Mimetic Spaces and Transatlantic Forests

Séverine (a sociologist) and Jamie (an urban designer) collaborate on researching botanical gardens and circulation of botanical knowledge in the conservation regime through a critical spatial perspective. We are currently developing an exciting new project on conflicts in conservation centred around Transatlantic forests in Brazil and the UK. The project aims to view how conflicts over forestry and conservation, especially between different types of knowledge and epistemic cultures materialise (in) space. Our project is connected to a long-term (12 years total) larger research project here in Berlin called the Refiguration of Spaces: https://sfb1265.de/en/

Our project builds on detailed empirical work we have done together on the conservation regime in botanical gardens in Berlin and Edinburgh. It also builds on my work on the spread of plant pathogens in forests in Scotland which addresses question of multspecies health relations and transformations of space.

We have just got back from a trip to Brazil which aimed to further develop our networks with other research groups working in and on transatlantic landscapes specifically the Mata Altantica (forest biome) in Brazil. This was a wonderful experience and we have lots of exciting new links and potential collaborators both here in Berlin and in Brazil.