Dr Gearoid Millar will deliver a paper at the online symposium, Environment and Conflict, hosted by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies at Liverpool Hope University, on July 12.
The symposium will open with keynotes by Professor Malcolm Miles and Professor John Vogler, who will discuss the impact of environmental change and the ways that international relations has engaged with the climate crisis, via their papers 'Climate, Culture and a Revolution of Values' and 'Environment and Security: Nation States, individuals or the Planet?', respectively.
In his contribution, entitled '21st Century Challenges to Peace: Facing Complexity in a Changing World', Dr Millar traces the links between the climate crisis and water and food insecurity, mass mobilization, and increasing urbanization.
Central to the paper is a consideration of the different ways that theoretical and practical approaches have responded to the crisis and its secondary challenges, and 'closer cooperation and faster communication' is argued to be a key mechanism to facilitate the transfer of research findings practice.
Drawing on data gathered among global peace scholars, staff at seven of the largest international peacebuilding organizations, and practitioners on the ground, the paper will provide recommendations for surmounting the unique challenges that have emerged in the 21st century.
For more details on the symposium, visit the symposium's page or take a look at the Environment and Conflict programme.