A Royal Irish Academy Townhall Meeting on Future Earth

The Townhall will open with a keynote address from Professor Frans Berkhout, Interim Director of Future Earth.

The Townhall meeting will draw on international expertise, informing participants about current international developments in the Future Earth initiative. International speakers include Dr Tanja Suni, Secretary General Future Earth Finland, Professor Tim O’Riordan, British Academy and Professor Christoph Ritz, Executive Director of ProClim- Forum for Climate and Global Change in Switzerland.

After lunch there will be a panel discussion with national experts offering an Irish perspective on Future Earth. The Townhall will conclude with a general dialogue where all participants and the general audience will be encouraged to actively participate in the discussion.

An overview of the Townhall, key themes, and issues identified over the course of the day will be circulated by the Academy following the event. This overview will feed into a formal report that the Academy will produce and disseminate to research funders, government departments and the general research community.

The meeting will be streamed online from 11:00 GMT on Wednesday 17 September 2014.