Doing Political Ecology
The Case Study of Panama City, Panama
In my previous life as a university teacher — before I became an independent academic working with the CATLAN International collective — I taught many interdisciplinary modules, critically focused on the troubled theme of Sustainable Development.
As part of one such module, “Sustainable Cities” (whatever they might be), I provided instruction in the approach of Urban Political Ecology (UPE). After a week that introduced this in a more general sense, I then attempted to show students how UPE might be applied to deepen understanding by sharing my own analysis of Panama City, Panama — based on my first hand experience, working with the School for Field Studies site in Bocas del Toro, just off the coast of North East Panama. The example of Panama City was intended to show learners how to apply the concepts and frameworks of UPE to city of their choosing, which, unsurprisingly, was to be their assessment — to be submitted by the medium of a photo essay.
I know! Pretty engaging right? :)
Now I have left Higher Education, I wanted to share resources from this teaching with the wider world. As such, below you will find three of my online lectures from my Sustainable Cities module, all introducing and working with the approach of UPE and the case study of Panama City.
