Bren School to Host Major International Energy Sustainability Event

From June 19-20, the Bren School will host the 2nd annual Science Policy Dialogue of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), titled "Energy, Sustainability and Societal Change."

The workshop will attract international group of approximately 40 experts – leading scholars in the field of energy, high-level government officials from around the world, prominent journalists, members of the business community, and other stakeholders – for discussions covering the relationships among energy requirements, resources, security, and the human behavioural patterns needed to move societies around the world towards sustainability. The event is being held as energy-related issues have become a topic of mounting global importance.

Energy, Sustainability and Societal Change will be hosted by Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Dean of the Bren School and member of the IHDP Scientific Committee, and co-organized by Bren Professor Oran R. Young, IHDP Chair and Co-Director of the Bren School’s Program on Governance for Sustainable Development.

Energy is crucial for individual well-being and societal prosperity, though access to energy is often not equally distributed, and energy systems are often not sustainable. The Energy, Sustainability and Societal Change workshop will showcase ground-breaking science in this regard, inform decision makers, and, in return, stimulate thought-provoking responses for future research. The IHDP Science Policy Workshop Series provides a productive environment for experts to learn from each other in the context of discussions about pressing issues of global conern. Hence, much time will be devoted to exchanging ideas and interactions among the different groups of participants, with the aim of building new understandings and partnerships.

The Energy, Sustainability and Societal Change workshop will build upon current public awareness of this theme and the far-reaching expertise of IHDP’s network and partner organizations, particularly focusing on the human dimensions of energy. Issues such as the behavioral patterns and lifestyles that lead to either efficient or inefficient energy uses, barriers to cleaner and more efficient energy production, and potential energy-related conflicts will be explored. Contributions on various energy sub-themes, provided by participants involved both in science and practice, should serve not only to motivate analysis from a variety of angles but also to deconstruct widespread energy-related myths and prejudices. The workshop aims to shed new light on well-known phenomena, paving the way for new understandings and innovative solutions.

A joint international, interdisciplinary science program of the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the United Nations University (UNU), IHDP is dedicated to promoting, catalyzing and coordinating research, capacity development, and networking on the human dimensions of global environmental change.

 

Workshop Participants

 

Frans Berkhout

Director, Institute of Environmental Studies Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Marty Blum

Mayor, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Jeffrey Broadbent

Visiting Researcher, Faculty of Law, Keio University; Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Institute of Global Studies, Japan

Ilan Chabay

Director of Göteborg Center for Public Learning and Understanding of Science, Sweden

Bill Freudenberg

Professor, Environmental Studies Program, UCSB

Gilberto Gallopín

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile

Guoyi Han

Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden

Sara Hughes

PhD Candidate, Bren School, UCSB

Carlo Jaeger

Head, Department for Global Change & Social Systems, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany

Katy Janda

Environmental Change Institute, UK

Roger Kasperson

Research Professor & Distinguished Scientist, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, USA

Myanna Lahsen

Social Science Officer, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Brazilian Office, São Jose dos Campos, Brazil

Rik Leemans

Earth System Science Partnership Chair, The Netherlands

Yeti Nisha Madhoo

Professor, University of Mauritius

Susie Moser

Director, Principal Scientist Susanne Moser Research & Consulting; Research Associate Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California-Santa Cruz, USA

Mia Navarro

NY Times, USA

Andreas Rechkemmer

Executive Director, IHDP, Germany

Martin Rice

Coordinator, Earth System Science Partnership, France

Jean Marc Salmon

French Ministry of the Environment & Associate Researcher, ATOS/TELECOM & Management, SudParis

Nath Shyam

Professor, Department of Social Studies and Humanities, University of Mauritius, Mauritius

Bernd Siebenhüner

Professor and Head of the GELENA-research group on social learning and sustainability, Oldenburg University, Germany

Paul Wapner

School of International Service, American University, Washington D.C., USA

Oran R. Young

Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara Donald Bren School of Environmental Science, USA

 

IHDP ADMINISTRATION

 

Gabriela Litre
Academic Officer
Communications, Public Information and Outreach Manager

 

Sarah Mekjian

Office Manager

 

Ellen Pfeiffer
Academic Officer and Network Development

 

Falk Schmidt

Scientific Officer