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ZERO CARBON UNIVERSITIES AND THEIR ROLE IN CREATING SUSTAINABLE CITIES

We invite you to discuss the vision of carbon neutral universities, sustainable cities and how they are interconnected with two leading thinkers on this topic:

• Keri Facer, Professor of Educational and Social Futures at the University of Bristol. She is the author of the recent report “Beyond business as usual: Higher education in the era of climate change“;
• Uwe Schneidewind, Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) of Wuppertal, former president of the Wuppertal Institute, a leading institute for sustainability research and developing transformation, and also former president of the University of Oldenburg.

The discussion will focus on the following questions:

• The future of cities is sustainable and carbon-neutral. Universities play a crucial role in making this happen. But how? What can and should they do in terms of providing talent, insights, ideas, and technologies? How should they educate both current and future generations with regard to climate change?
• At the same time, universities need to become sustainable themselves. Many have already pledged to become carbon zero institutions in the next years. How can this be achieved?
• Facer and Schneidewind both emphasise the huge potential of steering universities towards responding to and even driving efforts to become sustainable in local communities. As Keri Facer puts it: “Universities and colleges are powerful anchor organisations that can make a significant contribution to the creation of ecological and economic sustainability in local communities.” And Uwe Schneidewind has put forward the idea of organizing research and teaching at universities around transformation processes at work in the city. How would this work? Is it already happening? And what does it mean for universities, cities, and their connection?

We invite you to discuss these and other topics with Keri Facer and Uwe Schneidewind.

Feb 23, 2021 05:00 PM in Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna