RV University Hosts Six-Day Conference ‘EKOLOGOS’ On Environmental Narratives & Sustainability

The School of Film, Media and Creative Arts (SoFMCA) at RV University successfully hosted a six-day international conference, EKOLOGOS, a global environmental humanities initiative, from 12 to 17 December 2024. The event brought together scholars, practitioners and students to engage in critical conversations about environmental narratives, sustainability and the role of humanities in addressing global ecological challenges.

Ekologos is a collaborative project funded by the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education, coordinated by UiT The Arctic University of Norway; the Institute of Marine Research, Norway; the State University of Campinas UNICAMP, Brazil; RV University, Bangalore; and the Highland Institute, Nagaland.

Ekologos engages pedagogically with the critical climate changes affecting the Arctic, South America, South Asia, and Himalayan regions. Through student and staff exchanges, and collaborative research initiatives, it aims to critically engage and amplify the voices of local and indigenous communities, and those who are disproportionately impacted by climate change.

The conference featured several thought-provoking keynote addresses, including:

Stories of the Earth: Exploring Environmental Narratives in Media and Literature.

Sustainability in Graduate Education: Empowering Future Leaders for Global Impact, delivered by a renowned strategy consultant.

The Fellowship of Tranquility: The Poet and His Child Philosopher.

Ekologos: Towards a Global Environmental Humanities.

In addition to the keynote sessions, the event included diverse activities:

Screenings of documentary films focusing on environmental themes.

Paper presentations by research scholars on topics such as Ethics and 

Practices of Ethnographic Research.

Panel discussions on emerging research pedagogies in environmental humanities.

A hands-on workshop on embodied practices, encouraging participants to explore the relationship between body, movement, and storytelling in the context of environmental narratives.

The conference served as a platform for intellectual exchange and collaboration, fostering dialogue on how the humanities can contribute to sustainable futures. Participants expressed their enthusiasm for EKOLOGOS's unique blend of academic rigor and creative engagement.