17 June 2019

Public Lecture: From the Cradle of Humanity to Sustainable Future for All

On Monday 17 June 2019, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, IIASA Acting Deputy Director General and CEO gave a public lecture at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. 

© Matthias Silveri | IIASA

© Matthias Silveri | IIASA

The lecture, organized jointly by IIASA and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, addressed the earth’s next grand transformation, the digital Anthropocene. Digitalization is symbolic of the enormous transformations taking place to the very fabric of our societies, work, culture, behaviors and lifestyles. The question is whether the direction of change can be steered by humans intentionally through the creation of a collective and common vision of a sustainable future for all and by a new social contract for humanity as symbolized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

The lecture was opened jointly by Georg Brasseur, Division President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Albert van Jaarsveld, Director General and CEO of IIASA and was moderated by Christian Köberl, Director General and CEO of the Natural History Museum Vienna, Chair of the Austrian IIASA Committee and Austrian NMO representative on the IIASA Council.

From the Cradle of Humanity to Sustainable Future for All 

The Holocene was a period of warm and exceedingly calm climate after the Ice Age, leading to the Neolithic Revolution. Next was the Industrial Revolution that brought explosive development including more than a hundredfold increase in economic output along with an unprecedented scale of natural resource exploitation and major interferences in the Earth system. This is the predicament of the Anthropocene. 

We are now on the brink of the next grand transformation, but the direction of change is uncertain. Digitalization is symbolic of the enormous transformations taking place to the very fabric of our societies, work, culture, behaviors and lifestyles. The question is whether the direction of change can be steered by humans intentionally through the creation of a collective and common vision of a sustainable future for all and by a new social contract for humanity as symbolized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

For now, the development is toward futures that must be avoided and redirected toward sustainability for all that leaves no one behind. The hope must be that in the digital Anthropocene, humans also start to transform themselves, enhancing cognitive and physical capabilities while protecting the planet, foremost through science, technology and innovation, in other words through knowledge – a human characteristic that is truly renewable.

Program

Monday, 17 June 2019
6:30 PM
Austrian Academy of Sciences, Festsaal, first floor

Welcome Remarks
Georg Brasseur | Division President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Albert van Jaarsveld | Director General and CEO, IIASA

Lecture and Discussion
Nebojsa Nakicenovic | Deputy Director General/Deputy CEO, IIASA
From the Cradle of Humanity to Sustainable Future for All
Moderation: Christian Köberl | Chair, Austrian IIASA Committee

Reception 
Until 20:30


Photo gallery

19.06 Public Lecture: From the Cradle of Humanity to Sustainable Future for All


About Nebojsa Nakicenovic 

Nebojsa Nakicenovic is Deputy Director General and Deputy CEO, IIASA, and former tenured Professor of Energy Economics, TU Wien. He is a Member of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts; recipient of the Austrian Grand Decoration in Silver (Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst); recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for the IPCC with several authors; and of the 2005 Sheikh Zayed Environmental Award for Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) also with several authors.

Contacts for Logistics

Tom Danaher, External Relations Officer, External Relations, Communications, and Library Department, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
T: +43 2236 807214

 

DI Dr. Viktor Bruckman, NMO Secretary, Austrian IIASA Committee
Austrian Academy of Sciences
T: +43 1 51581 3200

About IIASA/ÖAW Public Lectures

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences established a joint public lecture series in 2012. Since then they have hosted a number of events focused on scientific topics of mutual interest, aimed at a broad academic audience, decision makers and the public, previous lectures include Dame Anne Glover, Jeffrey Sachs, Simon Levin and Carlo Rubbia.



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Last edited: 21 May 2019

CONTACT DETAILS

Nebojsa Nakicenovic

Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

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International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
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Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313