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Youth's brilliance and their fascination with the wickedness of plastic pollution are forming shoals of abundant possibility and collective futurity amid the rising tides of environmental destruction hitting Bahía de los Ángeles, México. Working in an entangled community with professional scientists, government conservationists, traditional outdoor educators, store owners, school principals, chefs, artists, and family this group of youth (ages 7-17) labor and dream as scientists and cartographers of the future. They voice unpopular questions and concerns, embody lives they mourn leaving behind but understand can't persist, demand more from adults and tourists, labor for imperfect data that they hope will hold community accountability, and (re)map community infrastructure, tracts of refuse, flows of water, chains of fossil fuel transport, food systems, and fishing practices. Despite these undeniable contributions, often adult partners in this work are still slow to take youth thinking and resistance seriously---it is easier to mediate on shortcomings or flaws in youths' epistemologies. Ignoring these sophisticated shoals is a flagrant dismissal of the pluralist thought and perspective required to attend, nonetheless halt, environmental injustices. As adults labor on/for youths' futures there should be a constant disruption of who holds expertise and why and rigorous attention given to youth voice.

Fowler, Kelsie. 2023. "Youth and Community Knowledges Create Thick Shoals of Abundance Amid the Plastiocene." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

When Aotearoa was colonised, settler colonisers brought with them myriad species (rats, mustelids, cats, rabbits, possums) that have predated upon or outcompeted native birds. With habitat clearance for agriculture and residential development, this produced a contemporary in which over 51 native bird species are extinct, and over 75% of all remaining species are at risk of extinction. Many of these species are taonga (treasures) to Māori. Conservation efforts seek to protect those that are left, but certain methods are controversial, due in part to different understandings of the problem. Some see possums as a threat (to forest health, and, as vectors of bovine TB, to the agricultural sector) that should be removed by any means necessary; others, as a resource whose killing should be undertaken by trappers who can collect and sell their furs and gain honest work in doing so. Some believe conservation is a public good to be achieved using public money; others see it as a site for innovation, warranting private and philanthropic investment in biodiverse futures, perhaps even at the expense of nearer-term outcomes. 'Environmental governance' is now a patchwork enterprise shared between the state, state-owned enterprises, hundreds of volunteer groups, and private innovators and operators. 

Image credit: Steve Shattuck

Addison, Courtney. 2023. "Conservation controversies in Aotearoa." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

A coalition of churches, synagogues, mosques, and cultural organizations located in the Inland Empire. Unfortunately, without any up-to-date number of members in this coalition.

For the org. there is a spiritual connection linking the desert landscapes and religious beliefs. Their primary focus is congregating more groups around environmental hazards in desert lands.

The organization is looking for a “new dimension and depth” in the discussion about the environmental crisis. Engaging in different fields:

• alternative energy development,
• mining, recreation,
• military exercises,
• transportation corridors
• proposed national monuments.

Desert Stewardship Project is an interfaith coalition dedicated to protecting the deserts of California.