LUCSUS seminars

Autumn programme 2025

The programme is updated continuously. 

August 28

Performing science? Working with, in, and across places and scales
11-12 in Maathai
Speakers: Emily Boyd, Joshua Garland, Emilia Ganslandt, Alicia N’guetta, Elisabeth Schill, Tilly Laestander, and Joyce Soo

In this interactive seminar, we explore and reflect on our collective work in relation to the question: How do we perform science across different places and scales?

The seminar invites us to think not just about what we do, but how we do it. Are we navigating the world primarily as scientists, collaborators, advocates, or performers? What does it mean to engage ethically, responsibly, and effectively when working across diverse contexts, scales, and communities?

Through discussion and reflection, we aim to unpack the tensions, opportunities, and responsibilities inherent in doing research in interconnected and complex spaces.

September 18

Energy Use and Transition in the Industrial Sector: A Case Study from Nepal
11-12 in Maathai
Speaker: Sudhindra Rajsharma

The industrial sector is the second most energy-consuming sector in many developing countries, surpassed only by the residential sector. However, data on energy use in the industrial sector is generally lacking. This study examines the dynamics of the industrial sector by generating primary data on energy use and transition in Nepal. Through a survey covering over 600 industries and enterprises in Nepal, including large, medium, small, cottage and micro-scale enterprises, the study explores the energy challenges faced by the industries. Beginning with the overall composition of energy used in industries, the study examines the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy in Nepal. It explores the extent of power outages, their implications on turnover and revenue, along with energy efficiency mechanisms currently in use. Using the survey findings to inform the private sector (industry representatives along with hydropower and solar PV developers) and the state (concerned ministries, departments, commissions, and regulatory bodies), and soliciting their suggestions, it then recommends the measures that could be adopted to overcome the current energy challenges. The study was carried out under the research project "DOUBLE TRANSITIONS: Connecting climate goals with local realities of Nepal: analysing changing energy poverty and access patterns in the era of climate change".

Weaving knowledge(s): Addressing climate change through epistemic crafting
13-14 in Ostrom
Speaker: Manuhuia Barcham

The last half-century has seen a dramatic shift in Western academia and practice around the recognition of Indigenous Knowledge (IK). We see examples of this shift in the adoption of IK in health management programs or the granting of legal personhood to mountains and rivers. However, multiple critiques have emerged around this shift, seeing it as often still being situated within specific socio-technical power structures that continue to be extractive in practice. Investigating these ideas through examples drawn from my empirical design work, I propose different ways to explore, bringing together different knowledges and knowledge traditions in a way that provides value for multiple stakeholder groups, while maintaining the dignity and integrity of these traditions and knowledges.

Manuhuia Barcham (Ngāti Hori & Ngāti Hineiwaerea) is Associate Professor of Interaction Design at Emily Carr School of Art + Design in Vancouver, Canada. His latest book, Co-Designing Environmental Management Futures, is scheduled to come out later this year.

September 25

Geographies of Everyday Governance as Pathways to Sustainable Development?
11-12 in Carson
Speaker: Glyn Williams

Glyn Williams's research asks how development processes can become more responsive to people facing social, economic, or political marginalisation, focusing on the 'everyday governance' of development. Working with academic partners, Williams has undertaken extensive qualitative fieldwork in India and South Africa, examining the ideas and motives behind development projects, the practices of government and other actors engaged in implementing them, and how these are reworked and contested on the ground.

In this talk, Williams outlines some of the research's theoretical inspirations and the practical contexts to date. Recurring themes within this work are the importance of 'conflicting rationalities' between those designing development interventions and their intended 'beneficiaries', and the importance of more participatory forms of governance if these conflicts are to be overcome. Although Williams has not taken environmental issues as a direct focus of his recent work, he concludes with reflections on possible connections between everyday governance and building more sustainable cities.

October 9

Stefan Schüller's first-year PhD seminar
10-12 in Carson
Speaker: Stefan Schüller

Stefan Schüller is a doctoral student at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) and a PhD researcher within the PERENNIAL project funded by the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant 2023).

The project investigates whether a shift from annual to perennial grain crops as the basis for food production is possible, and what the major opportunities and obstacles for such a 'perennial revolution’ in agriculture are. As part of the project, he will focus on exposing and better understanding the current political economy of agriculture and its (deliberate) dependence on annual grain crops, while subsequently exploring what potential strategies for change could look like.  

October 23

When Adaptation Meets Resistance: How to Shape Climate Policy from Below
11-12 in Maathai
Speaker: Ana Maria Vargas

Climate adaptation is often framed as urgent and inevitable — yet in many communities, especially those living in poverty, it is met with quiet defiance, legal challenges, or outright sabotage. This seminar explores how resistance emerges in response to top-down adaptation measures, from rejecting drought-resistant crops to contesting relocation plans in informal settlements. We will examine the role of law, everyday acts of resistance, and grassroots organising in reshaping climate policy from the ground up.