PE-Net: Support to the Political Ecology Group (NMBU) and Norwegian Political Ecology Network (POLLEN-Norway)

Prosjektet er en oppfølging av SAMEVAL-evalueringen av samfunnsfag i Norge og støtter Political Ecology Forum ved NMBU (see politicgalecology.space) ved å styrke samarbeidet mellom dette forumet og andre fagmiljøer i Norge som forsker og underviser innenfor feltet politisk økologi og som er en del av det internasjonale POLLEN-nettverket. En sentral aktivitet er felles organisering av fire PhD-kurs samt organisering av seminarer og offentlige fagdebatter og støtte til konferansedeltakelse og besøk til andre institusjoner som arbeider innenfor politisk økologi.

This project aims to strengthen the Political Ecology Group (PEG) at the Faculty of Landscape and Society at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), which will be accomplished through direct support to activities within this group, by strengthening connections between the PEG and the broader Norwegian Political Ecology Network (POLLEN-Norway), and through the organisation of PhD courses within this network. The project is a follow up of the SAMEVAL evaluation that PEG participated in and it will support further academic development and renewal of this group as part of both POLLEN-Norway and the broader international political ecology network called POLLEN. The PEG at the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) at NMBU has existed since 1999, but more as an informal entity. Political ecology has, however, remained one of the key theoretical approaches at the department during the last 15-20 years. Instead of being a research group at the department level, PEG will now aim at becoming a meeting place or forum at the faculty and university level for issues of environment, development and politics. This proposal will provide an opportunity to further strengthen political ecology research at NMBU and to help formalise this group within the faculty. The proposal builds on previous collaborations to further develop PEG and the Norwegian political ecology network within the international community of political ecologists in POLLEN. This will be done through co-organisation of four PhD courses and the organisation of a series of high-profile public seminars in Oslo. In addition, the proposed project will support internal development of the PE group at NMBU through the organisation of regular internal academic seminars and hosting an internationally recognised political ecology scholar as a Visiting Professor.