During the outgoing phase of the fellowship, I analyzed the governance of green extractivism in peri-urban areas through case studies in the Hunter (north of Sydney) and Illawarra (south). In the Hunter, I observed two Multi-Stakeholder Processes (MSPs), particularly the Hunter Jobs Alliance (HJA), which reflects a shift toward shared environmental and workforce interests in green investments. In Illawarra, where such MSPs don’t exist, I organized the ‘HJA & Illawarra Workshop’ to facilitate learning and strategizing a just transition in the region. I also identified a puzzling trend of privileged Sydney residents moving to Illawarra for greener lifestyles, overlooking its pollution issues. This fellowship proposes using cultural psychology to understand the ‘green compromise’ these residents make, stressing the importance of the ‘environmentally privileged’ in the energy transition.
The fellowship also examined the governance of green extractivism at national and global levels, proposing a new framework for mineral governance. I developed the mineralstate thesis, tracing Australia’s history to highlight how institutions and regulations reinforce extractivism while neglecting environmental, social, and cultural impacts. This is especially relevant in the current wave of green extractivism, where new regulations (e.g. the Critical Raw Materials Act) prioritize resource extraction at the cost of economic, cultural, and environmental values.
I conducted two global comparative analyses; one explored the colonial and destructive aspects of green extractivism through nickel extraction in countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Colombia, and with lithium mining in Europe. Another one explored the challenged local groups impacted by extractivism face when using environmental litigation to seek compensation or environmental remediation. Additionally, a Special Issue on the ‘Political Ecologies of the Green New Deal’ critiques the green extractivist colonialism embedded in mainstream GND plans.
Knowledge creation was advanced through four workshops focused on building collaborative networks and promoting engaged research. One workshop in the Hunter aimed to replicate union-environmental alliances, others at ICTA-UAB aimed to form academic and movement alliances, and a final workshop on planetary urbanization fostered interdisciplinary discussions.
In the incoming phase, I focused on disseminating the fellowship’s results. I published four papers, with two more forthcoming, in leading journals like Global Environmental Change and Political Geography, along with three book chapters, eight conference presentations, and four keynote seminars. I co-organized a parallel event at Raw Materials Week 2024 in Brussels, contributed to a report on Critical Raw Materials for the Spanish Government, and advised the Girona Municipality and Research and Degrowth coalition on post-growth transition policies. I produced a podcast featuring land defenders from Raw Materials Week, amplifying local opposition to green extractivism. As a Marie Curie Ambassador, I disseminated the project’s results through talks, summer schools, high school classes, the Catalan Science Week Festival, and the Jornada Ernest Lluch at Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
The exploitation of results led to the fulfillment of my Career Development Plan: I secured a Ramon y Cajal scholarship and started a new position at the GEO3BCN Institute (Spanish National Research Council, CSIC). I am establishing a research line, "Critical Social Studies on Geosciences," integrating social sciences and geosciences in resource governance.
