Research Interests

My research and work experience reveal multiple interests which nevertheless gravitate around the relationship between Humans and Nature. How can we comprehend this unique planet, which includes our selves, nature and social others in one complex whole?  How do we articulate and balance the multiplicity of beings and interests in the unity of a common sustainable development?  How do we create new forms of intelligence that can reconcile dichotomies, cut through reductionism and move beyond objectification? And how can this understanding converge coherently with heart and will, to serve as powerful and effective tool for healing the breaks and strengthened the bonds between us and the human or non-human other?

Exploring some of its meanders has led me to ponder on how this relationship evolves in time, to cross old and new frontiers between nature and culture and between inner and outer landscapes while finding creative meanings for concepts such as “life”, “well-being” and “evolution”.

Part of my labor has been establishing links between what seem lofty issues with pragmatically oriented projects, like mingling in rural development projects and land planning policies or in conservation conflicts. The cultural life of the planet, which includes Art, is also an aspect I welcome to reflect and incorporate in the business of bridge-making in the Social-Ecological System otherwise called Earth. Last, transdisciplinarity at work and a phenomenological approach to fieldwork has been a vital and enriching part of this process.

Projects currently underway:

My main research activity is dedicated to a 3 year project in which biodiversity is approached from a social perspective, portrayed under the title Natural services and cultural values: social translations of biodiversity. This first year research has been grounded in human-wolf relationships, which produced different outcomes. The new year case study is currently underway.

Year I. Wolves

From culture to nature and back: Following wolves in the sustainability trail

a.  Wildlife Management of Wolves was used as material for an analysis of Governance structures and processes, using empirical data from four countries (Sweden, Germany, Portugal and Spain).

b.  Social learning in wildlife conservation (under construction).

c.  Applied action research project on “Wolves in School: learning sustainability from the Wild side” (under construction)

Year II. Bees

The Genius of Swarms

The initial design is underway but nevertheless falls under the auspices of transdisciplinarity and sustainability. This translates in the following percepts:

a.  An initial exploratory survey amongst different stakeholders will highlight the definition of a pragmatic, problem oriented research process.

b.  The research is open to include several perspectives that are part of the human-bee system, like pollination, climate, agriculture, food systems, bee-keeping and apiology. Also, conservation issues are included which means integrating different knowledges, discourses and institutions under one common subject.

c.  This previous integration might have different formats, from a more academic based articulation to serious cross pollination between different action oriented projects carried by different sources.

d.  It is primarily local- based (Skåne) but it is open to include partners from other countries.

Teaching and Supervision

Since 2010 I’ve been teaching a) Qualitative and Participatory Methods in Research and b) Social Evaluation of Programs, Plans and Projects, at the Master Program “Master in Sustainable Land Planning” at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

I am currently supervising 12 Master students in LUMID and LUMES (Lund University Master Programme in International Development and Management and Lund University International Master’s Programme in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science).

2009 Co-Advisor to PhD thesis “Women’s Contributions to rural economy and productive resources. Case studies in Lugo, Spain and Cantón Santa Elena, Ecuador” by Lupe García Espinoza, University of Santiago de Compostela

2008 Advisor to M.A. thesis “Gender in Leader’s development plan. Potentials and limits within international cooperation”, by Eva González Pérez, University of Santiago de Compostela.

Publications

Sthör, C. & E. Coimbra (2011) “Wolf Governance”, in Governance over Natural and Social Systems: Handbook of Theories and Practices of Societal and Global Regulation, ed. Burns, T., Flam, H. and Machado, N. Ashgate Publishers (London/Surrey, U.K.) (status: under review)

Sthör, C. & E. Coimbra (2011) “The Governance of the Wolf-Human relationship in Europe”, in Journal of Environment & Development (status: under review)

Coimbra, E. (2011) “Land management grounded in social soil: Galician land banking in context”, in Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas, No. 66, May-August 2011, pp: 135-157

García, L.; Crecente, R., Ferreira de Almeida, E., (2008), Contribuciones de las mujeres a la economía rural: Caso de las mujeres de Santa Elena, Parroquia Colonche-Ecuador, in II Congreso Internacional Sobre Género, Trabajo y Economía Informal, Elche, España.

García, L.; Crecente, R., Ferreira de Almeida, E., (2008),  Contribuciones de las mujeres a la economía rural: Caso de las mujeres de Lugo, in CIFEX – Congreso internacional  Nuevas y Viejas Cuestiones de las Investigaciones de las Mujeres y del Género, Santiago de Compostela

Lima, A. V. et al., (2000), «Representações e valores sobre natureza e Ambiente», in Os portugueses e o ambiente, Celta, Lisboa.

Manuscripts in Preparation

Coimbra, Elsa. “Social learning in wildlife conservation”.  For submission at II Iberian Wolf Congress

Almack,  Kaitlin & E. Coimbra, “Learning through community based conservation: The process of social learning among the women of Ghandruk Village Nepal”. For submission at Earth System Governance conference

Theses and Conference Papers

Coimbra, Elsa (2006) O regresso do Monte: a relação sociedade natureza na comarca dos Ozcos [on line]. Lisboa: ISCTE, 2006. Tese de doutoramento. Available at http://hdl.handle.net/10071/2910  

Coimbra, Elsa (1999) Experience and Meaning. Cultivating energy through Qi Gong practice, Master Thesis in Institute of Social Sciences, Portugal

Coimbra, Elsa, Social views on rural sustainability in ‘How to revitalize farming and agricultural land use?’ European options for the future, FARLAND International Workshop, Oeiras, Portugal, 16-18 September 2009

Coimbra, Elsa, Land policy, development and Social learning in Workshop on Land Tenure and Land Consolidation, FAO and Regional Ministry of Rural Affairs, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 9-11 February 2009

Coimbra, Elsa, Land banking in Galicia in Regional Workshop on Land Tenure and Land Consolidation - Land Banks and Impact Assessment, FAO and Ministry of Agriculture, Czech Republic Trade and International Cooperation Department, Prague, 22-26 June 2008

Technical and Government Reports and Outreach Articles

Coimbra, Elsa, 2006, Application of Leader Development Programs in Oscos-Eo (Aplicación de Programas de Desarrollo Leader en Oscos Eo: Su incidencia en el Empleo), Ayuntamiento de Vilanova de Oscos, Asturias

Coimbra, Elsa, 1995, The Catholic Community of Goa, National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon and Orient Foundation, Goa.