From the beginning to the end of the research project, work has been completed on all three work packages, including data collection and analysis for work packages 1 and 2 and the development of the international public web-based resource for work package 3.
Work Package 1 (years 1-3), “The Global Level”, involves mapping the global petrochemical industry and international environmental justice movement, with a focus on the US, Europe, and China. We have completed all of the 50 interviews for this work package and participant observation at industry events. We have also conducted field trips to investigate petrochemical areas within Europe, including in Fawley (UK), Grangemouth (UK), Porto Marghera (Italy), and Antwerp, to complement research for Work Package 2.
Work Package 2, years 1-4, ‘National, Regional and Local Levels’ involves case studies of Toxic Expertise in the United States and China. We have completed all of the proposed target 100 interviews (50 per case), which includes formal as well as informal interviews. Both case studies highlight significant lived experiences of pollution and health issues, yet highly ambivalent local attitudes towards pollution and industry. They also highlight inequalities in the exposure of populations to risk.
Work Package 3, years 3-5, “the collaborative, participatory level,” commenced in autumn 2017. The aim of this work package is to move beyond the level of mapping discourses and examining in-depth case studies, to develop a scaled-up international “public resource” of toxic expertise. We launched the interactive participatory mapping resource “The Global Petrochemical Map” in summer 2019, that seeks to make petrochemical connections around the globe visible, including 75 case studies around the world.
By the end of the project, academic publications include: 10 peer-reviewed journal articles (published or in press); 5 further articles (under review) in peer-reviewed journals; an edited book Toxic Truths: Environmental Justice and the Global Petrochemical Industry (Manchester University Press, 2020); and a monograph by the PI: Petrochemical Planet: Multiscalar Battles of Industrial Transformation (under contract, Duke). In addition, the research team has continued to publish the quarterly e-magazine Toxic News since launching it in November 2015.
Since the beginning of the project, we have organised an annual project workshop, and we have also disseminated our research at a number of academic and public events. A three-day final project webinar series was held in September 2020.
