Duke University Hosts Conference on Environmental Peace Building

Duke University's Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Science will host a public discussion of the role the environment can play in post-conflict peace building and reconstruction. Titled "Environmental Challenges in War-Torn Societies: Sustainability and Human Security in Post-Conflict Reconstruction," the discussion will take place on Wednesday, November 29 from 4:15 – 6:15 p.m. in Love Auditorium in the Levine Science and Research Center.

Erika Weinthal, associate professor of environmental policy at the Nicholas School, will chair the discussion; featured panelists include Ken Conca, Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda, University of Maryland; Alexander Carius, Adelphi Research; Liz McBride, International Rescue Committee; Judy Oglethorpe, World Wildlife Fund; and Richard Matthew, Center for Unconventional Security Affairs, University of California at Irvine. A reception will follow in the Hall of Science.

The discussion precedes a closed day-long workshop that will bring policymakers, practitioners, and scholars together to identify the environmental conditions necessary for sustainable peace and the circumstances under which environmental initiatives can help to facilitate that goal. This scoping workshop is a follow-on effort to the 2002 volume Environmental Peacemaking edited by conference co-organizers Ken Conca of the University of Maryland and ECSP Director Geoff Dabelko. In addition to Duke, Maryland, and the Wilson Center, Richard Matthew represents UC Irvine as the fourth co-sponsor of the workshop.