Chris Short, Associate Professor in the CCRI, is keynote speaker at an interdisciplinary conference, which is seeking to raise the profile of common land throughout Europe and notably the livelihoods of those who actively manage these precious area. Meeting in Geneva at the John Knox International Center, a location renowned for dialogue and exchange between the many nationalities and cultures, the European Commons Territories of Life conference will celebrate the ‘The Unsung Heroes of Europe’ seeing them as solutions to global and European concerns on biodiversity loss and meeting the challenges of climate change in some of the most environmentally sensitive landscapes. Many of these areas are have developed locally effective approaches to collaboration and local governance that makes them both culturally and ecological rich under threat from a number of fronts. This conference is a chance to share experiences and exchange ideas on adaptation, research and knowledge. See some of the shared stories here.
Chris is one of a number of speakers from across Europe representing all walks of life, and will be participating in sessions focused on commons and their management and conservation. This includes sessions on the ‘defence of commons from a research perspective’ where he will be introducing the SATOCONN project led by Prof Janet Dwyer, which will co-develop new approaches to sustaining and revitalising cultural landscapes in the global north, through comparison and exchange between the UK, Europe and Japan.
He will also share his experiences of being Chair of the Foundation for Common land a charity that seeks to conserve the cultural landscapes associated with Commoning and enhance the natural assets of Common Land for the benefit of the public. A key area recently has been the delivery of the Our Upland Commons Heritage Lottery project working in four areas of England attempting to ‘seize the moment for commons and turn challenges into opportunities’.
Chris will be accompanied at the conference by Layland Branfield, who will be sharing his experiences of being Chairman of the Dartmoor Commons Council and farming on Dartmoor over the past four decades.
