The empty and uncontaminated landscapes of Africa – that the oriental perspective has idealized with the strong support of the tourism industry, and that have been pictured in stereotypical images (like covers and posters portraying the common acacia tree during the sunset) as opposed to the alienating anthropization of the first world – are nowadays put at risk by a growing and hazardous pollution, as denounced by many.

Argument

The empty and uncontaminated landscapes of Africa – that the oriental perspective has idealized with the strong support of the tourism industry, and that have been pictured in stereotypical images (like covers and posters portraying the common acacia tree during the sunset) as opposed to the alienating anthropization of the first world – are nowadays put at risk by a growing and hazardous pollution, as denounced by many.

Demographic growth and urbanization are among the issues that cause major concern. In the next years, the continent will experience a real demographic explosion, which will particularly affect the urban areas: in this respect, the United Nations has foreseen that the urban population in Africa will double between 2000 and 2030. At the same time, the positive economic growth rates, that reach record numbers in country like Kenya and Nigeria, pose a serious issue when confronted with the challenges of sustainable and inclusive development, 15 years after the Millennium Declaration.

Climatic changes linked to global warming are already having a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of farmers and rural communities across Africa. Current climate projections suggest this impact will worsen. Even a 2°C rise - which is the median projection - will lead to dramatic changes in agricultural productivity and water availability.

The negative consequences of such tough situation, worsened by political instabilities and intra- and inter-state conflicts, has to be burdened by the local populations, who are in some cases forced to migrate elsewhere. Even if the international institutions and some local governments are currently involved in negotiations and alliances to promote adequate policies, the African civil society, academics, media, artists and intellectuals lead the most innovative actions of research, sensitization and experimentation to find alternative practices, being aware of how urgent it is to shape a new imaginative and creative thought that could help effecting a more equitable, sustainable future in Africa

The issue 83 of the magazine Africa e Mediterraneo opens the floor to contributions about the African reaction over the protection of the environmental equilibrium and the ecological approach to the natural resources of the continent, and to new and innovative ways of reading the landscapes that are changing.

Drawing on anthropology, sociology, linguistics, cultural studies, philosophy, literature, visual arts, the issue 83 of the magazine wants to tackle from a critical perspective the fact that, since Africa suffered from a long history of misunderstanding and oppression at the hands of westerners, she has withstood a succession of differing mental pictures in regard to the environment, all of which distort or overgeneralize.

It is also interesting to keep in mind the influences and contamination of the Western concepts of Nature and Ecology in a continent where such words do not exist in the local languages, where traditional cultures often see the human being as responsible to maintain unity and balance between God, man, and nature.

Deadline for submission

The proposals (max. 400 words) will have to be submitted at the email addresses s.federici@africaemediterraneo.it c.mara@africaemediterraneo.it

not later than September 20^th 2015.

The editorial staff will examine the proposals. In case the proposal is accepted, the complete article with the related abstract (abstract max. 100 words) and a short biography of the author should be submitted by November 20^th 2015.

Africa e Mediterraneo is a peer reviewed journal.

Languages

The articles and the proposals can be submitted in the following languages: Italian, English and French.

Editorial committee

• G. Marco Cavallarin,
• Fabrizio Corsi,
• Simona Cella,
• Elisabetta Degli Esposti Merli,
• Silvia Festi,
• Andrea Marchesini Reggiani,
• Iolanda Pensa,
• Pietro Pinto,
• Massimo Repetti,
• Mary Angela Schroth

Scientific committee

• Stefano Allievi,
• Mohammed Arkoun†,
• Ivan Bargna,
• Giovanni Bersani,
• Jean-Godefroy Bidima,
• Salvatore Bono,
• Carlo Carbone,
• Giuseppe Castorina,
• Giancarla Codrignani,
• Vincenzo Fano,
• Khaled Fouad Allam,
• Marie-José Hoyet,
• Justo Lacunza,
• Lorenzo Luatti,
• Dismas A. Masolo,
• Francesca Romana Paci,
• Giovanna Parodi da Passano,
• Irma Taddia,
• Jean-Léonard Touadi,
• Alessandro Triulzi,
• Itala Vivan,
• Franco Volpi