Cooperation for a Green Transformation

Event Type
International Workshop

Location / Date
Duisburg, 28.06.2012

Organizer

Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research & Desertec Foundation

We are increasingly exceeding our planet’s limits, with results such as advancing climate change and the destruction of biological diversity which jeopardises our natural life support systems. A major transformation towards sustainable societies is both necessary and feasible. It entails a considerable societal reorganization and technical innovation to foster low-carbon and socially inclusive development. Global cooperation is a fundamental requirement for such a green transformation. Only by cooperating can humankind accelerate the development and application of technical solutions towards low carbon societies and manage the economic, social, political and normative challenges of such a transition. This workshop explored needs, strategies and options for an intensified cooperation in two key areas: energy and food production; furthermore participants discussed what overarching approaches are needed to set quickly into motion a green transformation towards a more sustainable and equitable world. The workshop’s objective has been to highlight cooperation successes, identify the most promising solutions and discuss different visions of how to successfully promote a green transformation at the level of societies, states and the global level.

The workshop brought together approximately 60 influential international participants from think tanks, politics, NGOs, economy and finance, as well as the renewable energy sector. It has been the first in a series of interactive scholar and practitioner workshops of the Centre for Global Cooperation Research. The workshop series will provide important input for the Centre’s academic work on the nature and success conditions of global cooperation and create mutual learning opportunities for participants from different public and private spheres.

Questions on content: Hannes Hotz and Silke Weinlich

Programme:

9.30 - 10.00	Welcome Address Dirk Messner, Director, Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research, Duisburg Director, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitk (DIE), Bonn Gerhard Knies, Co-ordinator of the DESERTEC Think Tank, DESERTEC Foundation, Hamburg
10.00 - 12.00	Part I Key Transformation Areas Low-carbon energy solutions: Cooperation between Africa and Europe Michael Düren, II. Physikalisches Institut, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Co-founder of the DESERTEC foundation; Coordinator of the DESERTEC Academic Network Yomn M. Elhamaki, Head of Economics Department, V. President of the Economic Committee, Cairo Georgeta Vidican, Senior Researcher, Department "Competitiveness and Social Development", German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Bonn Wolfgang Knothe, Chief Executive Officer, Flagsol GmbH, Cologne Moderator: Dirk Messner Points for Discussion: Which role does the energy sector play in a green transformation? What can we learn from current and envisaged cooperation between Africa and Europe in the energy sector? What is the future potential of enhanced cooperation between and among states and private actors, and how can it be realised? What are the main challenges for creating mutually beneficial low-carbon solutions in the MENA region and Sub-Sahara Africa?
12.00 - 13.00	Lunch Break
13.00 - 15.00	Green food production for a growing world population Joachim von Braun, Director of the Center for Development Research / Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung (ZEF), University of Bonn Annette Freibauer, Deputy Director, Agricultural Climate Research, Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Braunschweig Martin Kaiser, Leader International Climate Politics, Greenpeace Germany, Hamburg Moderator: Margret Thalwitz, Associate Fellow, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) Points for Discussion: Can the agricultural sector play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring global food security? What are the key factors that can accelerate a transformation and re-organize global cooperation with regard to food production? What can we achieve by means of technical innovations; where do we need changes in lifestyle and habits? What are the challenges in overcoming the current lack of cooperation at the international level?
15.00 - 15.30	Coffee Break
15.30 - 17.30	Part II Managing the Transformation Envisioning the global green transformation Claus Leggewie, Director, Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research, Duisburg Director, Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities, Essen John Grin, Full Professor in Policy Science, Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam Co-Director of Programme Group Transnational Configurations, Conflicts and Governance, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) Gerhard Knies, Co-ordinator of the DESERTEC Think Tank, DESERTEC Foundation, Hamburg; Chairman of Board for Science and Technology, DESERTEC University Network DUN, Tunis Moderator: Dirk Messner Points for Discussion: What are the key dimensions that need to be addressed for initiating and accelerating major transformations such as the proposed green transformation? What are the major obstacles, and how can they be tackled? Who are the key change agents? What kinds of institutions are needed to manage the economic, social, political and normative challenges of the transition period? What role does inter/transnational cooperation play, in theory and in practice?

Organisers:
Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research
Schifferstr. 196 ● 47048 Duisburg ● Germany
www.gcr21.org

DESERTEC Foundation
Ferdinandstr. 28-30 ● 20095 Hamburg ● Germany
http://www.desertec.org/en/

Hinweis

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Event information

Date

28.06.2012

Location

Duisburg, Grand City Hotel Duisburger Hof