Research Seminar | Honouring Knowledge, Protecting Nature: Epistemic Justice for Biodiversity and Sustainability

This event is part of a special visit by Professor Susan Baker, Professor Emerita at Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences and former co-director of its Sustainable Places Research Institute, who will also be the keynote speaker at the 2025 graduation ceremony of the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI).

Her presentation will explore how fostering epistemic justice—a concept rooted in feminist theory—can reshape environmental governance, with a focus on biodiversity conservation and the inclusion of local ecological knowledge, such as that of small-scale fishers. The talk will offer insights into governance structures that enable or hinder such knowledge systems, and propose transformative pathways to create more inclusive, just, and sustainable environmental policies.

Summary of the presentation: 

International organizations are increasingly acknowledging the role of diverse ecological knowledge systems in shaping effective conservation strategies. This presentation explores how fostering epistemic inclusion can contribute to sustainable futures that are both just and equitable. The discussion begins by extending the concept of epistemic justice, rooted in feminist theory, to the domain of public policymaking within environmental governance. With a particular focus on biodiversity conservation, the talk presents a case study on local fishers’ knowledge, examining the governance structures and processes that facilitate or inhibit the transmission of such knowledge. By critically analysing these governance conditions, the presentation exposes mechanisms of epistemic exclusion and their implications for conservation efforts. Building on this analysis, we propose pathways for promoting epistemic justice through transformative shifts in governance practices. Emphasizing the governance dimension of epistemic justice also highlights the structural changes necessary to achieve more inclusive and sustainable environmental policies.

Susan Baker (born 9 October 1955) is Professor Emerita at Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences and former co-director of its Sustainable Places Research Institute. Her research focuses on environmental governance in the EU, gender and the environment. Baker studied philosophy and economics at University College Cork, earned an MA, and later completed a PhD in political science at the European University Institute in Florence. Her academic career includes positions at Ulster University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Cardiff University. She was a Jean Monnet Fellow (2001–02) and, in 2003, became the first woman awarded the King Carl XVI Gustaf Professorship in Environmental Science, spending a year at Umeå University. In 2013, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. Baker has published influential works, including Sustainable Development, and co-edited In Pursuit of Sustainable Development.