The rights of Nature: A new paradigm Does Nature have inalienable rights just as humans do? This is what the rights of Nature paradigm stands for, marking a radical departure from the assumption that Nature is property under the law. The idea of rights for Nature stems from legal philosophy and political science. Partially, it …[Read More]
This blog summarises The Anti-Autocracy Handbook: A Scholars’ Guide to Navigating Democratic Backsliding. This handbook provides practical strategies for academics facing politically hostile environments and offers a framework to protect scientific integrity and academic freedom without compromising personal safety. Around the world, we are witnessing a disturbing rise in democratic backsliding, and academia is increasingly …[Read More]
Adam, welcome to GeoTalk! You’re an environmental historian and human ecologist, with an interest in biodiversity. Can you tell us how understanding historic changes to social and ecological systems can provide an insight into biodiversity loss today? This is a question that environmental historians face every time they talk about their work! Let me put …[Read More]
Annegret, welcome to GeoTalk! You’re a researcher who focuses on abiotic-biotic environmental interactions. Can you tell us how the implications of your research extend to sustainable management practices? The United Nations, European Union, and national governments require us to restore landscapes to a ‘natural’ state. However, European landscapes have been shaped by human activity for …[Read More]
Findings supporting the urgency of climate change are coming ever-so-fast. Yet, so it seems that various economic, political, and ideological groups are stepping up their denial game. The complexity of the current state was reflected during the EGU25 press conference “Hot takes & policy quakes: When geoscience meets social science.” The speakers, Florian Ulrich Jehn …[Read More]
Bracing the elements to be rewarded with new data — and spectacular views in the process — can be an experience of a lifetime. Yet, zooming out of the easily romanticized image can quickly paint a different scene, where negative experiences from fieldwork drive people away from the research. Moreover, some fieldwork practices prevent people …[Read More]
Each year, the EGU’s Science for Policy Programme at the EGU General Assembly provides participants with insights on how their research and expertise can be integrated into the policymaking process and the opportunities that exist for them to engage. This month’s GeoPolicy Blog post highlights some of the exciting #Sci4Pol sessions and initiatives that you …[Read More]
As the selected scientist in the EGU’s 2024 Science-Policy Pairing Scheme, I had the opportunity to experience life inside the European Parliament for a week with the support of Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Jutta Paulus and her team, who are part of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. A week is short, but …[Read More]
We have entered a new era of “harsh” geopolitics. Those were the words of the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 21, 2025. It is an era with geostrategic rivalries where commitment to international organisations (e.g. UN, WHO) and global solidarity …[Read More]
The EGU’s Science for Policy Programme is continually developing and expanding to help provide EGU members with opportunities to engage with policymaking processes and to support European policymakers in making evidence-informed decisions. This GeoPolicy blog post kicks-off the New Year by outlining a few of the key science for policy activities that you can look forward …[Read More]
