25 September 2014 - 26 September 2014
European Parliament, Brussels
The summit is organised by Atomium Culture, the European Commission, and the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU, and will assess the relationship between science, media and democracy.
It will focus on the importance of citizen-centred approaches to science and innovation in the European Union and is designed to create a unique opportunity for intersectoral and interdisciplinary discussion between leading stakeholders to:
IIASA has a long relationship with both the European Commission, and their in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre, which provides EU policies with independent, evidence based scientific and technical support. Earlier this year, a delegation, consisting of department heads from a range of the JRC’s institutes, meet with Professor Dr. Pavel Kabat, Director General and CEO of IIASA, and the directors of IIASA’s nine research programs.
Vladimír Šucha, Director-General of the Joint Research Centre was also a participant of the recent retreat of the Alpbach-Laxenburg Group, a reflection group that strives to support global economic and social transformations towards sustainability by creating and communicating positive narratives for sustainable development and business opportunities, grounded in cutting edge international systems-science.
One of the IIASA's inputs to EU policy has been the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program, and the IIASA Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model which has provided a framework for the analysis of co-benefits of reduction strategies from air pollution and greenhouse gas sources. The EU commission has used the GAINS model as the scientific tool to analyze new measures as part of a new clean air policy package announced in December 2013. Using GAINS, policymakers were able to examine the costs and benefits of every available air pollution control measure.
There is increasing recognition worldwide that the work of Chief Science Advisors and other Science Advisory Committees is of critical importance in the task of improving dialogue and collaboration among science, policy and society. Kabat has recently returned from a Science Advice to Governments conference in Auckland which explored and shared the best practices with which science advice is operationalised in different countries and in relation to some of the most challenging policy contexts such as science advice in situations of crisis, and provision of collaborative multi-national science advice.
More Information
EU Commission new clean air policy uses GAINs
GAINS MODEL
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313