Programme SDG Conference Bergen 2022: Day 1 and 2
This was the programme at the fifth SDG Conference Bergen – 9-11 February 2022.
Main content
Opening of digital conference platform from 09:00 both days
Moderator: Associate Professor Sofie Høgestøl, University of Oslo
DAY 1: THURSDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2022
WELCOME AND FORMAL OPENING (10:15-10:30)
- Dr. Margareth Hagen, Rector, University of Bergen
- Ms. Tuva Todnem Lund, President, National Union of Students in Norway
SESSION 1: URGENCIES (10:30-12:00)
Abstract
Climate change can be discussed differently across countries, cultures and disciplines, but there is one aspect that unites everyone – we don’t have much time to meet the targets of the 2030 Agenda. Urgency is clearly expressed through the lens of the natural sciences and the risk of abrupt and irreversible changes in climate and ecosystems. However, the awareness of such risks may generate not only a sense of urgency, but also a despair. What actions do we take? On which premises? The perceived urgency may indeed be the starting point of fast cultural transformations that may counteract the dangerous tipping points in natural systems. In this session we will explore the multiple aspects that define the sense of urgencies and the role of the individual in societal transformations.
Programme and participants
10:30-10:40 “Why urgency?”
- Mr. Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Climate and the Environment, Government of Norway
10:40-10:50 “Status report”
- Dr. Kikki Kleiven, Director of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research
10:50-11:05 “Positive tipping points to avoid climate tipping points”
- Dr. Tim Lenton, Professor, Director of Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter
11:05-11:20 “Taking the Urgency seriously: You matter more than you think”
- Dr. Karen O’Brien, Professor, Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo
11:20-11:30 “Can Media play a meaningful role in supporting societal transformation?”
- Mr. James Honeyborne, Creative Director of Freeborne Media
11:30-12:00 Discussion
- Mr. Xavier Erbai Matsutaro, National Climate Change Coordinator, Republic of Palau
- Dr. Karen O’Brien, Professor, Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo
- Dr. Tim Lenton, Professor, Director of Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter
Sessions organisers and resource persons
- Dr. Dorothy Dankel, Senior Researcher SINTEF Ocean; Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Bergen
- Dr. Dag O. Hessen, Professor, University of Oslo
- Ms. Emilie Flønes, Student, University of Bergen
Lunch break (12:00-12:45)
An opportunity to catch up with other conference participants, explore the SDG conference exhibiton or visit the special PhD/Postdoc poster session.
PhD/Postdoc posters and videopresentations (12:45-13:15)
Explore digital posters made by PhDs and postdoctoral researchers presenting their research related to the conference theme.
SESSION 2: PRACTICES (13:15-14:30)
Abstract
In this session speakers will explore the contestation of knowledge and its implications for environmental sustainability. Three themes are highlighted: Defending the environment through knowledge, indigenous knowledge in practice, and the politics of knowledge. The panel highlights particular cases that exemplify this and highlight the political nature of particular ways of knowing, or ontology. These cases include the knowledge practices of indigenous reindeer herders, scientists and citizen groups where knowledge is contested from courtrooms to violent conflicts alike.
Programme and participants
13:15-13:30 “Defending the environment through knowledge”
- Dr. Phillippe Le Billon, Professor, Department of Geography, The University of British Columbia
13:30-13:40 Film: "Vind og Rein"
Ms. Hanna Johre, Photojournalist
13:40-13:55 “The knowledge of sustainability and the sustainability of knowledge”
- Mr. Anders Oskal, Association of World Reindeer Herders and International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry
13:55-14:10 “Epistemological injustices in the global South”
- Dr. Maria Paula Meneses, Principal researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra.
14:10-14:30 Discussion
- Dr. Phillippe Le Billon, Professor, Department of Geography, The University of British Columbia
- Mr. Anders Oskal, Association of World Reindeer Herders and International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry
- Dr. Maria Paula Meneses, Principal researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra
Sessions organisers and resource persons
- Dr. Camilla Brattland, Associate Professor, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway
- Dr. John Andrew McNeish, Professor, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
Break / mingling opportunity (14:30-14:45)
SESSION 3: FUTURES (14:45-16:15)
“Imagining Sustainability and Development Otherwise - Artistic Provocations of Utopian and Dystopian Futures”
Abstract
In this session we want to explore ways of knowing the future through the lens of popular culture media and art. In our take on the subject, we see the SDG framework as a particular form of utopia, carrying a specific history and way of framing the sustainability field. We want to challenge and contrast this outlook through demonstrating and discussing various popular cultural narratives of our future existence spanning from film, TV series and video games. What can we learn from this journey into artistic utopian and dystopian futures and how may they influence our way of knowing our current society and the challenges we are facing?
Programme and participants
14:45-14:55 "Science & Stories: Netflix Sustainability Journey"
Dr. Emma Stewart, Netflix Sustainability Officer
14:55-15:10 “Climate fiction, Dystopias, and Human Futures”
- Dr. Julia Leyda, Professor of Film Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Dr. Kathleen Loock, Professor of American Studies and Media Studies at Leibniz University Hannover
15:10-15:25 “Fictional perspectives on climate revolutionary children, crypto mining, and more”
- Mr.Trygve Luktvasslimo, Film Director
15:25-15:40 “Video games – playing with the future – and then what?”
- Dr. Pawel Frelik, Professor, American Studies Center, University of Warsaw
15:40-15:55 “The sun doesn´t shine on TV – any hope for a unifying narrative?”
- Mr. Gjermund Stenberg Eriksen, Screenwriter
15:55-16:15 Discussion
- Dr. Julia Leyda, Professor of Film Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Dr. Kathleen Loock, Professor of American Studies and Media Studies, Leibniz University Hannover
- Mr.Trygve Luktvasslimo, Film Director
- Dr. Pawel Frelik, Professor, American Studies Center, University of Warsaw
- Mr. Gjermund Stenberg Eriksen, Showrunner/Writer
18:00-20:45 Screening of the documentary "Solutions"
Screening of the 2021 documentary “Solutions” by Pernille Rose Grønkjær (Denmark), followed by an interview discussing the role of science and film in finding solutions for a sustainable future between the film’s director Pernille Rose Grønkjær and student Emilie Flønes from the University of Bergen.
More information on the film in English (IMDB) and in Norwegian (BIFF).
Sessions organisers and resource persons
- Dr. Stig A. Larssæther, Coordinator, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
- Dr. John Andrew McNeish, Professor, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
DAY 2: FRIDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2022
SESSION 4: WAYS OF KNOWING (09:30-11:00)
Abstract
The challenges and existential threats that underlie the sustainable development goals demand action. What kind of action? Which ways of knowing should guide it? If the goals, targets, and indicators of Agenda 2030 are designed within the framework of science, is this framework sufficient? What is the role of universities in answering the challenge of sustainable development goals through education and research? This session focuses on how research and higher education should meet sustainability challenges in the 2030 agenda and beyond.
Programme and participants
09:30-09:55 Keynote 1: “Ways of knowing”
- Dr. Andy Stirling, Professor of Science and Technology Policy, University of Sussex
09:55-10:20 Keynote 2: “Integrating ways of knowing”
- Dr. Gabriele Bammer, Professor, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University
10:20-11:00 Discussion panel
- Ms. Hannah Johansson, Master student in sustainability at University of Bergen
- Ms. Anna S. Blome, Master student in sustainability at University of Bergen
- Ms. Vanya Bisht, PhD Student, School for Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS), Arizona State University
- Mr. Bjørn Kjærand Haugland, CEO, Skift
- Dr. Andy Stirling, Professor of Science and Technology Policy, University of Sussex
- Dr. Gabriele Bammer, Professor, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University
Session organiser and resource person
- Dr. Rasmus T. Slaattelid, head of the Programme Committee for SDG Conference Bergen 2022
Break / mingling opportunity (11:00-11:15)
SESSION 5: JUSTICE AND EQUITY (11:15-12:30)
“Justice and Equity: Diversity and the human wealth in modes of knowing”
This session was also simultaneously translated to Spanish
Abstract
While diversity in knowledge is commonly acknowledged, interventions in and conversations about the 2030 Agenda too often treat this wealth of knowing as mere ‘local perspectives’. By many critical scholars, such an instrumentalization of non-Western or non-scientific modes of knowledge as ‘local’ has been seen as comprising cognitive injustices reflecting patterns of colonial and imperial conquest and domination.
Sustainable human development is faced with uncertainties of enormous proportions stemming from intensified planetary pressures, as well as the widening of the existing fault lines heightening social and economic inequalities. A vital easing of such pressures calls for transformational change based on recognizing the diversity of knowledge and its worth for survival and adaptation to a rapidly changing environment.
This panel discussion starts from recognizing both the right and worth of assuming differentiated perspectives on knowledge. We do so, however, not by making rigid distinctions between different modes of knowing but by creating a forum allowing participants to voice their visions of knowledge and its importance for sustainability. We ask:
- Which perspectives are eclipsed by the current format of policy and intervention work on sustainability?
- How can we bridge the epistemic differences to form new alliances between forms of knowledge?
- How can strengthened knowledge help in strengthening the achievement of the 2030 Agenda?
Programme and participants
11:15-11:25 “From Local Answers to Global Ways of Knowing”
- Dr. Godwin R. Murunga, Executive Secretary, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)
11:25-11:50 Panellists
- “Pluriversity and Diversity: knowledge as wealth”: Dr. Luis Fernando Sarango Macas, Rector, Pluriversidad Amawtay Wasi, Ecuador
- “Empowering the South to generate new forms of knowledge”: Ms. Andrea Ordóñez, Director, Southern Voice
- Mr. Aparna Basnyat, SDG 16 Research and Policy Advisor, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre
- “Facts informing policy – use of knowledge in development cooperation”: Mr. Bård Vegar Solhjell, Director General, Norad
11:50-12:00 Comments by student satellites
- PhD Students in Intercultural Education at Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense (URACCAN), Nicaragua
- Master Students at University of Nottingham, Malaysia
12:00-12:30 Discussion
- Dr. Godwin R. Murunga, Executive Secretary, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)
- Dr. Luis Fernando Sarango Macas, Rector, Pluriversidad Amawtay Wasi, Ecuador
- Ms. Andrea Ordóñez, Director, Southern Voice
- Mr. Arvinn Gadgil, Director, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre
- Mr. Bård Vegar Solhjell, Director General, Norad
Session organisers and resource persons
- Jeanette da Silva, Norad: Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
- Aseem Andrews, UNDP Oslo Governance Center (OGC)
- Bjørn Bertelsen, Global Research Programme on Inequality (GRIP) University of Bergen
Lunch break (12:30-13:30)
An opportunity to catch up with other conference participants, explore the SDG conference exhibiton or visit the special PhD/Postdoc poster session.
FINAL PANEL (13:30-14:30)
Abstract
The Bergen SDG conference has explored various ways of knowing that may help build a more robust knowledge base on which to ground decisions for sustainable action. Are universities equipped to engage with all ways of knowing in fruitful and responsible ways? If not, what changes are needed? Are universities capable of teaching the knowledge, competencies and skills that students need to handle the challenges of sustainable development? To what extent has the conference elucidated these questions, and what questions have been left unanswered?
Programme and participants
Ms. Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Minister of International Development, Government of Norway (video)
Dr. Dag O. Hessen, Professor, University of Oslo
Ms. Tuva Todnem Lund, President, National Union of Students in Norway
Mr. Bjørn Kjærand Haugland, CEO, Skift
Dr. Josè Frantz, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation, University of the Western Cape
Closing remarks (14:30-14:45)
- Closing remarks by Dr. Rasmus T. Slaattelid, Leader of the Programme Committee for the SDG Conference Bergen 2022 and Head of Department Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities and Vice-rector for Research and International relations at the University of Bergen, Dr. Benedicte Carlsen.
