HighARCS Participates in Ecocultures 2012

The Ecocultures 2012 conference (www.ecocultures.org) was held in April 17th and 18th at The Tony Rich Teaching Centre, University of Essex, Wivenoe Park, Colchester, UK. Keynote address: The Lammas ecovillage project: Redesigning the human relationship to resources. Plenary session: Framing and Approaching Ecocultures. Parallel sessions: 1 Transdisciplinarity & Studying Ecocultures; 2 Emerging Ecocultures; 3 Highland Aquatic Resources Management, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods; 4 Changes and Adaptations to Livelihoods; 5 Emerging Ecocultures: The Case of Local Energy Projects; 6 Resilience, Adaptability and Change ; 7 Reaching Towards Sustainability Through Engaged Artistic Practice – An Interactive Panel; 8 Structural Barriers and Bridges to Community Sustainability; 9 Emerging Ecocultures

HighARCS project papers were presented in Session 3 which was chaired by Dr. Stuart Bunting. This session provided a comprehensive account of pressures on highland aquatic resources and biodiversity in Asia whilst highlighting the range of ecosystem services derived from such wetlands that sustain local communities and associated socio-economic systems. The HighARCS paper presentations included:

Values assigned to freshwater ecosystem services using two contrasting methods; economic valuation and stakeholder prioritization by Emma Brooks, University of Southampton and Kevin Smith, IUCN

Work, education and out-migration among children and youth in upland Asia: Changing patterns of labour and ecological knowledge in an era of globalization by Samantha Punch and Fraser Sugden, University of Stirling