Objective In this fellowship, I aim to explore the trade-off and synergies between conservation and commodity production through an Ecosystem Services (ES) lens in order to determine how sustainable land use practices can be created and strengthened over time, and to extend knowledge on ES within broader land use, and natural capital research. I will carry out targeted fieldwork to investigate the following research lines: 1) how ES are defined and conceptualised as commodities and how these relate to more established ‘land’ commodities. This research line will include ES to humans, but also factors causing ecosystem change that can affect the long-term resilience of such ecosystems, by examining selected drivers of land use change. Research line 2) relates to the impact of appropriation of land for commodities (e.g. the demand for cash crops such as soy, biofuels and land used for livestock production or conservation) on local communities, and the global economy and policies that may drive (the current or any) 'land grabs'. I will take into account the discourse, practices and social relationships around land use that are currently unfolding within the 'realpolitik' of a studied region. These phenomena are highly debated yet remain poorly understood and should become key analytical domains for academics insofar that they are related to broader processes of economic globalization, biodiversity loss and climate change. The findings will be complementary to climate change mitigation efforts and feed into policy processes around securing food security, with an objective to not only contribute to sustainable land use practices but to promote the livelihood opportunities and environmental quality of (often) marginalized communities living in and around contested land. Fields of science social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiescivil societynongovernmental organizationsmedical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutritionnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changessocial scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2016 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2016 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Net EU contribution € 183 454,80 Address WELLINGTON SQUARE UNIVERSITY OFFICES OX1 2JD Oxford United Kingdom See on map Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 183 454,80
