We’re excited to highlight a new initiative led by Geovana Freitas Paim Rêgo, a lecturer at Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Brazil, and a new member of the LRG community. Recognising the need for greater engagement from Latin American researchers within landscape research, Geovana has launched an informal LRG ‘Coffee Hour’, inspired by the successful model currently running in the Americas time zone, led by Zannah Matson.
This new group aims to create a space for academics and practitioners who speak Portuguese or Spanish and share an interest in landscape. Its reach will be broad, spanning Latin America, Europe and beyond.
To introduce this initiative, we’re featuring Geovana in a special LRG Member Spotlight, where she shares more on her motivations for starting the new LRG Coffee Hour, her research and why she thinks its important that more Latin American perspectives are represented in landscape research.
GEOVANA FREITAS PAIM RÊGO
Geovana is a lecturer at Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, located in the state of Bahia, a semi-arid region of Brazil, where she teaches Landscape Analysis in Geography. Her research focuses on landscape injustice, particularly in relation to wind energy development. She joined LRG as a member in 2025.
Geovana, can you share a bit about your research on landscape injustices and wind energy in Brazil?
My research on wind farms in Bahia reveals that they are built in high-altitude, impoverished regions where energy companies exploit socioeconomic vulnerability. By fencing off land, restricting access, and impacting water sources, they impose top-down transformations with minimal community participation. Financial benefits are unevenly distributed, and land lease contracts often bind local communities, shaping Justiça na Paisagem (Justice in the Landscape) through imposed spatial practices.
To analyse wind farm landscapes, I applied the Justice in the Landscape framework, a growing debate in Brazil. With limited national literature on the topic, I turned to international sources, including a Special Issue of Landscape Research 2016: Landscape Justice in an Anniversary Year and the article Justice, Development and the Land: The Social Context of Scotland’s Energy Transition by Chris Dalglish et al. Drawing on these works, I became the first to introduce Justice in the Landscape in Brazil, recently defending my dissertation at the Federal University of Bahia: Landscapes of (In)Justice in the Wind Farms of the State of Bahia.
What inspired you to create this LRG network for Portuguese and Spanish-speaking researchers?
I frequently accessed the LRG website and received its newsletters. I found the meetings, virtual events, and diverse themes very engaging. The informal format attracted me and encouraged me to connect with the Americas Coffee Hour.
I realised I could represent Brazil, but the language barrier was a challenge. This motivated me to start learning English, first to participate in writing and later in conversations. Seeing LRG’s global reach, I thought a Portuguese/Spanish group could serve as a bridge, helping us all connect and achieve great things together!
Why do you think it’s important to have more Latin American perspectives in landscape research?
The landscape is not an instant creation but is shaped over time through additions and replacements, where one landscape is written over another, modifying it and leaving behind legacies that reflect different moments. This requires careful investigation, as changes to Brazilian landscapes are imposed from the top down, without public participation.
In Brazil, and I believe in other Latin American countries, there is no Landscape Convention like the European one to guide additions, replacements and interventions in the landscape. Therefore, greater engagement from researchers in Latin America is of fundamental importance.
What kinds of discussions or topics do you hope to explore in the coffee hour sessions?
- Justice in the Landscape
- Landscape Impacts
- Landscape Study Methods
- Landscape Restoration
Interested in joining or know someone that might?
Somos muito gratos à Geovana – muito obrigada!
We are grateful to Geovana for launching this fantastic initiative to support the Spanish and Portuguese speaking members of our community and we look forward to supporting its growth.
The group will be up and running from 2025.
The first session will take place on 11th March, followed by sessions on the second Tuesday of each month.
Help us spread the word!
Thinking about starting your own LRG thematic or regional group? If you would like guidance, we would love to help – reach out to us!