by Jieun Cho, postdoctoral associate
The inaugural meeting of the APSI Environmental Futures in Asia Network (EFAN) was held on July 4-6, 2024, on Jeju Island, South Korea. EFAN was established with three objectives: supporting emerging scholars in advancing their research agendas, facilitating interdisciplinary conversations on methods and theories related to environmental topics in Asia, and cultivating ethical collaboration by connecting scholars with local practitioners, researchers, and activists.
Cosponsored and coorganized by Duke’s Asian/Pacific Studies Institute (APSI) and Jeju National University’s (JNU) Research Center on the Commons and Sustainable Society, the workshop marked a significant step toward achieving these ambitious goals.
Thematic Panel Discussions
Thematic panel discussions were a central component of the workshop. Scholars from diverse disciplines—including history, anthropology, political science, sociology, public policy, philosophy, law, and science and technology studies—shared presentations highlighting their work on environmental topics and engaged in rich, cross-disciplinary dialogues.
Faculty and scholars from JNU’s Research Center on the Commons presented their findings from community-oriented projects documenting Jeju Island’s transition to an Eco-City. They explored plans for widespread adoption of electric cars by 2040, civic resistance to developmental projects like the construction of a second airport, and the impact of the transition to renewable energy production from wind farms on local livelihoods and the relationships between villages.
Scholars reflected on shared concerns such as land tenure and privatization, sustainable management of livelihoods, and incorporating customary practices for promoting an equitable governance structure. The discussions highlighted the intersection of landscape transformation, global financial investment, and citizenship and customs in communal practices.
Overall, JNU’s research contributions underscored the critical role of interdisciplinary approaches to address complex environmental transitions.
Duke Kunshan University (DKU) scholars showcased their ongoing and emerging projects, including community-focused forest conservation efforts that promote ecological and economic balance by collaborating with local people who keep livestock in conserved forests, an examination of cultural values in preserving lakes by tracing how intergenerational family histories contribute to civic conservation efforts, and the effects of climate change on migratory birds that travel between Korea and China, highlighting the need for transnational strategies to sustain biodiversity.
These presentations illustrated the DKU scholars’ commitment to integrating local ecological knowledge with broader adaptation strategies. The comprehensive nature of their research demonstrated the importance of localized studies for informing multinational and global environmental strategies.
Duke scholars provided valuable perspectives on how environmental and social issues manifest across various environmental and social issues. They presented on: Vietnam’s Provincial Green Index, which incentivizes local provinces to adopt environmentally friendly policies by implementing and tracking metrics for evaluation and improvement; the conceptual implications of subterranean property in colonial India for fossil fuel dependency; an overview of how a commons framework can be applied to understand institutions governing the management of shared resources at local as well as global levels; the legal potential of the Rights of Nature approach in global regulations targeting resource destruction; new forms of risks and uncertainties that are brought by large-scale water projects on local communities and cosmologies on the Mekong River; and new governmental and social practices emerging around ethical considerations over stray pets and animal euthanasia rates in Japan.
Duke’s diverse and in-depth presentations highlighted the need to understand historical, legal, political, and social dimensions when examining environmental issues in Asia.
Organized under four thematic areas (ecology, commons, biodiversity, and energy/climate crisis), the panels enabled all workshop participants to identify how similar inquires are emerging across different parts of Asia. The collaborative spirit of the workshop fostered a deeper understanding of environmental challenges across Asia as well as the innovative methods and intellectual approaches scholars can use to study these timely issues.
Local Field Excursions
On the final day of the workshop, participants visited two significant sites: the coastal village of Pyeongdae-ri and the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park. The visits were realized through the long-standing partnership between JNU’s research networks and local villages.
The excursions, a particularly innovative approach of this workshop, offered an invaluable opportunity to explore environmental topics of shared interest from a fresh, region-specific perspective while promoting new connections among emerging and senior scholars. Guided by a local village administrative chief-resident with deep roots in the community, participants literally traveled beyond their specific research expertise and gained insights into the unique environmental and cultural context of Jeju.
Walking through Pyeongdae-ri, the group learned how the village’s systems of citizenship, revenue generation, kinship practices, and resource management have been shaped by diverse historical forces, including colonial occupation, civil wars, and, more recently, the escalating impacts of climate change.
The dramatic rise in ocean temperatures at an unprecedented rate (by two Celsius degrees over a decade) has rendered traditional diving livelihoods impossible as the sea fields succumb to ocean desertification and biospheric tropicalization.
Conversations during the trip covered a wide range of topics, including construction and maintenance of the island’s famous stone walls, Japanese colonial rule, brown algae, traditional women divers (haenyeo, recognized as UNESCO heritage), anchovies living in puddles, wind farms, Jeju diaspora communities in Japan, and place-names.
The excursion highlighted how historical and environmental changes are intertwined with Jeju’s distinctive volcanic geology and its deep geopolitical and ecological history, which are vividly remembered by and profoundly affect the island residents.
Additional revelations happened at Jeju’s 4.3 Peace Park which introduced the group to local witnesses’ oral histories and reflections. The museum gave new insight into the island’s landscape formation, shaped by transnational migration, political oppression, and financial globalization. Although not directly related to the environmental topics of the panels, the visit deepened participants’ appreciation of the complex socio-political factors influencing Jeju’s environmental history and relevant decision-making processes and opened new avenues of inquiry. Overall, the field trips underscored the importance of local knowledge and historical context for environmental research, exemplifying the workshop’s commitment to ethical collaboration by connecting scholars with local practitioners, researchers, and activists.
Relationship-Building and Agenda Setting
The workshop built new relationships between scholars representing a broad array of academic disciplines who share a common interest in environmental and climate-related inquiries in Asia. An agenda-setting conversation generated ideas for future collaboration, including developing a curated set of interdisciplinary case studies and encouraging inter-referencing within Asian communities. EFAN aims to support equitable knowledge generation by improving communication across disciplinary boundaries and helping scholars use their research to address the stakes and concerns of local communities facing global environmental changes.
Conclusion
The EFAN Jeju workshop offered a robust program that supported emerging scholars, facilitated interdisciplinary conversations, and cultivated ethical collaboration. The thematic panel discussions, local excursions, and relationship-building efforts demonstrated the immense value of engaging with local practitioners, researchers, and activists. This inaugural meeting was a resounding success, laying a strong foundation for future iterations.
Looking ahead to the second iteration planned for DKU in late spring 2025, we aim to build on this success, advancing environmental research and collaboration in Asia. The insights gained and relationships formed will contribute to promoting social and environmental justice, and, drawing on Duke’s vibrant scholarly communities, significantly bolster Duke’s Climate Commitment. Through these efforts, the network is poised to take significant strides in interdisciplinary and cross-regional collaboration by promoting social science and humanities research on environmental issues.
