Symposium. Vital Waters: Reimagining Planetary Health through Critical Social Sciences
- Date
- 27 April 2026, 08:30–19:00
- Location
- University Main Building, Room IV
- Type
- Conference, Lecture, Seminar, Workshop
- Web page
- https://www.uu.se/en/research/uunicorn/events/archive/2026-04-27-vital-waters-reimagining-planetary-health-through-critical-social-sciences
- Organiser
- Centre for Health & Sustainability; Department of Cultural Anthropology & Ethnology; UUniCORN with the support from SHIP, Sustainable Health in Partnership.
- Contact person
- Sarah Dickin
What can the social sciences and humanities contribute to the emerging field of planetary health? How can critical perspectives on water-health relationships help address the compounding health challenges of the 21st century?
You are warmly invited to participate in this interdisciplinary symposium exploring how planetary-scale transformations of water — through climatic changes, infrastructural expansion, extraction, contamination, and purification — are reshaping health futures.
This symposium examines water-health connections through infrastructure, governance, and lived experiences, drawing on empirical social science research in an unequal world.
Through cross-disciplinary dialogue, it seeks to reimagine how we conceptualise and respond to water-related health challenges on a rapidly changing planet.
Programme:
9:00-15:45 Vital waters symposium
Location: Sal IV, Universitetshuset, Biskopsgatan 3, 753 10 Uppsala
8:30-9:00 Registration
9:00-9:10 Welcome and opening remarks
Sarah Dickin and Camelia Dewan (Uppsala University)
9:10-9:30 Introducing critical planetary health
Sarah Dickin, Edward Stevenson, and Camelia Dewan
9:30-10:30 Session 1: Histories of extractions and abstractions
Ipshita Basu (University of Westminster) and Nicholas Loubere (Lund University). Discussant: Rob Gioelli (Environmental Humanities Lab, KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
10:30-10:45 Coffee Break
11:00-12:00 Session 2: Infrastructural diversions
Edward Stevenson (Durham University); Jenny Lindblad (KTH) & Kristina T. Hallström (Stockholm School of Economics). Discussant: Stephanie Leder (SLU, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)
12:00-13:00 Lunch for registered participants, Café Alma, at the University Main Building
13:00-14:00 Session 3: Purification and limits of public health interventions
Sarah Dickin (Centre for Health and Sustainability, Uppsala University) and Sophie Haines (University of Edinburgh) Discussant: Elijah Bisung (Queen’s University, Canada)
14:15-15:15 Session 4: Contamination, ill-health, and uneven toxic worlds
Raffaele Ippolito (University College London) and Camelia Dewan (Uppsala University)
15:15-15:45 Closing discussion
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The symposium continues with an exploratory workshop. For more information, please follow the link.
16:30-19:00 Explorative workshop on planetary health futures and temporalities with mingle
Location: Övre Slottsgatan 6, 753 10 Uppsala
This interactive workshop will explore alternative ways of navigating planetary transformations and futures in health. Drinks and canapées will be served for registered participants.