The World Congress of Environmental History 2024 in Oulu

The World Congress of Environmental History 2024 will take place at the University of Oulu from August 19th to 23rd 2024. The conference theme is “Transitions, Transformations and Transdisciplinarity: Histories beyond History”. The congress is organized jointly by the Biodiverse Anthropocenes research programme, the Faculty of Humanities, and the International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations (ICEHO). With over 600 participants, this is among the largest international conferences ever held in Oulu.

Text: The World Congress of Environmental History brings together leading experts and researchers from around the world to discuss the value of historical understanding to bear on contemporary environmental problems. The world congress is the largest and most well-known academic event in the field. In 2024, the congress will take place in Finland for the first time ever.

The conference programme includes a range of keynote lectures, plenary discussions, presentation sessions, and workshops. Presentations and talks will provide novel and engaged views on questions concerning e.g. energy sector and infrastructure, climate change, human and non-human interaction, and landscape commodification.

Confirmed keynote speakers of the conference include evolutionary biologist Rob Dunn and historian Amal Ghazal. In addition to keynote and other plenary speakers, the programme will include a range of creative sessions, including a screening of the award-winning documentary film All That Breathes with a Q&A with the film’s director Shaunak Sen, and a workshop on craftivism and quilting.

Attending the conference programme requires registering to the event. On Thursday, August 22nd there will be an open workshop from 4.15PM to 6PM. During the conference attendees will be creating quilting squares in a maker space on the theme of "using the past to envision the environmental future". The craftivist group will be hosting a quilting bee thursday afternoon to sew the panels together into a quilt and are inviting the wider Olulu community to join them. All skill levels are welcome. Anyone who wishes to make a panel on this theme, is free to do so and bring it to the quilting bee. The size of panels are either A4 or half A4 and panels must be able to be sewn together and to be able to be steam-cleaned, all materials and techniques will be accepted within those boundaries including 3D elements up to 15cm.

Participation in the World Congress of Environmental History is a unique opportunity to network and create connections with environmental professionals around the world as well as to hear of the latest research progress from the leading experts in the field. Register for the congress at the conference website www.wceh2024.com