Planetary Justice Workshop
In March 2018, researchers of the Copernicus Institute launched a new global research network on ‘planetary justice’. A two-day workshop, supported by Utrecht’s Strategic Programme ‘Institutions for Open Societies’, brought together a group of leading scholars of Australia, Bangladesh, Britain, Greece, India, the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States to set the first steps in network building. Further activities are scheduled for November 2018 and beyond.
The workshop began with an opening from hosts, Frank Biermann and Agni Kalfagianni. They shared an introduction to the ideas behind forming the taskforce – the pressing need to explore concerns of justice in the context of the Anthropocene and current Earth System transformations in a scientific and empirically grounded way. The introduction also elaborated on relevant contextual aspects in Utrecht, such as the ‘Institutions for Open Societies’ and ‘Sustainability’ strategic themes of the university, and the choice of the phrase ‘planetary justice’ and its links to planetary boundaries and transformations as well as key discussions about equity in environmental governance.