This symposium is supported by Southern Theorising Group (STingG) and the Urban Institute.
It aims to bring together scholars from urban studies, planning, geography, anthropology, political ecology and environmental humanities. It seeks to bridge theory and practice, moving beyond critique to explore situated, context-driven strategies for reimagining urban nature.
Contributions are encouraged from researchers engaging with diverse theoretical approaches—including but not limited to decolonial, queer, feminist, indigenous, and post-humanist perspectives—that challenge dominant frameworks of urban nature. Participants may present empirical research, theoretical reflections, or methodological innovations that foreground Southern ontologies and epistemologies of nature. While this symposium centers on Southern/Eastern perspectives, it also welcomes those working empirically in Northern contexts who seek to learn from and work with Southern theory. The challenges of urban nature are global, but the solutions need not—and indeed cannot—be universal. By fostering dialogue between North and South, we aim to disrupt the unidirectional flow of knowledge that has historically characterised environmental governance.
The symposium will be in a roundtable format where we each get to share our own reimaginations of urban nature, with two keynote provocation presentations in each session.