This research focuses on the ethical and political justification of sustainable patterns of ecosystem and plant conservation in the Anthropocene. The researcher will answer the following research questions: 1. Which model of sustainability is the fittest (i.e., the most theoretically plausible and politically feasible) in the Anthropocene? 2. Is the value of plants and ecosystems instrumental to human well-being, or does it have an intrinsic value? 3. How can this model of sustainability support the value and the political opportunity of reforestation and landscape restoration, also in the light of climate change mitigation and adaptation? 4. How can this model of sustainability deal with trade-offs between the environmental impact of renewable energies and the conservation of plants, ecosystems and landscape? 5. Which conservation and restoration policies can be justified in the light of the above? 6. Which are the consequences of these conservation and restoration policies in terms of intergenerational justice? The research will span sustainability and Anthropocene studies; plant ethics; environmental and ecological citizenship and justice; climate justice (with a focus on mitigation policies); intergenerational justice.

The ideal candidate for this research will have a background in one or more of these fields: political theory, qualitative political science, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology. Previous publications on the topics will be considered a preferential title. Previous education in the fields of ecology, environmental ethics, environmental political theory, environmental sociology or anthropology, and public policy analysis will be considered a preferential title, too. He/she should be able to adopt an interdisciplinary perspective and move from theoretical premises to policies.

The supervisor will be the reference person above. The PhD candidate will work with many other scholars at Luiss, whose research activities are closely related to the research topic – in particular with Pietro De Giovanni, whose work concerns circular economy and economic sustainability, with Christian Iaione, whose work deals with urban studies, sustainability, climate change and the commons, with Raffaele Bifulco and Jorge Vinuales, working on environmental law.