Stockholm university
Department of Culture and Aesthetics

Waste and Children’s Culture: Thematics, Aesthetics, Ethics

Workshop

Start date: Thursday 23 October 2025

Time: 10.00

End date: Friday 24 October 2025

Time: 14.45

Location: The Library, 300, Manne Siegbahn Buildings, house A, Frescativägen 24E, and online via Zoom

International hybrid workshop at Stockholm University.

Drawing of a girl outside of a house, with woman looking out of an open window.
© Tre Sandberg AB

The purpose of the workshop is to bring together scholars of children’s culture who are in particular interested in the topic of waste. How is waste, trash, and pollution used as theme, metaphor, and/or environmental message? How is waste used as an aesthetical mode of artistic creation? What are the ethical implications and eco-pedagogical potential of waste?

If you would like to attend in person, please RSVP to Lydia Wistisen, lydia.wistisen@littvet.su.se, by 1 October. 

Zoom Meeting:

https://stockholmuniversity.zoom.us/j/68992913611

Please note, all times in the programme are given in CET.

Organisers:
Associate Professor Lydia Wistisen, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Professor Nina Goga, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway.

 

Programme

23 October

10:00 – 10:15 Welcome
10:15 – 11:45

Session 1
Anna Kérchy (University of Szeged, Hungary), Funcanny Wastelands: A Psychogeographical Analysis of the Place of Trash in Contemporary Green Children’s Literature
Tom Nurmi (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), The Disney Prosthesis: WALL-E and Waste
Mattihas Laux (University of Trier, Germany), Recycling Dream Dust? Exploring Waste and Morals in Children’s Culture
11:45 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 – 14:30

Session 2 
Ginny Qian Qian Xu (Tilburg University, Netherlands), Living with Waste: Spatial and Cultural Representations Rural Migrant Childhoods in Urbanizing China
Kitija Balcare (University of Latvia, Latvia), Onstage and Offstage Dimensions Waste in Ecotheatrical Performances for Young Audiences 
Lydia Wistisen (Stockholm University, Sweden), Children’s Culture in the Wasteocene: Waste Aesthetics in Swedish Children’s Television and Picturebooks
14:30 –15:00 Coffee and refreshments
15:00 – 16:00

Session 3 
Marcus Martins (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil), From Waste to Art: Visual and Poetic Responses to Urban Environmental Loss in Nelson`s Cruz
Benjamina Michelle Abate (Ohio State University, USA), “Your Eyes Drop Out and You Get Very Shabby”: The Beloved Decrepit in Children’s Literature from The Velveteen Rabbit to Knuffle Bunny 
18:00 Dinner for in-person attendees (venue and details TBA)

24 October

10:00 – 11:30

Session 4  
Richard Higgins (University of Melbourne, Australia), Hard Rubbish: Waste Aesthetics and DIY as Survival in Australian Children’s Theatre
M.J. Cagumbay Tumamac (University of Philippines, Philippines), Ang Bata at Basura sa Bahura (Children and Waste on the Reefs): Children’s Roles in Addressing Marine Waste in Selected Picturebooks from the Philippines
Daren Leung (Lingnan University, China) and Xianliang Dong (Hong Kong Baptist University, China), “When a Poo Woos”: Dance, Disgust and Fun-ding the Way Back to Nature
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch
12:30 – 14:00

Session 5 
Dalia Mostafa Abdulrahaman (Cairo University, Egypt), Egypt’s Green Sprouts: Reimagining Food Waste Education for Egyptian Children
Tuğçe Alkış (Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Turkey), Regeneration of Wasted Lives: Luke Pearson’s Hilda series
Marleena Mustola (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) and Susanne Ylönen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), Sticks, Stones, and Colorful Plastics: Aesthetic Negotiations Around Children’s Unlikely Treasures
14:00 – 14:15 Coffee and refreshments
14:15 – 14:45 Concluding remarks
Theme
Culture and Media - Theme page Language, Literature and Culture - Theme page Children and Young People - Theme page
Research subject
Children's and young adult Literature

Last updated: September 3, 2025

Source: Department of Culture and Aesthetics

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