Announcements
New Ocean Politics course taught by Dr. Alice Vadrot from October 2019
Ocean Politics course ( M4 International Politics and Development)
Winter Semester
As part of the Master’s degree in Political Science of the University of Vienna, Dr. Alice Vadrot will be giving a course about ocean politics.
This seminar introduces students to the basic features of ocean politics. Starting from the premise that the ocean space is governed by competing interests (territorial, economic, political, military, and scientific) and perspectives (the ocean as a habitat, a resource provider, a transport surface, a battleground, an object of scientific inquiry), the seminar addresses key challenges for ocean protection in the 21st century. This includes the central question of how to govern the global commons, conventionally defined as “areas and resources that do not fall within the sovereign jurisdiction of states” (Vogler 2012).
The aim of the seminar is threefold:
• to familiarise students with key principles (historical, legal, (geo-)political, economic) and international institutions (UNCLOS, IWC, ISA, IMO, UN Fish Stocks Agreement) governing the oceans,
• to apply this knowledge to particular cases exemplifying contemporary challenges in protecting our oceans (e.g. marine biodiversity, deep sea mining, marine pollution)
• to identify and discuss these challenges in light of the multiple interests and power relations shaping how oceans are represented, governed and used in the 21st century.
More information here.
Alice Vadrot part of Austria Biodiversity Network Council
Austria Biodiversity Network
SEPTEMBER, 2019
Renowned scientists from various universities and experts from the fields of nature conservation, museums and landscape planning have joined together to form a Biodiversity Council in view of the extinction of species. Ecologist Franz Essl (University of Vienna), zoologist Christian Sturmbauer (Karl-Franzens-University Graz and ABOL) and political scientist Alice Vadrot (University of Vienna) will represent the new steering committee. They urgently warn of the consequences of species extinction.
The original press release “Neuer Biodiversitätsrat warnt eindringlich vor Folgen des Artensterbens” here.
More information about Austria Biodiversity Network here.
Panel at 4s Conference 2019 – New Orleans, USA
Open Panel – 4S New Orleans.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2019
Exploring Policies and Practices of Studying and Monitoring the Oceans: Innovations and Interruptions in Ocean Science
Panel Organisers:
Sarah de Rijcke, Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS)
Alice Vadrot, University of Vienna
Healthy oceans contribute significantly to combating climate change. However, a lack of ocean scientific knowledge continues to challenge efforts to protect ocean ecosystems. This gap is steadily closed by global initiatives like the International Census of Marine Life programme. Furthermore, detection methods, observing infrastructures and data management have significantly improved over the past two decades, reconfiguring how oceans are studied and monitored.
In many respects, the study and monitoring of the oceans represents a new form of knowledge production. Challenges include producing systemic insights into ocean ecology; working toward industrial-scale production of innovations; providing scientific data to support environmental policy; and operating against the backdrop of a highly research-focused academic system. These developments are amplified by data scarcity, complicating the command of funding and shaping policies and practices of studying, monitoring and protecting the oceans.
This panel discusses particular cases of global and national policies and practices of ocean science and monitoring. Which dynamics occur when ocean science becomes (even more) subject to multiple valuation registers, including those associated with steering efforts toward more interdisciplinary engagement, societal relevance and demands from policy-makers? How do monitoring policies and practices contribute to the scientific representation of the ocean and its manifestation as a site, where different technological innovations compete for scientific legitimacy and marketability? What are key innovations in ocean science and marine technology and how do they shape the policies and practices of the field?
More information about the programme HERE.
The MARIPOLDATA team participates in fieldwork at UNCLOS - New-York, USA
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – New York
August 19-30, 2019
Fieldwork for WP1
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that sets out the legal framework for ocean activities and boundaries.
While UNCLOS defined marine Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), commonly called the high seas, no international instrument exists to protect the exceptional marine biodiversity from these territories.
In order to address this challenge, the UN General Assembly aims to develop an international legally binding instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (resolution 69/292 of 19 June 2015) by 2020.
Between August 19-30, 2019 the third Session of the Intergovernmental Conference on BBNJ will take place in New-York.
Three members of the MARIPOLDATA team have been nominated by the International Studies Association (ISA) to participate which will allow them to pursue MARIPOLDATA WP1 research objectives aiming at observing how governments position themselves within these negotiations and how is scientific knowledge used.
More information: https://www.un.org/bbnj/
New publications from Alice Vadrot in the journal Global Environmental Politics
Global Environmental Politics
Volume 19 | Issue 2 | May 2019
Together with Hannah Hughes and Kimberly R. Marion Suiseeya, Alice Vadrot has published a special section in the journal Global Environmental Politics, a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal which examines the relationship between global political forces and environmental change, with particular attention given to the implications of environmental change and environmental governance for world politics.
The article “Weighting the World: IPBES and the Struggle over Biocultural Diversity“, written with Hannah Hughes, also appeared in this issue.
This article has two aims. The first is to provide an account of the struggle over the term biocultural diversity during the intergovernmental approval of the first IPBES thematic assessment report. Second, in detailing this struggle, we aim to contribute to scholarship on global environmental negotiating processes and the place and power of knowledge within these by introducing the notion of a weighted concept.
Alice Vadrot was elected to the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)
Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)
APRIL 2019
The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) welcomed 29 new members. At the Annual General Meeting on the 12th of April 2019, 19 researchers from different disciplines in the humanities, social and cultural sciences as well as mathematics, natural and technical sciences were admitted to the Academy for their outstanding scientific achievements and professional reputation.
Announcement of the Austrian Academy of Sciences : https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/detail/news/oeaw-waehlte-29-top-forscherinnen-zu-neuen-mitgliedern-1/
Alice Vadrot is joining the Earth System Governance network as a Senior Research Fellow
The Earth System Governance
FROM SPRING 2019
Alice Vadrot has been accepted as a Research Fellow by the Earth System Governance. Earth System Governance — a global research alliance, is the largest social science research network in the area of governance and global environmental change.
Senior Research Fellows are senior scientists and faculty members who seek to link their own research projects with the broader themes and questions of earth system governance. Through a bottom-up, dynamic, and active network, senior research fellows and research fellows collaborate on research, debate ideas and disseminate information on relevant events and opportunities in the field.
More information about Earth System Governance: https://www.earthsystemgovernance.org/
Talk by Alice Vadrot at the Rutgers University – Newark, USA
Epistemic Selectivities in Global Environmental Politics:
The Case of Biodiversity
APRIL 10, 2019
Rutgers University is a public research university in New Jersey. The Rutgers Division of Global Affairs organizes a weekly Capstone Colloquium Series, which has for theme this semester Justice, and the Global Environment.
At this occasion, Alice Vadrot will speak about “Epistemic Selectivities in Global Environmental Politics: The Case of Biodiversity”.
Paper Presentation at ISA 2019 – Toronto, Canada
The International Studies Association’s 60th Annual Convention – Toronto
MARCH 29, 2019
After the epistemic community model: Using IPCC and IPBES to map organisational formation
By Hannah Hughes, Cardiff University and
Alice Vadrot, University of Vienna
The International Studies Association (ISA) is one of the oldest interdisciplinary associations dedicated to understanding international, transnational and global affairs.
The International Studies Association’s 60th Annual Convention will take place in March 2019 in Toronto. This conference brings together international affairs experts from across the world to discuss issues related to international, transnational and global affairs.
At this occasion, Alice Vadrot will participate in Panel FA 81 “Great Power Responsibility and Global Environmental Protection” organized by Barry Buzan (LSE). She will present a co-authored article written with Hannah Hughes (Cardiff University).
More information: https://www.isanet.org/Conferences/Toronto-2019
Blog on collaborative work by Alice Vadrot and Hannah Hughes
Work in Progress Paper Presentation – Cardiff
February 6, 2019
On the 6th of February Dr Alice Vadrot visited Cardiff University to discuss the Work-In-Progress paper entitled ‘Conceptualising the establishment of intergovernmental organisations: Learning from the IPCC and IPBES’, co-authored with Dr Hannah Hughes. Dr Hannah Hughes is a lecturer in International Relations and Co-director of the Environmental Justice Research Unit at Cardiff University. The two have a long-standing collaborative relationship having first started working together in September 2015. Among other publications, they have a forthcoming article titled ‘Weighting the world: IPBES and the struggle over biocultural diversity`, which will be published as part of a special section in Global Environmental Politics.
To read the whole blog by Rosa Maryon, please click here: https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/isru/2019/02/20/conceptualising-the-establishment-of-intergovernmental-organisations-learning-from-ipcc-and-the-ipbes-dr-hannah-hughes-dr-alice-vadrot/
