Baltic University Programme - A regional university network

As part of the  International Climate Change Information Programme (ICCIP) I am editing a guest issue titled “Cities and regions adapting to Climate Change” to be published in a world class, high impact journal.

Cities and regions, worldwide, are already suffering some of the impacts of climate change, which may worsen problems related to floodings, water scarcity or extreme events. In addtion, climate change is known to increase vulnerability and risks to both people and property. As climate change becomes more intense, such problems are likely to become even more pressing and threatens many cities around the world already today. The special issue is therefore topical, and addresses a perceived problem.

The special issue “Cities and regions adapting to Climate Change” will provide a contribution to the state of knowledge in this field, by gathering and promoting papers deriving from scientific research or from projects, as well as actual, accurate and replicable programmes and experiences, interesting and useful to the scientific community and beyond.

For addressing the complex multi-stakeholder and multilevel challenges associated with climate change adaptation, an appropriate knowledge base is needed not only among public authorities but also among civil society, the business sector and others, in order to have problem-aware constituencies. In this context, high caliber research has a key role to play.The main aim of the special issue “Cities and regions adapting to Climate Change” is therefore to catalyse a better understanding of the problems, barriers, challenges, opportunities and possibilities related to climate change in cities and regions, and the promotion of more resilient societies. Consistent with this, it will gather the following types of papers:
a) papers on geochemical and physical impacts of climate change in cities and regions, as well as on aspects of modelling, forecasting and software applications to address risks and enhance resilience in these areas;
b) papers on the socioeconomic aspects of climate change in cities and regions;
c) papers on the links between climate change, risk assessment, risk management and policy-making as it relates to the ability of cities and regions to cope with it.

Furthermore, appropriate papers on concrete projects and initiatives, which focus on addressing the links between environmental planning and climate change resilience in cities and regions, will be considered. Those interested to contribute may send a 200-words abstract with their full contact details and an outline of the proposed paper to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

European Seminar on Sustainable Development, Minsk, Belarus, 16-19 March 2011

The deadline for submission of abstracts to the European Seminar on Sustainable Development, Minsk, Belarus, 16-19 March 2011, has been extended to 20th December 2010.

The aim of the seminar is to discuss problems connected with Sustainable Development. SD combines all main areas of human activity – economy, environment and social activity. The development of these areas is impossible without developing new technologies. Consequently, the following topics will be discussed during the seminar:

• The economics of Sustainable Development
• Environmental management and environmental economy
• Social management and Social Economy
• Technologies of Sustainable Development
• Education for Sustainable Development

The seminar will provide important information and examples of Sustainable Development initiatives, policies and projects in European countries, including Russia. Ukraine and Belarus. Finally, the seminar will enable participants to exchange experiences and ideas and acquire new contacts and links. Papers are now being invited. Selected papers will be published in one book and in international, peer-reviewed journals. Further details on the programme and registration are available at: http://www.haw-hamburg.de/sustainable_development.html

See you  in Minsk!
Walter Leal

 

Dear Colleagues,

This is a quick follow-up to my invitation to contribute to the "World Sustainable Development Teach-In Day".

We already have over 2.000 participants registered, so this event will be a great success. I would like to know if you intend to submit a presentation (please see the text of my original invitation below), since they are all due by the 30th September. We would be delighted to have you on board.

Let me know if we can count on you and please feel free to spread the word about the "World Sustainable Development Teach-In Day" to your networks.

Rgds,
Walter Leal
----------------
Dear Colleague,

Reference: Invitation to contribute to the World Sustainable Development Teach-In Day

The World Sustainable Development Teach-In Day will be held in the 3rd December 2010. It will be the largest initiative on sustainability education ever organised and participants from over 50 countries will take advantage of this unique event

I would like to invite you to contribute towards the event, by preparing a power point presentation on one of the topics of the conference, which can be seen:
http://world-sustainability-day.net/en.html

Accepted presentations will, subject to a review, be put on-line during the event and will showcase your work to a world audience. Expressions of interest to contribute to the event, initially outlining the title of the envisaged input and the author(s) of the work to be submitted, should be sent to us at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . You will then get a feed-back and a template with which you can use for your presentation.

Finally, the authors who want to, may submit a paper about the topic, which may be published in the book "World Trends on Education for Sustainable Development" which will be published in 2011. Please indicate if you want to contribute to it, so that we can send you the template for papers.

Rgds,
Walter Leal
P.S. Let other people know about it!

The "3rd International Disaster and Risk Conference Davos, Switzerland Risk, Disasters, Crisis and Global Change"
will be held at the city of Davos, Switzerland from the 30rd May 2010 to the 3rd June 2010.

Topics of the conference include:

* Risk Reduction & Disaster Management
* Sustainable Development & MDGs
* Climate Change Emerging Risks
* Early Warning Desertification and Land Degradation Risks & Ethics
* Urban Risks & Mega Cities
* Gender Aspects
* Vulnerability Reduction
* Risk Governance
* Critical Infrastructure
* Humanitarian Logistics
* Mega Catastrophes
* Resilience Increase
* ICT in Risk & Crises Management
* Financial Tools for Risk Transfer

The conference entails a set of plenary session, parallel sessions and training sessions, catering for a comprehensive overview of matters related to disasters and risks, as well as the various measures being undertaken in order to address them.

Some of the speakers include:

Anisya Thomas Fritz Co-founder Fritz Institute
Walter Fust Former CEO, Global Humanitarian Forum, Geneva, Switzerland
Domenico Giardini Prof. ETH Zurich and Director, Swiss Seismological Service, Switzerland
Saroj Kumar Jha Director, GFDRR, World Bank, Washington, USA
Luc Gnacadja General Director,UNCCD, Bonn, Germany
Alfred Lokuji Prof. University of Juba, Sudan
Granger Morgan Prof. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
Maria Mutagamba Minister for Water and Environment, Kampala, Uganda
Janos Pasztor Director, UN SG Climate Change Support Team, New York, USA
Stefan Pickl Prof. University Bundeswehr, Munich, Germany
Saifur Rahman Prof. Virginia Tech (VT), Alexandria, USA
Stephan Rahmstorf Prof. Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung, Potsdam, Germany
Haresh Shah Prof. Stanford University and Founder RMS, Newark CA, USA
William Sabandar Special Envoy of the ASEAN Secretary General for Post Nargis Recovery
Myanmar, Indonesia
James Stavridis Admiral, US Navy and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO
Zhijian Wang Vice-Director, China Emergency and Rescue Management Institute, Beijing, China

A detailed programme and information on registration is available at the conference web site.