When: 13th August 2020; 14:00 – 15:00 (IST)
Registration: This webinar will be hosted through Zoom therefore access to the platform will be required for attendance. Please reserve your place through the Eventbrite link here.
Overview
In an era when the area which humankind is occupying is both expanding (outer space) and eroding (coastal boundaries) simultaneously, this webinar addresses a number of issues concerning climate and development. The DSAI study group on Climate and Development invites you to attend this webinar which will address varying concerns facing climate and development in the world and beyond.
This webinar is hosted by Gerard Maguire, NUI Maynooth and Convenor of DSAI Climate & Development Study Group. All queries can be directed to the study group convenor via email at climate@dsaireland.org. It will be chaired by Dr Noelle Higgins, Associate Professor, Maynooth University.
Speakers:
- Ciara Finnegan, PhD Student, Department of Law, Maynooth University - The Anthropocene, Earth’s Climate Crisis and Outer Space: Analysing How the Space Law Legal Framework Provides for the Responsible Implementation of Outer Space Solutions to the Climate Crisis
- Chris Phillips, PhD Student, Department of Geography, Maynooth University & ICARUS - Place attachment, disruption and Solastalgia: Insights from a coastal community.
About the Chair
Noelle is an Associate Professor in Law. She previously worked at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway and at the School of Law and Government, DCU. She has Masters degrees in both Irish and Law and a Higher Diploma in Education. She obtained her PhD on the topic of wars of national liberation and self-determination from NUI Galway. She is currently part of a consortium working on a Horizon2020 Project, entitled 'Re-creating Europe: Rethinking Digital Copyright Law for a Culturally Diverse, Accessible, Creative Europe', awarded in 2020. She was previously the PI on an IRCHSS funded project in international peace mediation (2010).
Speakers Abstracts
The Anthropocene, Earth’s Climate Crisis and Outer Space: Analysing How the Space Law Legal Framework Provides for the Responsible Implementation of Outer Space Solutions to the Climate Crisis
The exploration of Outer Space, while a process that emerged from the Anthropocene, is now being looked at as one of the ways to mitigate the effects of the Climate Crisis on Earth. However, Outer Space-based solutions to the effects of the Climate Crisis must be pursued responsibly if humanity is not to impact Outer Space, the Moon and other Celestial Bodies in the same negative way that its behaviour brought about the Anthropocene on Earth. Thus, the existing Space Law Legal Framework must be investigated in order to ascertain how the proposed Outer Space activities aimed at alleviating the strain of the Climate Crisis on Earth are currently regulated, as these activities continue to evolve from proposals to realities. Two of these Outer Space-based solutions which will be focused on are: (i) the prospect of the colonization of the Moon and/or other Celestial Bodies, and (ii) the extraction of valuable minerals and resources from the Moon. These proposed solutions to the effects of the Climate Crisis on Earth pose a challenge to regulation, with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty allocating Outer Space, the Moon and other Celestial Bodies the status of “the province of all mankind” and the 1979 Moon Agreement further specifying the Moon and its resources as “the common heritage of mankind”. This suggests that the Space Law Legal Framework requires the equal benefit of all of humankind, as well as future generations of humanity, from these Outer Space-based solutions. While the responsible implementation of this approach could prevent harmful human impact on Outer Space, NASA’s recent release of the Artemis Accords has re-ignited a Space Race for the use of the Moon for the benefit of the Space-faring nations that can reach it, potentially scuppering the global impact of Outer Space-based solutions to the Climate Crisis.
Place attachment, disruption and Solastalgia: Insights from a coastal community.
Loss of place can lead to the disruption of place attachment having negative effects on community wellbeing and adaptive capacity. High levels of place attachment can often result in resistance to proposed climate adaptation strategies from communities who have experienced the loss of, or threats to place. Additional stresses and risks posed by climate change such as increased storminess, rising sea levels and flooding may force transformative change to place. This form of change can lead to experiences of solastalgia, a newly emerging concept that explains the lived experiences of grief following negative environmental or place change. It is crucial to better understand the factors that determine whether or how a community successfully navigates these changes. Courtown County Wexford is one example where severe coastal erosion has resulted in the loss of place and emergence of solastalgia. However, the loss of the beach at Courtown has inspired the implementation of adaptation strategies that aim to restore place identity and reimagine Courtown’s future. The aim of this research is to better understand lived experiences of solastalgia and how coastal communities navigate place loss. This will provide valuable lessons for improving the implementation of future adaptation strategies both nationally and internationally.