Call | Environment and Society

Call for papers | Environment and Society

Coordinators: Elisabete Figueiredo [Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences, University of Aveiro, Portugal, elisa@ua.pt]; João Lutas Craveiro [LNEC – National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, Lisbon, Portugal, jcraveiro@lnec.pt] José Gomes Ferreira [ ICS – Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal, jose.ferreira@outlook.com ]

The X Portuguese Congress of Sociology will take place at the University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal, between 10 and 12 July 2018 under the general theme: In the post-truth era? Public Sphere, Citizenship and Quality of Democracy in Contemporary Portugal. As in the previous editions, the Thematic Section ‘Environment and Society’ assumes the organization of the sessions related to its main topic.

The present moment is particularly relevant for the Environmental Sociology, given the transversal character and the repercussions of environmental issues and problems on current and future generations. One main challenge is related with the changes observed in the traditional energy matrix, based on the exploitation of fossil energy, which implies also a change at the individual and collective practices levels, both in what refers to the use of energy and in what concerns to mobility. Another significant challenge is related to the need of promoting new practices in the consumption of food products, such as meat and imported products with high ecological print. On the other hand, human societies are nowadays facing threats with unprecedent scale and scope. Among these threats one can find not only the ones deriving from the larger global or regional epidemies – fostered as well by climate change – but also larger environmental catastrophes related to climate and, as well, the re-emergence of nuclear threats.

Given the downturn in the sphere of the international environmental policies and the increasing emphasis in economic dimensions, the previous aspects constitute relevant challenges to the daily life of citizens, which are also often dealing with diverse and contrasting visions of scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs. Particularly vulnerable to those challenges.

and to the potential risks and catastrophes, are the most fragile communities, less prepared and less resilient to environmental impacts and risks.

Environmental Sociology possesses a paramount role in analysing the problems and in decoding difficult (from the general public perspective) technical matters, as well as in bridging scientific knowledge with lay and local knowledges, therefore supporting adaptive planning regarding environmental problems.

The coordinators of the Thematic Section ‘Environment and Society’ would like to invite all its members and other interested researchers and practitioners working within the field of environmental sociology, to present contributions to the X Congress of the Portuguese Association of Sociology (APS) to exchange experiences, approaches and methodologies and to foster the debate in this domain.

Contributions (both in the form of oral presentations or posters) are welcome in one of the following topics:

 Environmental Catastrophes, Climate Change and Energy

 Environment, Natural Resources and Regional Development;

 Environment, Consumption and Public Health;

 Environment, Employment and Economy;

 Environmental Awareness, Information and Education;

 Mass Media and the Environment;

 Civic Mobilization and Environmental Conflicts;

 Sustainable Development and New Development Approaches;

 Public Policies and Environmental Governance;

 Social Values and Perceptions on the Environment;