“Altered Earth” in Asia: Oceans, Landscape, Atmosphere – AAEH 2025
The Asian Association for Environmental History (AAEH: https://www.iceds.net/aaeh/) was launched on 1 July 2023, following a decision made at the General Meeting of the Association at the EAEH conference 2023 in Daejeon, Korea, to rename the Association for East Asian Environmental History (AEAEH) to the “Asian” Association, covering the whole of Asia and Oceania.
The Asian Association for Environmental History (AAEH) is a dynamic organisation dedicated to conducting and furthering research on Asian environmental issues through a historical lens and on global environmental issues through perspectives from and on Asia. Our membership is both interdisciplinary and international, reflecting the rich diversity and interconnectedness of Asian and related global environments necessary to investigate the deep time of human/natural history.
The AAEH has a rich history as AEAEH’s conferences (EAEH = East Asian Environmental History): “Resource Utilisations and their Impacts” (EAEH 2011); “Transformation of East Asian Environment in Historical Perspective: Local Reality and Global Connection” (EAEH 2013); “Beyond Borders: Oceans, Mountains, and Rivers in East Asia” (EAEH 2015); “Tracing the Ecological Footprint of East Asian and World Civilisations” (EAEH 2017); “Issues of Sustainable Development in East Asia: Perspectives of Environmental History” (EAEH 2019); “Human and Nature in East Asia: Exploring New Directions in Environmental History” (EAEH 2021); “Multiple Crises and the Asian Anthropocene: Climatic, Ecological, and (Post) Colonial Perspectives” (EAEH 2023).
The objectives of the Association, which evolved from the former conference series, are as follows:
To promote scholarship that explores the intricate relationships between humans and the natural world, as well as interactions and intra-actions between humans and non-humans throughout history;
To communicate with researchers from other fields, educators, and the public in learning about environmental issues from a historical perspective;
To foster opportunities for planetary, regional, local, and comparative studies across a wide temporal spectrum within Asia and Asian diasporas.
The First Biennial Conference of the Asian Association for Environmental History (AAEH 2025: https://www.iceds.net/aaeh/aaeh2025/) will be held on 19–25 September 2025 in Takamatsu and Teshima, Kagawa, Japan. The Conference’s general title – “‘Altered Earth’ in Asia: Oceans, Landscape, Atmosphere” – is taken from the book Altered Earth: Getting the Anthropocene Right (Cambridge University Press, 2022), edited by Julia Adeney Thomas.
Where is the AAEH heading? Can it continue to further enrich its history? It depends on whether we can maintain an institution that rewards the efforts of all of the living species on the earth.
