Globalization, Environment and the Ecological Challenge

By combining an expertise in environmental economics, management and planning with a long-term interest in local activism and social movements, we focus on the points of contention and controversy between the quest for a sustainable development and broader public concerns for democracy, participation, and equity. Must the environment be saved by putting in place new hierarchical relations and new forms of inequality; or can the efforts to meet the environmental challenges posed by globalization serve to inspire new forms of local democracy and active public involvement in technological and other environmental projects? Research projects: Johannes Schmidt: 1) Social sustainability in Southeast Asia 2) Ecological Problems in urban and industrial settings in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia; Malee Lang (Danida-financed PhD project) Hydro-Power Development in Mekong; Other research projects on Development and Environmental Change in a Global Context in collaboration with Andrew Jamison and Klaus Lindegaard. Output: A number of working papers, consultancy reports and several refereed journal articles have been published. Financed by Danced and EU grants.