I arrived in Brno in August 2020. First it was holiday time, then the restrictions due to the pandemic became stricter again and the access to the university has been limited since then. In a few words, I’ve arrived in Brno, but “socially” I’m not really here yet. I am, like many others, living in different virtual layers: in Brno, in the i-CONN project, at Masaryk University, etc.
I have to say, of course, that everyone everywhere (virtual and real) is very friendly and very helpful.
So, a few weeks ago, in a kind of “break” – I think it was real -, we had a creative workshop. I was invited to help make shirts for the Department of Environmental Studies.
Timo, a local street artist, made the design: “snow must go on”. Kristyna, the project manager of the department, bought T-shirts and sweatshirts with the Fair Wear Foundation certificate, an international verification initiative dedicated to improving the lives of workers from all over the world. In fact, she organized everything. And finally, at ‘Brno tiskne’, a local initiative of three women, we learned and did the printing of the shirts.
Actually, I´m PhD candidate at the Department of Environmental Studies of the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. The department believes that “…a favourable redirection of development depends on a fundamental change in lifestyle, which in turn can only result from a far-reaching reorientation of human values and from a fundamentally different understanding of man’s [human´s] place in the world. More and more frequently, the social sciences are being called upon to help with the resolution of environmental problems. The purpose of environmental studies is to understand (with a background of basic knowledge in the natural sciences) the historic and cultural causes of the current environmental crisis and to look for possible solutions in the areas of social, economic, legal, political, and religious studies (and their interactions).” [https://humenv.fss.muni.cz/en]
That´s where my PhD project fits in. My research will explore drivers and dynamics of (catastrophic) transitions in economy, politics and ecology, based on empirical and comparative network/connectivity approaches in transactions between private companies and public institutions in three Latin American countries. More about this in the next blog posts.
Thanks!