Visualising Planetary Health- Frameworks of Lived Experience: Photojournalistic Field Pedagogies in Nepal
Name of Event/Lecture
Visualising Planetary Health- Frameworks of Lived Experience: Photojournalistic Field Pedagogies in Nepal
Name of Speaker
Tom White
Location
SDE4, Level 5 Forum
You are cordially invited to a lecture by Tom White
Date: 18th March 2026
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm
Venue: SDE4, Level 5 Forum, DOA, National University of Singapore, 8 Architecture Dr, Singapore 117564
Visualising Planetary Health- Frameworks of Lived Experience: Photojournalistic Field Pedagogies in Nepal
How can we confront the complex, entangled crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution while advancing social equity? This lecture draws on a transdisciplinary field school initiative, Planetary Health across the Himalaya, conducted along a south–north transect in Nepal during May-June 2025.
The project operationalised Planetary Health and Doughnut Economics via photojournalism and visual ethnography. Participants used photography as a “visual notebook”, combining image-making with reflective journaling, interviews, and thematic coding to generate compelling stories communicating complex issues with clarity.
This lecture will explore how visual, place-based pedagogies can strengthen systems thinking, ethical awareness, and intercultural engagement, while helping communicate complex sustainability challenges and how we can use these methods to move beyond abstract “green” narratives toward more grounded, participatory, and justice-oriented approaches to sustainability and development, supporting inclusive participation and co-produced knowledge with communities.
Speaker Bio
Tom White is a photojournalist, visual communications educator, and editor of Parallax Photo Journal. He brings over two decades of professional and pedagogical experience across media, academia, and community contexts.
Trained in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, Photojournalism at the International Center of Photography in New York, and holding an MSc in Planetary Health from the University of Edinburgh, Tom’s practice sits at the intersection of visual storytelling, environmental change, and public scholarship.
He has taught at Columbia University, the International Center of Photography, and Yale-NUS College, focusing on critically engaged, ethically grounded visual practice. His current research on Visualising Planetary Health explores documentary methods as a transdisciplinary research praxis.
He has been based in Southeast Asia since 2011.