Environmental history is a powerful form of storytelling.

Under the ‘Climate Histories’ theme we ask, how might we rethink the written and material records of social adaptabilities and transformations to understand better what it means to live through an era of rapid climate change?
Though the climate crises of today are unprecedented, all societies have negotiated the passing of the seasons and of long and short spells of floods, droughts and unusual cold periods. As catastrophic events attest to the undeniable effects of climate change, we are reminded of the historical depth of living with climate variability. The cry of the hunger stones that were exposed due to the central European droughts – If you see me weep – serves as a signal to consider the bad years which have been and will return.

This conference then will act as a record in itself, a 2025 ‘hunger stone’ capable of documenting and reflecting on how climate change is experienced today and in the past.