12 November 2018 - 14 November 2018
Vatican

Transformative roles of science in society

World Population Program Director Wolfgang Lutz is invited speaker at a plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and will discuss future dynamics of world population change.

St. Peter, Rome, Vatican city © Pinky77 | Dreamstime.com

St. Peter, Rome, Vatican city © Pinky77 | Dreamstime.com

The 2018 Pontifical Academy of Sciences plenary is guided by the ideas that f basic sciences remain fundamental for generating a valid and evidence based model of the world of sciences become ever more interconnected across disciplines, including the humanities of scientists and science policy makers need to engage with society to maintain (foster) trust in science and to counter the spread of statements that are not based on scientific insights (fake news).

This plenary has the following objectives:

  1. To identify groundbreaking developments in the main disciplines of basic science. These shall be communicated by speakers in ways understandable by participants from different science disciplines.
    2. To identify evidence based and sustainable problem-solving strategies and related research for people’s wellbeing, poverty reduction and humanity’s current problems of environmental destructions and conflicts.
    3. To identify and share approaches on how to strengthen societies’ trust in science. Causes of possibly growing mistrust in science are addressed and opportunities to enhance trust in science identified, including science education and communication. In that context we shall also embrace the theme, how to foster fruitful relations
    between sciences and religions.

As one of the world's leading population experts, Wolfgang Lutz is invited speaker at this event. He will discuss future dynamics of world population change during session 1 that focuses on population and science approaches.

Since 1984 at IIASA, Lutz has worked on family demography, fertility analysis, population projection, and the interaction between population and environment. Together with his colleagues at POP, he has been expanding demographic methods to make them more relevant for the analysis of contemporary global policy challenges. He is an advocate in promoting the crucial role of education for dealing with future challenges.

The event will take place at the Vatican and will include an audience with Pope Francis. For more information please visit the event website.


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Last edited: 13 November 2018

CONTACT DETAILS

Wolfgang Lutz

Interim Deputy Director General for Science Directorate - DDG for Science Department

Principal Research Scholar and Senior Program Advisor Population and Just Societies Program

Principal Research Scholar and Senior Program Advisor Social Cohesion, Health, and Wellbeing Research Group - Population and Just Societies Program

Presentation by Wolfgang Lutz

Research at POP

PUBLICATIONS

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313