We’ve gone through very different topics over the course, such as pastoralism, mining and land and water grabbing dilemmas. I particularly liked that there were many researchers involved in teaching this course, some from Sweden and some from abroad. I liked that some of the lectures carried stories from those who were telling them.
One lecture about “Achieving conservation goals in human inhabited protected areas – The case of Zapatera Island National Park in Nicaragua” was about much more than conservation. The lecturer said that she could wear “two hats”, the activist and the researcher. She touched upon political regimes and the crisis situation in the country.
In another lecture titled “Kalasnikovs & Pastoralism in Karamoja region, northeastern Uganda”, we did not hear about pastoralism techniques… as you may guess. We learnt a bit more about climate change effects in Africa, droughts, migration and raids… Not every day you get such an explanation about the culture of some communities in an engaging way. I really enjoyed it…
All the best. Ana