Geography/Environmental Science: Coast to Coast – Livelihoods, Gender, Disasters, Environmental Change & Governance – A Social-Ecological Systems Approach With Dr Johanna Forster From University Of East Anglia

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When we look outside our window we see a complex world of interactions – between people, places, nature, political structures and economic pressures. How can we learn to better understand these interactions and interdependencies, and what can we do to try and make the world a fairer, safer, and more just place for all?

Dr Johanna Forster is an environmental social scientist who has been working in the field of marine and coastal systems for many years. Her work takes her on a journey from UK coastlines to tropical small islands, and brings together themes around livelihoods, gender, disasters, environmental change and governance. Her talk will draw together two very different case studies over 4000 miles apart – starting on the North Norfolk coast, with its eroding coastline, at the forefront of UK climate impacts bringing increasing socio-economic risk to the communities who live there; to Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean, heavily impacted by hurricanes, where fishing is both incredibly important for income and livelihood security, but can also contribute to building community resilience to future impacts.

This talk will provide a window on Development Studies, an interdisciplinary degree offered by the School of Global Development at the University of East Anglia, that has evolved to integrate the social sciences, with environmental science and geography, economics, and politics. Development Studies offers students the essential training and opportunity to strive for solutions to the greatest environmental, social and economic challenges faced by our world today.

Lecturer Profile: Dr Johanna Forster

Our events are designed so that a group of students can take part from a classroom, or students and teachers can take part as individuals, either from school or from home. There is no charge to take part.

As a live, participative event, this session will not be recorded but access to the Headliner recording will continue to be accessible.

Suitable for: Key Stage 5, and equivalent, students studying Geography or Environmental Science. It is also relevant for students of Economics and Politics. For those with a potential interest in studying International Development at university, this session will offer an invaluable insight into the subject. Participants can join as a group or as individuals.

Preparation/Pre-Reading: Students may wish to consider the topic and discuss some of the key elements in advance. Students can also think about questions they have about studying at university level.

The IT Setup: The event will be run on Zoom and participants will be able to join using laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. If you are joining as a school group, we recommend connecting with one device and projecting on to a whiteboard. You will be able to interact with the university via a microphone and/or typed comments and questions. Full details will be sent to those who have registered (see below) prior to the event.

Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you would like to take part in this event, please register your interest using the link to the registration form below:

Register here