Environment + Conflict + Peace: A Photo Exhibition [Call for Submissions]
Jul 24, 2019
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Environmental Peacebuilding Association
A group exhibition to elevate diverse conversations on the dynamics between environmental issues, the causes and impacts of conflict, and peacebuilding. Curated by Jason Houston for exhibition at the 1st International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding, convened by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association at the University of California, Irvine, from 23 to 25 October 2019.
Selected work (single images and short series) will be printed and displayed in a central area during the conference and may be included in a short presentation by the curator or in slideshows during intermissions between sessions. All printed work will include expanded captions produced by the contributor in collaboration with the curator with a goal of expanding the viewers’ thinking about Environmental Peacebuilding. Bio and contact information for each contributor will be readily available to all conference participants. Contributors retain full copyright of their images, and grant one-time, non-exclusive use for promotion of and exhibition at the conference.About Environmental Peacebuilding:
Environmental stresses and related conflicts have created global humanitarian crises that have displaced 65 million people. Grievances over land and valuable natural resources both drive and fund global conflicts; since 1989, more than 35 major armed conflicts were funded by the extraction of resources as diverse as diamonds and timber, cocoa and coca, and ivory and marble. While the environment is a silent victim of many conflicts, it can also serve as the foundation of peace, as post-conflict recovery relies on natural resources to support livelihoods, enhance economic recovery, and reintegrate excombatants. Resources can also provide incentives and opportunities for communities to build trust. Environmental peacebuilding is the process of governing and managing natural resources and the environment to support durable peace. It includes efforts to prevent, mitigate, resolve, and recover from violent conflict, and involves renewable natural resources (such as land, water, and fisheries), non-renewable natural resources (such as minerals, oil, and gas), and ecosystems (including climate change and ecosystem services). It links diverse concepts and activities, such as governing natural resources and sharing benefits in a transparent manner to sustain peace and build confidence between stakeholders; preventing or reducing environmental threats to human health and livelihoods caused by violent conflict; using shared natural resources as an entry point for dialogue or as a basis for cooperation and trust building between divided groups; and developing natural resources in a conflict-sensitive manner. Environmental peacebuilding provides a framework for contextualizing and linking tools for managing environmental risks and opportunities across the conflict lifecycle. The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) emerged from the recognition that an integrated approach to the environment, conflict, and peace is of critical importance. Through our inaugural conference and with our partners we are bringing together a global community dedicated to making the environment a cause of peace, rather than conflict. Together, we are creating a knowledge base, raising awareness, and building capacity. EnPAx’s conference partners include University of California, Irvine; the Blum Center for Poverty Alleviation; the Environmental Law Institute; and Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. This call for submissions is open to photography projects of all types and relating to all stages and aspects of environmental peacebuilding, including both the environmental risks and the opportunities for peace. Possible themes or subjects might include:- Environment-related causes of conflict: Climate change in Darfur and Syria; inequitable land distribution in Nepal and Guatemala; inequitable sharing of benefits from oil and gas in Southern Sudan (now South Sudan), Aceh, and Kurdistan; ag-pastoral conflicts in the Sahel, Afghanistan, and elsewhere; inequitable sharing of benefits from diamonds in Sierra Leone. While causes of conflict are multidimensional, natural resource disputes are often a flashpoint.
- Natural resources that finance conflict: Coca and gold in Colombia, opium poppy and marble in Afghanistan, coltan and other minerals in eastern DRC, timber in Liberia and Myanmar, cacao in Côte d’Ivoire, and diamonds in Sierra Leone and Angola, among others.
- Environmental harm of conflict: The legacy of Agent Orange in Viet Nam on people and the environment; impacts of World War I on battlefields at Verdun and elsewhere; scorched earth tactics; poisoned wells in Sudan, the former Yugoslav Republics, and elsewhere; and targeting of oil pipelines in Colombia and South Sudan.
- Gender dimensions of environmental peacebuilding: Women are often disproportionately affected (e.g., suffering gender-based violence while collecting water and firewood; not having their rights to land and other resources respected; etc.). They also have proven to have substantial capacity to improve environmental management when given the chance (and this aspect of agency is a growing theme).
- Basic environmental services: Such as water, sanitation, and energy.
- Cooperation around natural resources: Including peace parks (e.g., Cordillera del Condor between Peru and Ecuador; Balkans Peace Park in Southern Europe; etc.); and cooperation around water (e.g., the Jordan River, the Indus River, etc.).
- Post-conflict restoration: Such as the restoration of the Iraqi marshlands, replanting trees in Afghanistan, and rehabilitating environmental hotspots in Pancevo and Novi Sad.
- Rebuilding livelihoods after war: For example, farming, mining, forestry, fisheries, pastoralism, etc.
- Reintegrating ex-combatants: For example as park rangers, farmers, or fishermen.
Details
Deadline: September 15, 2019Decisions: September 23, 2019High-res files due: September 30, 2019Caption and bio information finalized: October 7, 2019Conference and exhibition: October 23 - 25, 2019 (University of California, Irvine)