The Annual Piers Blaikie Lecture

The Piers Blaikie Lecture at the University of East Anglia (UEA) is an annual public lecture series named in honour of Emeritus Professor Piers Blaikie, a distinguished scholar in political ecology and global development. Established to explore the real-world politics of the environment and global development, these seminars feature renowned speakers who share their insights on various related topics.

Piers Blaikie, who served at UEA's School of Global Development Studies from 1973 until 2010, has significantly contributed to understanding the political economy of soil erosion, environmental policy, and agrarian change. The seminar series continues his legacy by fostering critical discussions on environmental and developmental issues.

In addition to the seminars, UEA honours Professor Blaikie's legacy through the Piers Blaikie Prize, awarded annually for the best Master dissertation on Political Ecology in the School of Global Development.

Previous lectures:

2025: Rebecca Elmhirst, Sabine Virani, Helen Baczkowska, Hannah Claxton, Rebecca Stonehill, "Exploring the contours of feminist political ecology: Dialogues in the Norfolk Landscape"

2024: David Simon, Professor of Development Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London and Rebecca Stonehill, Write and Just Stop Oil activist. “The contrasts and connections between academics and activists in the search for global environmental justice”. 

2019: Joji Carino, former Director, Forest Peoples Programme. "Indigenous People Navigating from the Margins to the Centre of Environmental Politics”.

2018: Yolanda Kakabadse, Former Director of Fundacion Futuro Latinoamericano (Ecuador) and World Wildlife Fund, “Environmental Agenda: Policy or Politics?”.

2016: Ramachandra Guha, Historian and writer, "The Three Waves of Environmentalism in India”.

2015: Jakob Von Uexküll, Founder, World Future Council. "Global Environmental Challenges and Solutions: Building Future Justice”.

2014: Jonathon Porrit, Forum for the Future. “Is the Green Movement it’s Own Worst Enemy”.

2013: Pippa Howard, Fauna and Flora International, "Environmental Protection and Conservation in a World of Increasingly Polarised Governance”.

2012: MS Swaminathan, Swaminathan Foundation, “Do Ecology” – The Pathways and Politics of a Green Economy

2011: Melissa Leach, Director STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, "Green wins or green grabs? Contested pathways to sustainability in Africa”.