Workshop: Knowledge on Nature and the Nature of Knowledge

Place and date: 24. and 25.09.2026, Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys), Humboldt University Berlin

In this workshop we want to explore how knowledge on “Nature”, environmental destruction and related forms of resistance is produced, is circulating and translated. We are particularly interested in contributions which focus on the material, institutional and political context which forms knowledge.
This can include quite different foci: the role of indigenous territories, knowledge born out of environmental struggles and conflicts, working (conditions) at European Universities, the rise of authoritarianism and much more.
How do these conditions influence the topics studied, the translations undertaken, the political commitments made or not made? Why is it important to ask these questions and how to study them? Ultimately: what do we have to know about knowledge production and how do we have to act on this knowledge in order to create knowledge that is apt to answer to the violence brought upon humans and non-humans?
The workshop will be the first event of the research project “Looking across Worlds for Environmental Justice”, where researchers from the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar in Quito, King’s College London and Humboldt University of Berlin empirically research how environmental knowledge is produced and translated in different contexts in and between Ecuador and Europe.
If you are interested in participating, please send an abstract (max 350 words) of your proposed contribution to mehlhora@hu-berlin.de by 12 July 2026. Proposals can be sent in your language of choice, the main languages of the event will be English and Spanish, other languages will be tried to accommodate. Contributions from outside of academia are welcome. If you require financial support to participate, please let us know when submitting your proposal. Limited funding for travel support may be available.