USF Hosts Cross-Discipline Environmental Conference
Pulling together faculty who teach its environmental programming across the globe, USF hosted an international conference in Budapest, Hungary this summer that looked at everything from ethical and cross-cultural environmental priorities to how to fashion a worldwide protective policy.
The conference brought together about 100 faculty affiliated with USF’s environmental programs around the world as well as academics from other universities, and representatives of some non-governmental organizations. Attendees represented several different disciplines, including theology and cultural anthropology, as well as a range of environmental specialties, for a discussion of environmental attitudes and solutions.
“It was considered a follow-up to the (United Nations-sponsored) Johannesburg summit (in 2002) because the theme was: 'What is the current state of worldwide environmental policy and what progress has been made with respect to involving the public?'” said Steve Zavestoski, assistant professor of sociology and a panelist during the conference.
Topics ranged from how globalization can help or hinder environmental protections to how race, class, or gender divisions can be reinforced through environmental policy and what kinds of partnerships can aid sustainable economic policies.
“We hope to bring together our partners in our environmental global consortium on a regular basis,” said Stanley Nel, USF vice president of international relations. “The conference showed that although we all came from different parts of the world, we are nevertheless confronted by common problems.”
USF’s environmental programming is currently taught at Péter Pázmány University in Budapest, Hungary; Universidad Miguel Hernandez in Elche, Spain; Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand; and Ateneo de Manila University in Manila, the Philippines. The university has plans to expand its programming to universities in China and Spain.
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