Research themes
News_
SEI's summer reading guide
29 November 2024
From oil palm plantations in West Papua and the vanishing flight paths of the Regent Honeyeater to practical guides for emergency preparedness and powerful podcasts, SEI has you covered this summer. Explore books, essays, and multimedia by SEI researchers and collaborators that cover urgent environmental issues and inspire action.
Books, essays, and resources
In the Shadow of the Palms
More than human becomings in West Papua
By Dr Sophie Chao
Sophie Chao examines the multispecies entanglements of oil palm plantations in West Papua, Indonesia, showing how Indigenous Marind communities understand and navigate the social, political, and environmental demands of the oil palm plant. Sophie rethinks capitalist violence as a multispecies act. In the process, Sophie centres how Marind fashion their own changing worlds and foreground Indigenous creativity and decolonial approaches to anthropology.
Summertime
Reflections on a vanishing future
By Prof Danielle Celermajer
Danielle Celermajer’s story of Jimmy the pig caught the world’s attention during the Black Summer of 2019-20. Gathered here is that story and others written in the shadow of the bushfires that ravaged Australia. In the midst of the death and grief of animals, humans, trees and ecologies Celermajer asks us to look around – really look around – to become present to all beings who are living and dying through the loss of our shared home. At once a howl in the forest and an elegy for a country’s soul, these meditations are lyrical, tender and profound.
A bird, a flock, a song, and a forest
The decline of Regent Honeyeater life
By Prof Thom van Dooren, A/Prof Zoe Sadokierski, Myles Oakey, Timo Rissanen, Samuel Widin, Ross Crates
The south-eastern corner of the Australian continent was once crisscrossed by the nomadic flight paths of the Regent Honeyeater. For hundreds of thousands of years, they winged their way up and down this vast continent. Today, however, the species is listed as critically endangered and is just clinging to existence. This multimedia essay tells the story of this decline, exploring the complex, co-shaping, relationships between individual birds and their flocks, their songs, and their forests.
Preparing for emergencies with your animals: A community conversation guide
By Dr Anna Sturman, Prof Danielle Celermajer, Freya MacDonald, Dr Blanche Verlie, Natahsa Heenan, and Prof David Schlosberg
This guide will help you take the time with some trusted neighbours, family, friends or community members to make sure that your and their animals will be as safe as possible, come fire, flood, or other emergency.
Podcasts
Stories are the Toolkit
‘Stories are the Toolkit’ is a 5-part vignette series that illuminates community-led action. The stories are based on interviews with 68 individuals who, in their different ways, contributed to community-led response, recovery and adaptation across three regions in New South Wales: the Northern Rivers, the Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains.
We can’t save the climate by destroying nature
The biodiversity crisis is inextricably linked to the climate crisis, and we can’t save the climate by destroying nature in the process. In fact, we need to repair nature to help solve climate change. In partnership with the Australian Conservation Foundation and as part of Sydney’s first Climate Action Week, a panel of leading voices from academia, not-for-profit, business and government discussed the need for a unified approach.
The radical work of mourning — a toolkit for planet dwellers
Join Natasha Mitchell and guests for a poetic discussion on the ways you can create space to grieve for species that are going, going, gone. Powerful interests collude to tell us that expressing emotion is hysterical, and that humans are separate from Nature, but proper mourning paves the way for what to do next — and places us right back where we belong.
Quick reads: SEI’s top 5 recommended articles for 2024
1. New findings: community-led disaster response and adaptation
In the aftermath of severe climate disasters in NSW, a new report highlights the pivotal role of community-led responses. Authored by researchers from the Sydney Environment Institute and University Centre for Rural Health, it showcases grassroots efforts in the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, and Northern Rivers regions.
2. Plurality in environmental justice: new insights
Professor David Schlosberg's latest paper in explores the multifaceted meanings of justice in environmental movements worldwide, offering critical insights for environmental justice scholars and activists.
3. Senate inquiry highlights SEI's role in disaster resilience
The Sydney Environment Institute is proud to announce that its collaborative efforts have been featured in the recently published report from the Senate inquiry into Australia's Disaster Resilience.
4. Patient’s heart and related carbon footprint can both be cared for
Healthcare is a leading contributor to the world’s carbon footprint. New analysis on the environmental impact of two common heart procedures shows it is possible to make changes within cardiac care, without compromising on quality of healthcare.
5. Bahrain, Swat: An Indigenous community on the frontlines of climate change
Mujahid Torwali shares his story of Bahrain, a town in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, which has been dramatically transformed by climate change and devastating floods. Despite contributing little to the climate crisis, the people of Bahrain are enduring its severe impacts, struggling to adapt and rebuild.
Header image Stock ID: 2545999861