Professor Janet Stephenson, Otago University, New Zealand 

2pm Wednesday July 12^th, AC113 Geography Seminar room  

How does culture relate to sustainability? Janet Stephenson draws from her new book Culture and Sustainability to show how cultural analysis can help with sustainability endeavours in research and policy.  She introduces the cultures framework, a well-tested approach for analysing culture at any scale and in any context.  Using examples of its diverse applications around the world, Stephenson illustrates how culture can in some circumstances be highly resistant to change, and in other circumstances can change rapidly. Cultural analysis can assist with policy development and reveal why some policy interventions have unintended consequences. Understanding sustainability problems through a cultural lens can bring new insights into the potential for transformational change. [further info]