Chilia Veche Summer School, 25–31 August 2025
The Return of Development: Natures and Conflict in the Black Sea / Danube Delta Region
Between 25–31 August 2025, the village of Chilia Veche hosted the summer school The Return of Development: Natures and Conflict in the Black Sea / Danube Delta Region, a project funded through the BLACK SEA Initiative 2025–2026 of the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe (GCE-HSG), University of St. Gallen, coordinated by Prof. Călin Cotoi.
The event brought together an interdisciplinary group of researchers conducting work in the Danube Delta region. From the Just4MPA project, three team members contributed presentations:
- Petruța Teampău
- Ștefan Constantinescu
- Ruxandra Păduraru
Aims and Format of the Summer School
The main goal of the program was to create a space where researchers working in the Delta could exchange insights, methods, and findings across disciplines. The structure of the week reflected this collaborative spirit:
- Morning sessions featured presentations and discussions involving participants on site, as well as online contributions from scholars such as Tanya Richardson and Ioana Savin.
- Field visits in Chilia Veche allowed participants to explore local landscapes, infrastructures, and practices.
- Conversations with local fishers provided grounded perspectives on livelihoods, regulation, and ecological change.
- Afternoon and evening sessions offered additional presentations, debates, and thematic workshops.
Topics Related to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
A wide range of themes connected to MPA governance, environmental history, and socio-ecological dynamics were discussed during the workshop. Among these were:
- Hydrofeminism and environmental justice
- Gender roles in fishing and fish-processing industries
- Local perceptions of nature and protected areas through the lens of tourism
- Nature as the backdrop for everyday life
- Local microtoponymy and its analytical value
- The study of historical topographic maps
- Conservation discourses during the socialist period (Romanian and Ukrainian contexts)
- Irrigation infrastructure and the politics it generates
- The impact of the war on fishing communities
- Danube embankments and their socio-ecological effects
- Hydrosocial relations in the Delta
- Socialist agro-industrial development in the region
- Scientific redefinitions of the Delta over time
- Reed resources and their valuation
- Emerging trends in conservation
Benefits for the Just4MPA Project
Participation in the summer school provided several important advantages for the Just4MPA team:
- Constructive feedback from fellow researchers
- Roundtable discussions that deepened conceptual and empirical insights
- Interdisciplinary perspectives that enriched ongoing analyses
- Fieldwork opportunities in Chilia Veche, including conversations with the head of the “Împreună pentru Chilia Veche” Association
- In-depth interviews with local fishers, offering valuable data for understanding MPA-related governance and community experiences.
