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Critical environmental governance

The Critical Environmental Governance group at the University of York is a dynamic, interdisciplinary group tackling urgent challenges at the intersection of environment, development and justice.

Our work, in collaboration with communities, examines how power, politics, and values influence responses to environmental change, disaster risk, and infrastructure development. Our research spans human and non-human relationships, from water and trees to land, agriculture and urban resilience, blending social sciences, environmental studies, and applied practice.

Rooted in collaboration, we create space for dialogue, learning, and action across disciplines and with communities and other stakeholders to support more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures.

If you'd like to work with us on a project or as a PhD researcher, please get in touch with our Research Grouping Coordinator, Prof. Jon Ensor.

Meet the team

Research Grouping Coordinator: Dr Alison Dyke

PhD Researchers

Project highlights

Our research agenda is applied and problem based, drawing from a diverse range of theoretical and methodological perspectives.

We work through critical approaches and frameworks including those drawn from political ecology, poststructuralism (with an emphasis on discourse and narrative), postcolonial and post-development studies, radical democracy, and science and technology studies (STS).

Rights of rivers in practice

Does granting rivers legal rights help people and nature? This study analyzes the Atrato, Whanganui, and Turag rivers to find fair, effective governance.

CREDiT: Co-designing clean energy

Participatory technology development with three rural communities in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia to co-design clean energy solutions and business models.

Addressing environmental injustices through transdisciplinary science and technology.

Co-developing water monitoring technologies with Yorkshire fishers to tackle environmental injustices, integrating their expertise into marine governance.

Urban Labor-a-tree

Developing serious games to facilitate understanding of the complex socio-ecological systems surrounding urban treescapes.
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