International Symposium & Public Lecture: Science-Policy in a Global Context

2015 represents a watershed year for world leaders and national governments to agree and commit to the necessary steps required for the changes needed globally to transform to a sustainable future.The Financing for Development Conference (FfD) will take place in Addis Ababa in July. The Sustainable Development Goals are to be adopted at the United Nations in September 2015 and the world’s governments have pledged to adopt a new climate agreement at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, 2015. The role of global science as an integral partner and substantive supporter of these objectives is critical. 

On 1 June 2015 IIASA will host an International Symposium and Public Lecture entitled “Science-Policy in a Global Context”  focused on both identifying the needs of governments and institutions for scientific support in policy development, negotiations and implementation around these global challenges and how the scientific community can respond and support these initiatives.

Symposium

This symposium will bring together leading international scientists, senior government science advisers, and government and UN representatives to discuss both the current practice and future challenges for providing effective scientific input and advice to policy and decision makers. Participants will specifically discuss how the scientific community can become an integral and effective partner in the policy-making framework and in policy implementation and monitoring, by looking at both the needs of governments and policy-makers and what science can and should bring to the process, with specific reference to the major global challenges of sustainable development and climate action.

The symposium is being held jointly by IIASA and Future Earth, together with The Science & Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability.

Public Lecture

Following the symposium there will be a public lecture by Vaughan Turekian (Director of the Center for Science Diplomacy, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Editor-in-Chief of “Science and Diplomacy”) and Kandeh Yumkella (UN Under Secretary General, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Sustainable Energy for All and former Director General of UNIDO) to explore the issue of Science to Policy in a Global Context. The public lecture will be followed by the awarding ceremony of the IIASA Distinguished Policy Fellow to Kandeh Yumkella.

Following both the Symposium and Public Lecture IIASA will host the official opening and reception for the exhibition “Urge for Structure” by H.E. Hubert Würth (Ambassador for Luxembourg to Austria), the diplomat as an artist.

Timings

Symposium: 12:30-17:00

Public lecture: 17:00-18:00

Exhibition opening & reception: 18:00-20:00

Programme (opens external site)

To register, please contact kaltenbr@iiasa.ac.at.