CET at Day Zero 2021

Contact person: Anand Bhopal, Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting (BCEPS), Department of Global Health and Primary Care, UiB

Type of event: Physical and digital event

In 2009 the Lancet Commission on Climate Change and Health described climate change as the "biggest global health threat of the 21st century". Yet, in the midst of societal efforts to rapidly decarbonize, health has been largely adrift of wider discussions. Given healthcare emissions constitute around 5% of global emissions this cannot continue.

In October 2020, the National Health Service in England became the first healthcare system in the world to commit to becoming carbon neutral. In Norway, our healthcare-related carbon emissions are similar to those in England. It is time that we got our house in order too!

In this action orientated session we invite participants to join us in exploring how to decarbonise the Norwegian healthcare system. We will also discuss healthcare-related emissions and decarbonisation in relation to healthcare systems in low- and middle-income countries. The main focus will be on exchanging ideas to build an effective campaign to decarbonise the Norwegian healthcare system and inspire others around the world to do the same.

All are welcome to join this session - we strongly believe it will be strengthened through multidisciplinary contributions.

This event is relevant for:- SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities- SDG 13: Climate Action- SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Contact person: Jesse Schrage, Early-career SDG Network, UiB

Type of event: Digital event ONLY

We would like to know who will join our session, so please sign up. Also, you need to register for Day Zero to get access to the conference platform.

From international strategy meetings to corporate long-term visions, from policy documents to lapel pins, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have permeated our everyday lives. More than 5 years after their launch, the SDGs have informed and framed academic research, but they have also been scrutinized for their relevance and purpose.

While pragmatists have welcomed the framing of the SDGs as a way to inform their research and offer tangible measures for sustainability, others view the SDGs less favourably and have criticised them for distracting us from more appropriate goals and more effective policies. Thus, the question we researchers must come to terms with is "What do the SDGs mean for us in our role as researchers?" This question is especially pertinent for early-career researchers whose explorations of the boundary between science and policy have the capacity to shape both their personal and disciplinary trajectories.

This workshop focuses on early-career researchers interested in the 2030 Agenda but is open to all. Participants are invited for a discussion and reflection in exploring what the SDGs mean in our work in knowledge production.

This event is relevant for:- SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Contact person: Siddharth Sareen, Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation, UiBType of event: Digital and physical event (Det Akademiske Kvarter)Please register here: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=9691905Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/164031265114781/

Bergen is undergoing rapid changes in its urban mobility solutions. A new phase of the light rail is in progress. Electric scooters on the street have stirred up controversy. The public bicycle scheme has been expanded. Car sharing solutions are more popular than ever, and smart charging of electric cars and bicycles is becoming the norm. The debate over toll charges continues.

How do such rapid changes in mobility impact social justice? To what extent are the interests of those in the city centre and those in the suburbs taken into account? How do technological developments shift the nature of mobility in the city for those in different income classes? Are we witnessing a low-carbon transition; if so, is it a just transition? How can it become one?

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork on this theme, the workshop will engage participants in exploring these questions. We will use interesting qualitative methods to collectively explore challenges and solutions.

Participants will be introduced to and offered a chance to join a new project funded by JPI Climate and the Research Council of Norway's Klimaforsk programme: Responsive Organising for Low Emission Societies.

This event is relevant for:- SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy- SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities- SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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This workshop takes place as part of the Bergen 2021 SDG Conference, on its so-called Day Zero. To take part you need to register for the conference itself (at no cost), here: https://possibility.eventsair.com/sdg-2021/sdg/Site/Register

Does co-production unambiguously play a role in grounding research and policy, removing the fear of the perceived intellectual elite and bridging divides? Or might it also obscure power relationships and create false legitimacy for unjust outcomes?

Co-production of knowledge is seen as having the potential to provide a space for engaging with different points of view, and for bringing academic knowledge and politics in closer dialogue. But it has also become a buzzword, with the danger that it may conceal power relations and construct legitimacy for projects that produce unjust and undemocratic outcomes.

The Center for Climate and Energy Transformation (CET) invites you to a discussion between scientists and technocrats on how we can best co-produce solutions for sustainable transformations.

We are delighted to have in the Zoom room:

•  Professor Coleen Vogel from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg,
• Smiso Bhengu, Climate Protection Scientist with the Municipality of eThekwini (Durban), and
• Dr Scott Bremer from the University of Bergen.

They will each be sharing their experiences and critical reflections from co-production practice, after which we will be facilitating a discussion with participants.

CET’s aim is to produce actionable knowledge through critical assessment of and direct participation in sustainability transformations. We need to reframe and reimagine discourses on sustainability. As social scientists, we should challenge dominant narratives and question “who is in the room?”

Contact person: Kjetil Rommetveit, Centre for the study of the sciences and humanities (SVT), UiB

Type of event: Physical and digital event

This session will be hosted by the Sustainability Education Collective (Bærekraftskollegiet), a forum for teachers, students, and researchers involved in sustainability activities at the University of Bergen. The session explores how to implement and promote sustainability as a task for universities. A number of initiatives at universities world-wide seek to develop and implement interdisciplinary, student-active sustainability education in different institutional cultures and academic structures.

We will discuss topics such as: models for implementing mutual learning arenas dedicated to sustainability; concrete experiences with such arenas; strategic and long-term considerations; institutional arrangements; conditions for interdisciplinary collaboration; and more. We will learn from successful initiatives and discuss challenges and opportunities in implementing interdisciplinary education at our respective universities.

The session will be introduced by a keynote speaker (Professor Gunilla Öberg, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities), followed up with short presentations of 5 minutes each, and rounded off by a plenary discussion. We invite participants to submit short abstracts (300 words) with proposals for short presentations.

This event is relevant for SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Be sure to check out the full program and register for Day Zero!