Workshop and network on strategies for managing competing interests in land use and access

Researchers are welcome to register for a workshop on strategies for managing competing interests in land use and access. The workshop is the start of a new network under the umbrella of UUniCORN, and has the aim of creating new interdisciplinary research.

All interested researchers are welcome!

UUniCORN (Uppsala University Conflicting Objectives Research Nexus) was started in autumn 2024 at the initiative of the Vice-Chancellor. UUniCORN is the first institute to be launched within the Vice-Chancellor’s initiative Uppsala University Future Institutes (UUniFI) with the aim that Uppsala University will take on a leading role on the road towards a sustainable society.

“The workshop on 19 May, followed by a dinner, is a kick-off where the aim is to create new interdisciplinary research in this area,” says Anders Sjögren, senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science and one of the organisers of the workshop. “We welcome anyone at the University who researches, or wants to do research, in this area to submit their application to participate in the workshop,” he says.

Many examples of conflicting objectives

The transition to sustainable energy and resource use is a key goal in climate change mitigation measures and the 2030 Agenda. But this transition also creates complex conflicts of objectives with regard to land use and control between different interests and social groups, and to different perspectives on land use.

There are many examples of these conflicts. In Sweden, the demand for minerals that are crucial for battery production and other green technologies conflicts with indigenous rights and the needs of traditional reindeer husbandry. A similar dynamic, albeit with much more serious consequences, can be observed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where local populations are exploited for the extraction of cobalt and lithium to meet the needs of the global market. Worldwide, demand for forestry products in many production areas is competing with the need to conserve forests to protect biodiversity and curtail global warming. Similarly, the expansion of cities, the restoration of wetlands, and efforts to increase food security create competing interests and tensions around accessible land.

Register

The workshop on 19 May 2025 welcomes specific contributions on how competing interests that concern land, water (freshwater as well as marine environments) and earth metals are being managed politically.

“We argue that it’s important to study how competing interests concerning access to land and land use are managed in connection with a sustainable transition,” says Anders Sjögren. “How are different interests articulated and promoted in these processes? How are competing interests managed and resolved in different countries and at different political levels? Under what conditions are various social groups and interests included, and when are they overlooked or actively marginalised? And what are the consequences for a sustainable transition?”

Link to the project page on the UUniCORN website

Register your interest in participating in the workshop by no later than 23 April 2025.