Connecting Struggles for Survival at the Energy Frontier
📅 September 25-26, 2025
📍 London South Bank University (LSBU) + Online (Day 1 only)
As the global demand for batteries accelerates—driven by solar and wind technologies and the growth of electric vehicles—new mining frontiers are opening up. Lithium projects are spreading rapidly across the world, consuming land and water, and reshaping lives in territories often far from the centers of consumption.
“Voices of the Territories Beyond the Green Curtain: Connecting Struggles for Survival at the Energy Frontier” is a two-day international symposium that brings together activists, academics, and community researchers from across continents. Together, we will share knowledge, amplify voices, and connect struggles for justice against extractivism and its consequences.
Why Join?
This gathering will:
- Expose the violence and injustices unfolding in lithium frontiers across Latin America, Africa, and Europe.
- Amplify the voices of those resisting dispossession in their territories.
- Create new tools for collaboration that strengthen global struggles for climate and environmental justice.
Through exhibitions, roundtables, workshops, and collaborative mapping, participants will work together to build bridges across territories and movements.
Symposium Programme
Below is the detailed programme for both days of the symposium, including times, sessions, and speakers.
Day 1 – Thursday, September 25
Location: LSBU Borough Road Building, Room LRC 312 + Online
| Time (UK | GMT) |
Time (SP | GMT-3) |
Session |
|---|---|---|
| 09:30 | 05:30 | Arrival, registration and coffee |
| 10:00 | 06:00 | Opening Table: LIQUIT voices of the territories vs the “lithium valley” Speakers: Francisco Calafate-Faria, Rômulo Barbosa, Aline Sulzbacher, Klemens Lachefski, Lauanda Lopes, Lucas Martins |
| 11:20 | 07:20 | Lithium Mining and the Energy Expansion Speakers: Diego Andreucci (online), Elaine Santos, Jake Simms |
| 12:35 | 08:35 | Lunch / coffee break |
| 13:50 | 09:50 | Territories under siege: ongoing threats from mineral occupation Speakers: Phil Pinch, Catarina Scarrott, Cleonice Pankararu-Pataxó, Tosin Akinjiola, Sofija Stefanović, Andreia Rosa |
| 16:10 | 12:10 | At the Frontier of Green Extractivism Speakers: Thea Riofrancos (online), Cristina Dorador |
| 17:30 | 13:30 | Opening of the Exhibition |
Day 2 – Friday, September 26
Location: LSBU Borough Road Building, Room LRC 312 (In-person only)
| Time (UK | GMT) |
Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Arrival, registration and coffee |
| 10:00 | Opening ceremony |
| 10:15 | L.I.Q.U.I.T. Communities: eco-social diversity Speakers: Cleonice Pankararu-Pataxó, Lucas Martins, Edivaldo Ferreira Lopes, Clebson Almeida |
| 11:55 | Tools of resistance I: Strategies formulated by the communities and their allies to strengthen resistance and re-position communities in the process Speakers: Anabel Marín, Godofredo Pereira, Diana Salazar, Lauanda Lopes |
| 13:10 | Lunch / coffee break |
| 14:10 | Tools of Resistance II – ‘World Cafe’ Group activity: collectively understanding corporate and governmental strategies to advance mining frontiers and co-creating strategies of resistance |
| 16:00 | Closing Conversation: Critical Territories Speaker: Edson Krenak |
📢 Pre-Symposium Webinar
Where is the ‘Lithium Valley’?
📅 September 16th, 2025
⏰ 9–11 am (PST) | 1–3 pm (Brasília) | 5–7 pm (London)
This webinar will explore the narrative strategies that promote the establishment of so-called Lithium Valleys around the world and their implications.
Speakers:
- Alejandro Artiga-Purcell (San José State University, USA)
- Mikhail Aruberito (Shine Collab, Zimbabwe)
- Aline Weber Sulzbacher (Federal University of the Valleys and the Semiarid Region – UFVJM, Brazil)
Symposium Speakers & Panels
1️⃣ Opening Table: LIQUIT voices of the territories vs the “lithium valley”
Francisco Calafate-Faria
(Chair)
Francisco works at the intersection of sociology and geography, focusing on community voices in change processes. He is a lecturer in social sciences at London South Bank University and Principal Investigator of the LIQUIT project.
Rômulo Barbosa
Professor of Sociology at Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros-MG, Brazil.
Aline Sulzbacher
Aline is a professor at the Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM) and researches Agrarian Geography, Political Geography, and feminist studies on territorial conflicts and agrarian issues.
Klemens Lachefski
Professor of Geography specialising in Political Ecology and Sustainable Development.
Lauanda Lopes
Researcher of History and Environmental History, working on race, class, gender, and regional studies.
2️⃣ Lithium Mining and the Energy Expansion
Thiago Barbosa
(Chair)
Social scientist with expertise in political science and anthropology. Focuses on lithium extraction impacts in Jequitinhonha Valley, Brazil.
Diego Andreucci
(Online)
Critical geographer and political ecologist. Works on extractivism and energy transitions in Latin America and Southern Europe.
Elaine Santos
Researcher on energy and lithium value chains, focusing on socio-environmental impacts and energy transitions in Brazil and Portugal.
Jake Simms
Just Transition coordinator at London Mining Network, supporting communities affected by mining.
3️⃣ Survival Territories: threats to the territories under mineral occupation
Godofredo Pereira
(Chair)
Architect, educator and transdisciplinary researcher. Teaches at the MA Environmental Architecture at the Royal College of Art, London and coordinates the Territorial Research Group supporting communities resisting extractivism.
Phil Pinch
Political and economic geographer researching minerals development and cultural economies.
Catarina Scarrott
Activist from Portugal, coordinating the Associação Unidos em Defesa de Covas do Barroso.
Cleonice Pankararu-Pataxó
Indigenous leader, healer, and activist. Develops medicinal gardens and community health initiatives in Jequitinhonha, Brazil.
Tosin Akinjiola
Program Officer at Spaces for Change, West Africa, focusing on energy justice, host community rights, and climate governance in Nigeria.
Sofija Stefanović
Researcher and activist addressing mining impacts and community resistance in Europe.
Andreia Rosa
Researcher and activist studying water-society relations and community struggles against lithium mining in Brazil.
4️⃣ At the Frontier of Green Extractivism
Francisco Calafate-Faria
(Chair)
Francisco works at the intersection of sociology and geography, focusing on community voices in change processes. He is a lecturer in social sciences at London South Bank University and Principal Investigator of the LIQUIT project.
Thea Riofrancos
(Online)
Political scientist and activist working on energy justice, green extractivism, and sustainable development.
5️⃣ L.I.Q.U.I.T. Communities: eco-social diversity
Vanessa Juliana
(Chair)
Researcher and extensionist at the Observatory of the Valleys and the Semi-Arid of Minas Gerais, focusing on popular cultures, environmental issues, and the impacts of lithium extraction on traditional communities in the Jequitinhonha Valley.
Cleonice Pankararu-Pataxó
Indigenous leader, healer, and activist. Develops medicinal gardens and community health initiatives in Jequitinhonha, Brazil.
Edivaldo Ferreira Lopes
Researcher working with Traditional Peoples and Communities in the Jequitinhonha Valley since 2010. His work highlights community struggles against conservation and mining pressures, with a focus on agroextractivist livelihoods and territorial rights
Clebson Almeida
University professor at UFVJM and member of the Observatory of the Valleys and the Semi-Arid of Minas Gerais, focusing on territorial rights of traditional communities in Brazil.
6️⃣ Tools of Resistance: Strategies developed by communities and allies to strengthen resistance
Fabiana Leme
(Chair)
Fabiana Leme is a lawyer connecting Rights of Nature and Climate Justice. She specializes in Environmental Law (USP) and holds a Master’s in Architecture and Urbanism (UFMG), with research on how space relates to the Rights of Nature. She is a researcher at LIQUIT.
Godofredo Pereira
Architect, educator and transdisciplinary researcher. Teaches at the MA Environmental Architecture at the Royal College of Art, London and coordinates the Territorial Research Group supporting communities resisting extractivism.
Diana Salazar
Latin American coordinator for London Mining Network, supporting communities affected by British-linked mining and promoting solidarity and environmental justice.
Lauanda Lopes
Researcher in History and Environmental History, focusing on race, class, gender, and regional studies.
7️⃣ Tools of Resistance – Group Activity
Rebeca Binda
Facilitator
Documentary photographer, independent researcher, and LIQUIT member, Rebeca Binda works with traditional communities, sensitively documenting the impacts of extractivism on their territories, cultures, and ways of life.
8️⃣ Closing Conversation: Critical Territories
Edson Krenak
(Chair)
Indigenous leader and activist in Brazil, focusing on community rights and environmental justice.
Languages
🌍 Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Portuguese ↔ English) throughout both days.
Organisers
This symposium is co-organised by:
- LIQUIT, Voices of the Territories (London South Bank University, Federal University of Minas Gerais, State University of Montes Claros, Federal University of the Valleys of Jequitinhonha and Mucuri)
- The Scales of Justice Project (Royal College of Art)
- Institute of Development Studies (University of Sussex)
Join Us
We invite students, activists, researchers, and all those concerned with climate justice to be part of this important exchange.
📌 Secure your place today:
