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- Convenors:
-
Sandy Nofyanza
(The University of Manchester)
Michaela Guo Ying Lo (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent)
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- Format:
- Paper panel
Short Abstract:
This panel explores how rural development and transformation are being (re)imagined, experienced, and enacted in the tropics — a region acutely affected by overlapping global crises. Our goal is to unpack the complex realities these communities face and explore pathways to meaningful change.
Long Abstract:
Rural tropical regions are among the hardest hit by interconnected crises — including rapid environmental degradation, economic instability, and social inequity. These challenges not only threaten the well-being of these communities and their biodiverse ecosystems, but also hold the potential for transformative change. Addressing these issues requires a reimagining of rural development — one that critically understands and responds to the complex, interwoven realities these regions face.
This panel seeks to explore and delve into the complexities of local rural development within the context of global crises and provide a platform for critical reflection of how we imagine rural transformation. We aim to examine how these crises unfold on the ground through issues like food insecurity, critical mineral extraction, and deforestation and the local factors mediating them, including tenure rights, socio-political organisations, and local ecologies. We also seek practical strategies and practices that advance development efforts.
Potential themes that may feature in this panel are the following:
- Theorising and conceptualising rural development in the age of the polycrisis
- Interdisciplinary frameworks and methods that address the complexity of rural development
- Navigating competing interests over lands and waters in the rural tropics
- Cases on the local manifestations and responses of the polycrisis
- Applied research and reflections on advancing development efforts in complex landscapes.
We invite submissions from scholars and practitioners that draw on theoretical, empirical and field-based research to foster a rich dialogue on the future of rural development in times of crisis.