Education

‘People, Planet & Profit’ lecture series

Two buzzwords often heard these days are globalization and sustainable development, but what do these terms really mean and how are they interrelated? An OSIRIS and Studium Generale co-hosted lecture series aims to find out.

The demonstrations at the WTO conference in the United States in 1999 – notoriously dubbed ‘The Battle of Seattle’ – marked a zenith between, on one side, the die-hard neo-liberal economists fervently appealing for open markets, and on the other, global civil society activists blaming neo-liberal economic globalization for most of the world’s problems.

Is there, however, more to globalization than the creation of a global market based on liberal notions? What are the global problems allegedly caused by globalization and do these problems have anything to with the calls for sustainable development? And why is it that, despite many national and international pledges and efforts, making substantial progress in achieving sustainable development seems to be very difficult, as illustrated by the failure of the recent Earth Summit in New York?

As part of their ongoing internationalization efforts, OSIRIS and Studium Generale have collaboratively organized a lecture series (in English) to answer these questions.

The lectures have been organized according to the taxonomy of the three pillars of sustainable development: People, Planet and Profit.

On October 3, the first lecture will focus on the human facet in the nexus of globalization and sustainable development. The lecture will be given by Professor Paul van Seters, Executive Director of the Institute for Globalization & Sustainable Development (Globus) at Tilburg University. After presenting a broad overview of what globalization and sustainable development entail, Professor van Seters will develop the synthesis of Sustainable Globalization by showing that that they are in fact two sides of the same coin.

Professor van Seters will also outline how the inherent global nature of the problems that sustainable development is supposed to resolve has changed the meaning of ‘governance’, as based on the concept of sovereign nation states. He will demonstrate how in this new governance system, private firms and civil society organizations have an equal role to play in enabling sustainable globalization.

The November 7th lecture will be given by Kornelis Blok, professor of Science, Technology & Society at Utrecht University and lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Professor Blok will begin by briefly introducing the science behind climate change. After giving an overview of the international treaties on climate change – which increasingly is seen as a real threat to hundreds of millions of people around the world – Professor Blok will focus on policy development in the European Union. Professor Blok will also discuss the European Emission Trading System (ETS) and the roles renewable energy and energy efficiency play in the EU policies for combating climate change. The ETS is a system that focuses directly on the reduction of emissions and is considered to be the most innovative aspect of EU climate policy.

With more than a billion people living in extreme poverty throughout the world, eradicating poverty has recently become a prime international policy objective. The majority of the very poor around the world live in remote rural areas. In his December 12th lecture, Dr. Ruerd Ruben, a senior development economist at Wageningen University, will argue that better economic and social return on investment can be reached by specifically focusing on the development of these poor rural areas. Dr. Ruben will also argue that investment in sustainable natural resource management and infrastructures is essential for promoting rural development and hence, eradicating poverty worldwide.

The ‘People, Planet & Profit’ lecture series is scheduled for October 3, November 7 and December 12, at Speakers.

www.osiris.nu

www.sg.tudelft.nl

The demonstrations at the WTO conference in the United States in 1999 – notoriously dubbed ‘The Battle of Seattle’ – marked a zenith between, on one side, the die-hard neo-liberal economists fervently appealing for open markets, and on the other, global civil society activists blaming neo-liberal economic globalization for most of the world’s problems.

Is there, however, more to globalization than the creation of a global market based on liberal notions? What are the global problems allegedly caused by globalization and do these problems have anything to with the calls for sustainable development? And why is it that, despite many national and international pledges and efforts, making substantial progress in achieving sustainable development seems to be very difficult, as illustrated by the failure of the recent Earth Summit in New York?

As part of their ongoing internationalization efforts, OSIRIS and Studium Generale have collaboratively organized a lecture series (in English) to answer these questions.

The lectures have been organized according to the taxonomy of the three pillars of sustainable development: People, Planet and Profit.

On October 3, the first lecture will focus on the human facet in the nexus of globalization and sustainable development. The lecture will be given by Professor Paul van Seters, Executive Director of the Institute for Globalization & Sustainable Development (Globus) at Tilburg University. After presenting a broad overview of what globalization and sustainable development entail, Professor van Seters will develop the synthesis of Sustainable Globalization by showing that that they are in fact two sides of the same coin.

Professor van Seters will also outline how the inherent global nature of the problems that sustainable development is supposed to resolve has changed the meaning of ‘governance’, as based on the concept of sovereign nation states. He will demonstrate how in this new governance system, private firms and civil society organizations have an equal role to play in enabling sustainable globalization.

The November 7th lecture will be given by Kornelis Blok, professor of Science, Technology & Society at Utrecht University and lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Professor Blok will begin by briefly introducing the science behind climate change. After giving an overview of the international treaties on climate change – which increasingly is seen as a real threat to hundreds of millions of people around the world – Professor Blok will focus on policy development in the European Union. Professor Blok will also discuss the European Emission Trading System (ETS) and the roles renewable energy and energy efficiency play in the EU policies for combating climate change. The ETS is a system that focuses directly on the reduction of emissions and is considered to be the most innovative aspect of EU climate policy.

With more than a billion people living in extreme poverty throughout the world, eradicating poverty has recently become a prime international policy objective. The majority of the very poor around the world live in remote rural areas. In his December 12th lecture, Dr. Ruerd Ruben, a senior development economist at Wageningen University, will argue that better economic and social return on investment can be reached by specifically focusing on the development of these poor rural areas. Dr. Ruben will also argue that investment in sustainable natural resource management and infrastructures is essential for promoting rural development and hence, eradicating poverty worldwide.

The ‘People, Planet & Profit’ lecture series is scheduled for October 3, November 7 and December 12, at Speakers.

www.osiris.nu

www.sg.tudelft.nl

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