What Role Does Science Play in Times of Crisis? Perspectives in the Interconnected Fields of Health, the Environment, and Agriculture
David Nabarro, the WHO Special Envoy for COVID-19, will open the international conference organized by the Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions (MAK’IT) at the University of Montpellier, in collaboration with the South Centre, on the theme: “What Role for Science in Times of Crisis? Perspectives in the Interconnected Fields of Health, the Environment, and Agriculture.” The conference will take place this Thursday, April 7, 2022, both in person at the Institute of Botany in Montpellier and online.
This event provides a forum for dialogue among scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders involved in crisis management, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. The discussions will focus on new scenarios for health, environmental, and agricultural crises and their various dimensions. They will examine the complex interactions at play between science, politics, and the public sphere, as well as the role of scientists in finding solutions to these crises.
Discussions organized around three themes, featuring panels of renowned international figures
Moderated by Patrick Caron, vice president for international relations at the University of Montpellier and director of MAK’IT, the first panel—which will discuss the question “New Crises, New Roles for Science and Scientists?”—includes Carlos Alvarez Pereira, vice president of the Club of Rome; Melissa Leach, director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS); Timothy Coombs, Abell Professor of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University (United States); Alexander Müller, founder and director of TMG, a think tank for sustainability; and Fatima Denton, director of the Institute for Natural Resources in Africa at the United Nations University (UNU-INRA).
The second panel will address the question “Science-Policy-Public Interaction in Times of Crisis: What Kind of Organizational Model?” and will be moderated by Julia Marton-Lefèvre, a member of the IPBES Bureau and former Director General of the IUCN. Among the panelists are: Carlos Correa, Executive Director of the South Centre; Michel Dubois, Research Director at the CNRS, Director of the Gemass Lab (Sorbonne University, Paris), and Co-Director of the Revue française de sociologie; Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO); Sélim Louafi, Deputy Director of CIRAD’s UMR “Genetic Improvement and Adaptation of Mediterranean and Tropical Plants” (AGAP); and Janos Pasztor, Executive Director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G) and former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Climate Change.
Finally, Sonja Vermeulen, Director of Programs at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), will moderate a third panel: “Scientists in Crisis? Keys to Navigating a Landscape of Complex Demands,” featuring Oluchi Ezekannagha, Coordinator of the CGIAR COVID-19 Hub Working Group; Paul Shrivastava, Director of the Institute for Sustainability at Pennsylvania State University (U.S.); Gary Machlis, Professor of Environmental Sustainability at Clemson University (U.S.), former Science Advisor to the Director of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), Nick Ishmael-Perkins, an independent consultant and former director of SciDev.Net; and Vivi Stavrou, executive secretary of the Committee on Freedom and Responsibility in Science within the International Science Council (ISC).
Practical Information:
Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022
Detailedschedule and program available at makit2022conference
Email
Interpretation will be available in French and English