'Planet under pressure - new knowledge towards solutions'
Conference Vision
The global scientific community must deliver to society the knowledge necessary to assess the risks humanity is facing from global change. It must provide knowledge of how society can effectively mitigate dangerous changes and cope with changes we cannot manage.
Based on the latest scientific evidence, the London Planet Under Pressure conference will provide a comprehensive update of our knowledge of the Earth system and the pressure our planet is now under. The London conference will focus the scientific community’s and the wider world’s attention on climate, ecological degradation, human well-being, planetary thresholds, food security, energy, governance across scales and poverty alleviation.
The conference will discuss solutions, at all scales, to move societies on to a sustainable pathway. It will provide scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Rio +20 conference, also in 2012.
Guiding the direction for the conference is the International Council for Science’s five grand challenges for global sustainability research: observations, forecasting, thresholds, governance and economic requirements, and innovation (technological, political and societal). The conference will also support international assessment processes, for example the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the new biodiversity assessment, plus the Millennium Development Goals.
The programme will be designed to attract senior policymakers, industry leaders, NGOs, young scientists, the media, health specialists, and academics from many disciplines.
A new vision for trans-disciplinary research and broader partnerships
The London conference will act as a platform to strengthen and enlarge the global-change research community and mark a move to a new vision for global-change research. Further, the vision is for a conference that connects leading social and natural scientists with business, investors and the development agenda to create a new understanding and environment for tackling global sustainability challenges.
Solutions that cross scales
Working across scales will be a strong theme for the conference. The scientific community will stress that there must be many governance and technological solutions at all levels, from local and national, to regional and global. It will stress that while there are many threats, global change also provides many opportunities.
The event will include strong policy interaction and a dedicated policy day. Through workshops and seminars, delegates will be encouraged to discuss options and solutions to climate change, energy, food security, water, poverty and other pressing issues.
· Author registration deadline: 25 November 2011
· Early registration deadline: 20 January 2012
Researchers, students and faculties from physical, natural, health and social sciences, the humanities and engineering and technology
· Present your latest research and learn from others in the comprehensive oral and poster programmes
· Gain the latest scientific input on new technology for the development of renewable and sustainable products
· Network with investors, venture capitalists and governments looking to develop and invest in new projects
· Meet face-to-face with the experts from other disciplines and identify new areas for collaboration
· Input to the international development agenda – and notably to Rio+20
Funding
The Planet under Pressure conference organisers feel that it is critically important to have substantial involvement and input from the developing world in developing solutions toward sustainability. Therefore, in order to help ensure that there is adequate representation at the conference from the developing world, the organisers are aiming to provide financial assistance to presenters living and working in the developing world (research institutes, NGOs, community groups etc) whose participation in the conference has been accepted. In addition the hope is to also support prospective delegates from the developing world who will not be presenting in conference sessions but who will bring valuable insights and differing world views to the debates. No financial assistance is currently envisaged for those living and working outside of the developing world.
Financial assistance will be given towards travel, accommodation and registration costs. Priority will be given to those whose abstracts are accepted or who make a particularly compelling case for participation.
How to qualify for financial support:
1. Submit an abstract to the conference and then complete the financial assistance application form (link below)
OR
2. Complete the financial assistance application form (link below) and indicate how your participation will contribute to the conference and what you hope to gain.
The deadline for requesting financial assistance is 21 October 2011.
Members of the Scientific Organising Committee will review all the applications and select the successful candidates based on the importance of their contribution to the conference. Priority will be given to those whose abstracts are accepted or who make a particularly compelling case for participation. Successful applicants will be notified on the result of the selection process by early November 2011.
Please note that if your abstract is not accepted, your funding application will only be considered on the basis of the second criterion above.
Non qualifying applications will be automatically dropped from the process.