Radoslava Kuneva (BG-Swiss Fellowships for Bulgarian Junior Scholars, Oct ‘25 – Jul ‘26) will give her first talk on:

Wild nature in Post-Socialist Cities – Imaginations and Social Constructions of the Wild Nature in the Context of Climate Change and Environmental Crises in Southeastern Europe. The case of Boyana marsh in Sofia and Văcărești park in Bucharest

Abstract: The research aims at exploring how nature in urban settings has been constructed as wild for its protection in the case of two post-socialist cities in Southeastern Europe. Contemporary environmental discourse increasingly recognizes nature as an equal partner to the built environment in fostering climate-adaptive and ecologically sustainable urban settlements.

Focusing on Sofia and Bucharest, the research critically assesses the processes of “renaturalisation” and “rewilding” of the urban. The Boyana Marsh in Sofia, a natural wetland under pressure from private development, and Văcărești Nature Park in Bucharest, a wetland emerging from an abandoned socialist-era artificial lake project, share distinct physical histories yet have converging meanings as unique urban wildlands in the city, important for sustainable development and refuge for non-human species. The study is using critical cultural and urban studies approaches, such as oral history and discourse analysis. During the seminar, I will present the intended methodology and research plan and will discuss the challenges and difficulties of the fieldwork.

30 October 2025 (Thursday), at 16:30.

Moderated by: Magdalena Slavkova