide sustainability initiatives.
  2. Collaborate with Civil Society Groups: Collaborate with community and third sector partners to design and deliver infrastructure-related ecological justice projects, e.g. around food, water, health, etc.
  3. Establish International Connections: Connect with international research centres investigating themes related to ecological justice to build capacity for collaboration.
  4. Grow Commercial Partnerships: Collaborate with commercial stakeholders to enhance ESG practices and explore Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs).
  5. Establish Inclusive Governance: Develop robust, member-led decision-making processes to guide the centre’s direction and priorities.
  6. Increase External Influence: Seek speaking engagements and other opportunities for members to grow their networks and amplify the ecological justice research of our community.
  7. Support Researcher Retention and Development: Retain postgraduate researchers through studentships and PDRA opportunities linked to ecological justice.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Our centre supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which are an urgent call for action to tackle some of the world's most pressing problems, now and into the future.

Research Activity