Perspectives on Environmental Memory: Philosophy, Literature and Environmental Science (workshop)

Published on 3 September 2026

There is mounting evidence that environments of the past are being forgotten. What are the mechanisms by which this is happening? What does this mean for how we approach our environmental crises as ethical challenges? And what does it mean for the search for solutions adequate to these challenges?

Please join us on Monday, 14 September 2026 (12-3pm online; limited places left in person at University of Exeter Streatham campus) for Perspectives on Environmental Memory: Philosophy, Literature, and Environmental Science, an interdisciplinary event organised by RENEW Biodiversity and the Biodiversity & People Network.

This gathering will explore how we remember, interpret, and engage with our environment, bringing together insights from philosophy, literature, and environmental science. We will bring together key figures in debates about environmental forgetting from across the HASS/STEM divide to focus on this neglected yet fundamental dimension of our environmentally troubled times. It will be an exercise in deep interdisciplinary engagement to identify the contours of the problems of environmental forgetting on the basis of what the evidence tells us, and taking seriously the ethical heart of the problem.

Speakers:
Stephen M. Gardiner (Philosophy, University of Washington & St Andrews)
Kevin Gaston (Conservation Biology, University of Exeter)
Stef Craps (Literary Studies, Ghent University)
Catriona McKinnon (Politics, University of Exeter)

Email renew@exeter.ac.uk if you would like to join us online or let us know if you would like to join the waitlist for in-person attendance.

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