Interview with Venus Bivar in the Bulletin

Environmental sustainability and the humanities perspective

As Oxford Green Action Week begins, Dr Venus Bivar, Associate Professor of Environmental History and Academic Lead of the Environmental Humanities Research Hub, explains the role of the humanities in addressing environmental crises

10 February 2025

Dr Venus Bivar

What is the Environmental Humanities Research Hub?

The Hub is a loose collection of scholars across the humanities whose research and teaching engage environmental questions. Broadly, I see the Hub fulfilling three primary functions:

1. We provide space for researchers across the University and beyond to share and develop their research through our bi-weekly seminar;

2. We are invested in developing a model for how the humanities might fit into wider conversations about environmental issues;

3. We offer and actively seek out interdisciplinary collaborations with colleagues in the natural, social and medical sciences.

I would say the one through line that connects each of these functions is the desire to reimagine what it is to be human in an age of human-induced planetary crisis.

Currently, two noticeable initiatives at the University highlight the complex and interdisciplinary nature of environmental sustainability, each with its own approach: the Vice-Chancellor's Colloquium on Climate and Green Action Week.

What do the humanities add to this discussion?

Every week is Green Action Week at the Hub! We are holding a closed event that week given how much is going on across campus. But I would encourage anyone reading this to join us for one of our bi-weekly sessions. Our events are generally open to the wider public and we encourage everyone to participate. Find out what’s coming up on the Environmental Humanities Hub website.

The VC's Colloquium is a wonderful initiative. Three of the members of our steering committee – Amanda Power (History), Pablo Mukherjee (Medieval and Modern Languages), and I – have all given lectures as part of the series. I can say that it was one of the most satisfying teaching experiences of my career.

One of the things that I tried to impress upon the students, as a historian, is that while it is essential to understand the science of climate change, it is equally essential to understand its underlying causes. Our current predicament, shaped by centuries of human behaviour, has proven to be un-sustainable. From intensive livestock-agriculture and extractive imperialism to dependence on cars and the culture of mass consumerism.

It is also important to stress that these behaviours haven’t been universal. The road to the climate crisis has been very uneven with some actors much more irresponsible than others. The differences across these multiple actors are making it really difficult to negotiate climate policy in the present. History tells us that it would be lunacy to expect Great Britain and India to adopt the same strategies to address global warming.

So, is it fair to say that the humanities are responsible for asking, why is it happening and what fundamental changes can solve the crises and prevent others from occurring?

The success or failure of our attempts to address the climate crisis will lie in our capacity to imagine and embrace transformative change, change in how we eat, how we move our bodies through space, how we approach politics and how we shop.

Humanities scholars offer an important perspective on how this change might be realised because we have a sophisticated understanding of what drives humans to make the choices they make and to believe the things they believe. We understand that for people to accept substantial changes like the ones needed to address the climate crisis, these changes need to consider broader cultural, economic and political contexts. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

We are hosting an event: 'Rethinking the Human(ities) in a Time of Planetary Catastrophe' at 4.30pm on 4 March that will get into some of these questions in greater depth, featuring experts from the industry reflecting on how they have applied their humanities background to develop practical approaches to challenges such as the climate crisis and mass extinction.

Green Action Week offers over 30 events curated by staff and students from our University community in all aspects of environmental sustainability, from building knowledge and finding local solutions to meeting other people and empowering ourselves and our community. See the full programme on the Sustainability website.

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Environmental Humanities, TORCH Hubs