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The Digital Anthropocene: the Need for a European Way

03 July 2019, 5:30 pm–7:30 pm

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Register for our next event, The Digital Anthropocene: the Need for a European Way delivered by Maja Göpel.

Event Information

Open to

All

Availability

Yes

Organiser

UCL ISR

Location

G01
Central House
14 Upper Woburn Place
London
WC1H 0NN

‘Digitalization’ is often portrayed as a deep disruption facing our societies to which we must adapt. In its report ‘Towards Our Common Digital Future’ the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) opposes this interpretation, stating that digitalization is created and pursued by humans with ideas, interests and investments and thus should be geared to serve public goals. Sustainable development captures a range of such goals and many of them could be much more quickly achieved if new digital possibilities where developed and applied with that intent. Without such intentionality, however, current digitalization trends tend to exacerbate unsustainable growth patterns that breach planetary boundaries and social contracts in and between societies and challenge core values of privacy, democracy or even the dignity of being human itself. The goal, so the report states?, needs to be a decided political and public agenda to align technological disruption potentials with sustainability transformation challenges - an agenda that Europe would have to play a leading role in.

This lecture will be followed by a networking reception.

For accessibility information please follow this link: https://www.accessable.co.uk/venues/central-house
 
About the speaker
The German Advisory Council on Global Change works on the science-policy-society interface. As Secretary General, Maja Göpel divides her time between management, public speaking, media work and pioneer engagement, as well as continued research on system transformations for sustainable development. Her personal focus is new prosperity models, with an emphasis on the role of paradigm shifts as strategic leverage points, summarized in her book The Great Mindshift (Springer 2016). Maja Göpel is a scientivist who combines theory with practice. She formerly headed the Berlin Office of the Wuppertal Institut and helped start up and run the World Future Council, its Future Policy Award and the “Future Justice” programme with EU and UN campaigns. She holds a PhD in political economy, a diploma in media/communication and is a professor at Leuphana University. As a lead figure in the Scientists4Future initiative, a member of the Club of Rome, of the Balaton Group, and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, she thrives on bridging the gap between agendas and world-views. She serves on several Advisory Councils and is the mother of two fantastic daughters.