The Planet and the Academy: How to Make Your Research Sustainable

‘Climate change,’ as Margaret Atwood once wrote, ‘is everything change’. As a postgraduate researcher, where do climate and sustainability fit into your research? And where does your research fit into an increasingly warming world? Is ‘sustainability’ even the right paradigm now, or do we need to think more transformatively, more regeneratively?

This interdisciplinary research training workshop will give you the provocations, evidence, and space to reflect on how your research (present and future) relates to climate and environment.

Working collaboratively, participants will help shape the agenda, focusing on the sustainability questions that matter most to you. Likely avenues of exploration include decarbonisation and net zero, biodiversity, planetary boundaries, carbon markets, climate adaptation, green growth and degrowth, and the intersection of AI and the environment.

We’ll hear expert presentations, including ideas for using the BL’s own collections in sustainability-related research. We’ll also be prototyping some innovative playful learning methods to explore speculative research scenarios, and test ourselves against challenging sustainability trade-offs, uncertainties, and ethical dilemmas.

Participants will leave the workshop with a strong foundation in the fundamentals academic research and the environment, signposts to further resources, and the experience of collaboratively thinking through practical challenges. We also hope you’ll take away a renewed sense of possibility, and reasons to be hopeful!

This workshop is offered by the British Library in collaboration with Climate Acuity, Sussex Serious Play, and the Digital Humanities Climate Coalition.

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