Call for Papers: Environment, Regions and Strategic Resources- Governance Models for Rights-Based Perspectives
Wed, 01/27/2010 - 19:17 — Harlan Koff
01/27/2010 18:12
03/10/2010 18:12
Europe/Luxembourg
Call for papers (deadline: March 10, 2010)
Environment, Regions and Strategic Resources
Governance Models for Rights-Based Perspectives
International Symposium, Lille (France), 5-6-7 July 2010
RISC working group: Management of Strategic Resources
Coordinators: Carmen Maganda (Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg),
Olivier Petit (CLERSE-CNRS & Centre EREIA, Université d’Artois, France).
Context
This call for papers is part of the activity of a working group dedicated to the study of the management of strategic resources, within the RISC consortium (Consortium for Comparative Research on Regional Integration and Social Cohesion). This working group already met two times, once in 2008 (Annual RISC Conference, Université du Luxembourg) and once in 2009 (Annual RISC Conference, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia) in order to compare field studies, methods and analyses of the management of natural strategic resources and the environment. The goal of this symposium is to allow active members of this working group to present their own work and to compare it with other researchers in the social sciences as well as the natural sciences (ecology, biology, etc.), who are addressing similar questions. Selected papers from this symposium will be published in a peer-reviewed book to be edited by the meeting organizers, Dr. Carmen Maganda and Dr. Olivier Petit.
Scientific issues and working axes:
Historically, nations-states exercise their sovereignty over natural resources and the national level has remained important to the regulation of environmental issues. However, since the end of the1980s, we have witnessed the development of increased international cross-border cooperation attempting to improve the management of common resources and joint pollution. This cooperation has become institutionalized, particularly in the fights against climate change, the degradation of biological diversity and desertification, through the adoption of international conventions adopted within the United Nations (UN) framework. These conventions are both the arenas and results of intense negotiations where the values and the instruments which have to guide the long-term management of globalization are discussed. Other domains - water, forest management, elimination of toxic wastes, etc. - followed more specific roads and even though some agreements have been negotiated in certain cases or for specific geographic regions, challenges for the implementation of these proposed solutions are immense.
In fact, globalized economies, which include power generation (i.e. hydro-electric dams), the evolution of agro-industry, urbanization and industrial production have created conflicts between the interests of conventional actors (States, international organizations) and those of non-conventional actors (transnational firms, non-governmental organizations, etc.). Moreover, the human and natural impacts of globalization have forced us to re-define our understanding of security which has been broadened from traditional definitions in global geopolitics related to public/national security to more comprehensive concepts of human security and environmental security.
Thus, the management of natural strategic resources and the environment presently faces two significant challenges: 1) globalized economies of scale which have contributed to the “regionalization” of environmental problems and 2) the acceptance that natural resources and the environment are fundamental elements of security agendas which also surpass national borders. The aforementioned UN directives have not yet led to the establishment of satisfactory global implementation bodies.
For these reasons, this symposium examines the management of strategic natural resources and the environment through the concepts of “governance” and “regionalization.” Because the premise for this meeting is that politics entail competition between stakeholders for public goods, governance is defined as the management of relations between political actors, institutions and markets. Regionalization is conceptualized as the convergence of political and economic agendas at the supranational level. Specifically, this workshop examines the evolution of rights-based debates between stakeholders with particular focus on: property rights because most governance instruments designed internationally usually lean on such rights (i.e. protected areas, rights-based markets, taxes, etc.); human rights, which link the management of natural resources to the protection of human dignity (i.e. the right to access to water); and environmental rights which have introduced the notion of environmental ethics into global geopolitics.
Obviously, the development of rights-based approaches naturally raises questions concerning the more general themes of governance and the ethical management environmental problems. What mechanisms can be set up to manage common pool resources? What factors contribute to the success and\or failure of these mechanisms? Can States manage strategic resources while defending a common public good perspective at the supranational level? Can we transpose the governance of one environmental situation / resource / problem to another or is “environmental governance” too broad an approach for effective management? Can management mechanisms already successfully implemented at the local level be reproduced on a larger scale?
All these questions concern the evaluation/assessment of environmental governance. Thus, a common theme which relates to all of the symposium’s panels is the development of evaluation/assessment methods (economic valuation, integrated assessment, multi-criteria analysis, public policy evaluation) related to regionalization and governance.
Working Axes:
The symposium will be organized around three themes: property rights, human rights and environmental rights. Papers are welcome which address the following issues:
-Methodological aspects: role of interdisciplinary research, evaluation/assessment methods, representing systems (GIS, etc.), techniques of enquiry, modeling, etc.
-Theoretical aspects: property rights, common pool resources, international regimes, ecosystem services, socio-ecological systems, human rights and the environment, etc.
-Field studies: regional and local studies, international comparisons, different kinds of resources (water, forests, etc.) and environmental issues (pollution, climate change, etc.)
Meeting organizers and book editors
-Carmen Maganda, Political Sciences, RISC, Université du Luxembourg, Luxemburg.
-Olivier Petit, Economics, CLERSE, Université d'Artois, France.
Scientific committee
-Federico Aguilera-Klink, Economics, Universidad de la Laguna, Spain.
-Marc Hufty, Political Sciences, IHEID, Genève, Switzerland.
-Harlan Koff, Political Sciences, RISC, Université du Luxembourg, Luxemburg.
-Corinne Larrue, Planning and urbanism, CITERES, Université de Tours, France.
-Philippe Le Prestre, Political Sciences, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
-Marc Mormont, Sociology, SEED, Université de Liège, Arlon, Belgium (to be confirmed)
-Roldan Muradian, Economics, Development Research Institute (IVO). Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands.
-Sylvie Paquerot, International Law, LERSS-Eau, University of Ottawa, Canada.
-Claudia Puerta, Sociology, INER, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
-Christian Schulz, Geography, Université du Luxembourg, Luxemburg.
-Robert Varady, History, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policies, University of Arizona, USA.
-Bertrand Zuindeau, Economics, CLERSE, Université Lille1, France
Calendar:
-Paper Proposals (1 page) including keywords, a description of the topic, methodology and/or theoretical framework – March 10, 2010. The proposals should be sent by email to Olivier Petit : olivier.petit@univ-artois.fr and Carmen Maganda: Carmen.Maganda@uni.lu
-Decision of the scientific committee : April 1, 2010
-Full papers (45 000 characters maximum): June 1, 2010
Languages:
A simultaneous translation will be provided. The three working languages are English, Spanish and French.
Partial coverage of expenses for the speakers:
As possible, the organizers will cover all expenses during the symposium (accommodation, meals). Travel to Lille is at the speaker’s expense even though requests can be made to French embassies for travel subsidies (programs of scientific cooperation).
Scientific dissemination:
A selection of the contributions in the symposium will be published in a peer-reviewed edited book in the series: "Regional Integration and Social Cohesion" (http://www.risc.lu/content/en/book-series) which is published by P.I.E. Peter Lang. Another part of the contributions can be proposed to the review Regions and Cohesion[1], which will soon be launched by Berghahn Journals.
[1] Aims of the review Regions and Cohesion: Due to the dramatic changes in global affairs related to regional integration, studies in this field can no longer be limited to the analysis of economic competitiveness and political power in global geopolitics. Instead, social cohesion and human security have become salient fields in international affairs and they need to be further highlighted in contemporary scholarship. This journal, which reflects the scientific orientation of the Consortium for Comparative Research on Regional Integration and Social Cohesion (RISC), promotes scientific and normative analysis of topics related to the human and environmental impacts of regional integration, as well as regional governance. Cross-regional, comparative perspectives are especially welcome. The journal is interdisciplinary in nature and multi-lingual in character (English, French, Spanish) in order to create a broad scientific dialogue.
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