Methylmercury in the Food Chain due to Global Ubiquitous Atmospheric Deposition from Coal Combustion
Sessions
Beyond crisis/Beyond normal
A social science and humanities conference on sustainability
Organized by NTNU Energy Team Society
27 and 28 September 2023 | DIGS (pdf), Trondheim |
Registration deadline: 15 August
Thematic sessions
The conference has the following thematic sessions:
02. A postcapitalist world is possible: A postcapitalist world is now
03. Automated mobility: transition enabler or disabler?
04. Bridging concerns for justice and speed: the dilemmas and tradeoffs of accelerated transitions
06. Geographical Perspectives on Just and Sustainable Transitions
07. Building capacity for climate adaptation through involving citizens
08. Sustainable mobility innovations – challenging the techno-economic paradigm of transport research
09. Energy Narratives
10. Changing to remain the same? The relationship between preservation and change in innovation
11. Anthropology and the New Energy Complex: Critical Infrastructure, Sustainable Futures, War
12. Nordic Renewable Energy Success Stories
13. Environmental behavior spillover
14. Land use challenges: Sustainability, governance, and social and political responses
15. Multi-sectoral transitions: mechanisms, processes and agency
16. Low-income groups and the super-rich in sustainability transitions
18. Transitions in tension: public engagement, social justice, and conflict
19. Soul searching the flexibility concept
20. Towards a better conceptualization of agency and coalitions building in sustainability transitions
Closed session - Invited participants only: 21. Biodiversity – politics, knowledge, practice
Poster session
The conference will also have an open poster session where participants are invited to present any sustainability related social science and humanities research. Guidelines for poster and poster presentation (pdf).
Lynne Elizabeth Peterson
Methylmercury in the food chain is a serious global public health concern and is largely mitigable. Coal combustion is responsible for most atmospheric mercury in the food chain. Fish consumption is the primary exposure to methylmercury in humans and the ecosystem, producing dangerous neurotoxic effects. Detrimental ongoing neurological deficits can result from fish eating during pregnancy: methylmercury crosses the blood-brain barrier and may potentially disrupt normal neurodevelopment.
The tension: global coal combustion is on the rise. Mitigation technologies to prevent atmospheric mercury from entering global circulation from coal combustion can reduce emissions by more than 90 %. Policies and regulations are in place, however, the recent decade demonstrated how fragile some of these policies are under various political regimes. This research seeks to understand the phenomenon of the global lack of constancy in response to mitigation potential via the latest technologies available. Instead, regulatory agencies have over-relied on Fish Consumption Advisories when real gains in preventing the risk of mercury in fish could have been attained.
Ontological and epistemological factors will be explored for their role in the parsing of terms that might help address this detrimental, yet solvable problem, through a justice lens. The expected outcome is that governance structures are relying too heavily upon ineffective and unjust FCAs, which in addition to not protecting human health, do nothing to protect the ecosystem.
Playing, doing, thinking, arguing, working, walking: call for alternative format sessions
The conference will also allocate one timeslot for parallel sessions using alternative formats. We welcome workshops, activities, co-creation exercises, innovative discussions, brainstorming formats, and whatever other creative initiatives you can come up with.
Beyond crises/Beyond Normal acknowledges that grappling with the key challenges of our era requires creative engagement beyond standard knowledge production and sharing through academic presentations. We will therefore allocate one timeslot for parallel sessions using alternative formats.
We welcome workshops, activities, co-creation exercises, innovative discussions, brainstorming formats, and whatever other creative initiatives you can come up with. The only condition is that activities should be clearly engaging with or be relevant for researchers working on themes of sustainability, climate change, transitions, and energy from a social science or humanities perspective.
While we are open to any good idea that offers an alternative to the conventional panel of paper presentations, we suggest keeping to the following guidelines:
- The session should require little or no preparation from the audience/participants. People should be able to decide to join on the spot.
- The session's success should not depend on the number of participants. Design your session such that it can be successful with 5 persons as well as with 30.
- Allow for both active and passive participation. Allowing mere spectators is likely to be more inclusive as not everyone may want to be ‘on stage’. At the same time, of course make active participation as attractive as you can.
- The activity should be concluded in 90 minutes. Also, mind that the venue will not allow for extensive preparation of the rooms.
- Make clear whether you want this to be an academic exercise, or something that welcomes audience of any kind
- Have an idea for a side-event, an outdoors event, a field trip, an evening event, or any other activity? Do not hesitate to reach out, and we will happily discuss and help!
Describe your plan for the session in 200-300 words. Also describe specific needs for the session (but bear in mind that anything beyond a conference room with AV equipment might be difficult for us to arrange).
Alternative format sessions
The climate fresk workshop
SSH meets society
Tender Cartographies: Mapping felt experiences of place in transition times
Non-Violent Direct Action Training Session with Scientist Rebellion Trondheim
Imaginative and anticipatory co-creation for transformation – pros, cons and unknowns (collective sharing and brainstorming)
Identifying Sustainable Development Goal interlinkages: the case of solar photovoltaics
Organizing committee
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Kim-Andre Myhre Arntsen PhD Candidate
+4790867311 kim.a.m.arntsen@ntnu.no Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture -
Shaua Fui Chen PhD Candidate
+47-73559959 shaua.f.chen@ntnu.no Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture -
Zane Datava PhD student
+4794277524 zane.datava@ntnu.no -
Franziska Gehlmann PhD student
franziska.gehlmann@ntnu.no -
Sara Heidenreich Senior researcher
+47-73591779 sara.heidenreich@ntnu.no Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture -
Sigurd Hilmo Lundheim
sigurd.h.lundheim@ntnu.no Department of Sociology and Political Science -
Tomas Moe Skjølsvold Professor of STS and Director of FME NTRANS
+47-73550189 +4793634270 tomas.skjolsvold@ntnu.no Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture