Does climate mitigation trump other concerns?

Balancing mitigation actions and their impacts. Dilemmas in implementing rapid transformation of the energy system to reach the Paris targets are many. Our expert panel will present and discuss major challenges and possible conflicts between the SDG goals.

About the meeting

The Meeting was held in conjunction with the 2019 Annual national conference on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a collaboration between Academia Europaea and the UiB Program for Climate and Energy transformation. We received a broad audience of academics, people from the energy sector, NGOs and the general public. The meeting took place at University of Bergen, in the University Aula, Museplass 3, on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 from 12.15-17.00 (Day “Zero” of the SDG Conference)

The speakers are leading academics working on the climate change and mitigation areas with broad expertise in energy systems, climate action, biodiversity and ecosystems, energy transition, climate policies in Europe, USA and China and nuclear energy.

The speakers presented major challenges and possible conflicts between the SDG goals, followed by a moderated panel discussion and questions from the audience.

 

Topics

It is urgent for society to reduce CO2-emissions, and to achieve the Paris targets. The available remaining carbon budget which needs to be kept to be within the Paris targets of 1.5 or 2 degrees warming above pre-industrial levels is very limited. This calls for unprecedented and extremely rapid changes in energy production and consumption, as well as other mitigating efforts. The urgency of the energy transformation requires a major restructuring and a quest for alternatives to fossil fuel based energy.

Does climate thus trump other concerns in balancing mitigation actions and their impacts? Does this imply that all renewable energy production should be welcomed? Can renewable energy sometimes come with a too high cost with respect to biodiversity, food supply and health? Do we need nuclear energy to meet the Paris targets?

When strong mitigation policies are implemented, we experience conflicting concerns. The event will discuss such conflicting issues. How far can we go to reach the climate mitigation goals, and how can we balance concerns and impacts while working towards SDG Goal 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG Goal 2 – Zero Hunger, SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 13 – Climate Action?

The speakers are leading academics working on the climate change and mitigation areas with broad expertise in energy systems, climate action, biodiversity and ecosystems, energy transition, climate policies in Europe, USA and China and nuclear energy.

The speakers presented major challenges and possible conflicts between the SDG goals, followed by a moderated panel discussion and questions from the audience.

Speakers

Norges tekniske vitenskapsakademi (NTVA), Tekna og Academia Europaea inviterer til foredrag

Ny teknologi endrer media

Falske nyheter. Forsider styrt av algoritmer. Robotjournalister. Kunstig intelligens og stemmestyring. Ansvarlig redaktør, direktør Gard Steiro forteller i denne forelesningen hvordan VG skal møte fremtiden.

Norske redaktører bekymrer seg ikke lenger bare for fallende opplag. Nye teknologiske skift er i ferd med å endre både mediebransjen og journalistikken fullstendig. Midt i denne stormen står VG. Tabloidavisen ligger helt i front i den digitale utviklingen. Ansvarlig redaktør Gard Steiro forteller hvordan VG skal møte fremtiden.

Det ble satt av tid til påfølgende spørsmål fra salen. Geir Anton Johansen fra NTVA, og dekan fra Fakultet for ingeniør- og naturvitskap ved HVL, var ordstyrer.

Tid: Tirsdag 27. november 2018 kl. 19:00-20:30.
Sted: Universitetetsaulaen i Bergen

Arrangementet var åpent for alle interesserte. 

Ocean Roundtable Discussion

The role of BlueTech clusters in futureproofing energy, food and mobility systems

Academia Europaea Bergen Knowledge Hub co-organized the Ocean Roundtable Discussion together with the marine/maritime industry clusters in the Bergen Region. The meeting was held in Norway House in Brussels on October 16, 2018.

Date: October 16, 2018 / 10:00 – 16:00
Location : Norway House / Rue Archimède 17 / 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Programme

10:30 Welcome remarks by Oda Helen Sletnes, Ambassador of Norway to the EU

10:35 Session 1 – Setting the scene

  • Felix Leinemann, Head of Unit Blue Economy Sectors, DG MARE
  • Sigi Gruber, Head of Marine Recources Unit, DG RTD
  • Andreea Strachinescu, Head of Maritime Innovation, Marine Knowledge and Innovation, DG MARE
  • Group Discussion

11:30 Session 2 – Roundtable discussion on the role of clusters in catalysing the emerging Ocean Industries and entrepreneurship

  • Owe Hagesæther, CEO GCE Subsea and Tanja Hoel, CEO NCE Seafood
  • Moderated discussion with all roundtable participants – ‘2 per intervention
    Ocean Industries vision
    Crossovers
    The role of SMEs
    The Role of Clusters: beyond triple helix, the 5-stakeholder model

13:00 Networking lunch

14:00 Session 3 – Roundtable discussion: Ocean Education and Research

    • Research and education reps setting the context
    • Moderated discussion with all roundtable participants – ‘2 per interventio
      Research, the long-term vision
      Education and skills
      Open access, trade/offs and barriers to Growth

15:30 Summary of roundtable discussion and articulation of our common vision into a high-level statement

The Benefits of Particle Therapy in Cancer Treatment – Prof. Stephanie E. Combs

Norway is establishing particle therapy centres for cancer treatment in Oslo and Bergen. Particle therapy, in combination with molecular and digital biomarkers is revolutionizing cancer treatment. A world leading expert will present recent research and technology developements.

Professor Stephanie Combs gave a lecture on The Benefits of Particle Therapy: Individualized concepts based on biology, physics and prospective clinical trials on February 20th, 2019 in Auditorium 1, Realfagbygget.

For more information about Stephanie Combs please see: https://www.uib.no/en/matnat/124390/prof-stephanie-e-combs-benefits-particle-therapy-cancer-treatment

The lecture was organized by Academia Europaea Bergen Knowledge Hub and The Horizons Lecture Series.

The video of the lecture is available here: https://tinyurl.com/yy6txtjd

Bilde av en partikkelstrålegererator

External beam radiation therapy as the most conventional form of radiotherapy where the radiation is delivered to a particular part of the body from the outside, is a crucial component of modern oncology. Depending on the type of tumor, radiation therapy (RT) is either an essential complementary and supportive treatment before or after surgery or a clear treatment alternative to surgery. Early treatments were performed with photon radiotherapy. The photons cause damage to the cancer cell’s DNA, so the cancerous cells reproduce more slowly or die. Initially X-ray or clinical localization was used to confine the space for irradiation before a more precise photon RT with 3D-conformal planning became possible after the introduction of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The next step was the development of stereotactic RT, where the benefits of detailed imaging scans and patient immobilization developed by neurosurgery allowed a very precise targeted irradiation, mostly for tumors in the brain or spine. Further technological advances for planning radiation therapy, including intensity modulated RT have made RT even more precise. This method spares normal brain tissue and hence lowers the risk for side effects, especially for lesions that have complex shapes or are close to neighboring healthy organs.

Today, particle therapy with protons or heavier ions opens new horizons in radiation oncology. In comparison to photon RT, particle beams have specific physical and biological properties. Studies have shown that precision can be increased and the biological effect on the cancerous cells is two to three times higher. This leads to fewer side effects and enhances local control of tumors and thus survival. Clinical trials are currently underway to characterize the potential of particle beams. In Europe, the number of particle therapy centers is continuously increasing which stresses the importance of this technique for patient care and research.

These developments, in combination with molecular and digital biomarkers, have the potential to revolutionize radiation oncology and pave the way to personalized medicine.