The lecture: The Metabolism of Planet Earth

We live in a unique time in human and Earth history, when human influence on the planet is so persuasive that it is argued we have entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. The consequences of this pervasive influence underlies the many environmental challenges we face, from climate change to depletion of marine resources and the loss and degradation of natural ecosystems.

The lecture starts at 16.15, on Monday 25th of April 2022.

In this lecture Professor Yadvinder Malhi examines human influence on the natural world through the concept of metabolism: how much energy flows through human societies compared to how much flows through the biosphere. We first look at the biological metabolism of the planet, how it is measured and how it is distributed over the Earth. He then explores how these energy flows have changed through human history and prehistory, and scenarios for how they may change over this century, where human-appropriated energy flows threaten to overwhelm the life-sustaining metabolism of the planet.

The metabolic profile of a modern industrialised country (the UK) is explored in particular detail: how much of our energy is directly consumed or embedded in products and in societal infrastructure? Malhi concludes by exploring possible pathways out of this predicament, of how to navigate a sustainable future on a human-dominated planet.

Everybody is welcome!

Refreshments will be served before the lecture, from 15.45 (requires registration). The lecture starts at 16.15, on Monday 25th of April 2022 in Egget at Studentsenteret. Find the event on Facebook.

Professor Yadvinder Malhi

Yadvinder Malhi is Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Oxford and Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery. His work focuses on the interactions between the biosphere and global change. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in many tropical countries in particular, and is founder of the Global Ecosystems Monitoring network, which conducts detailed studies of ecosystem processes and climate change in field sites ranging across Amazonia, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. More broadly he is interested in the challenge of maintaining a flourishing and sustaining biosphere under the challenges of global change, and how to deliver nature recovery at scale. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was awarded a CBE in the 2020 Queens’ Birthday Honours for his work on ecosystem science. He is a Trustee of the Natural History Museum of London and President of the British Ecological Society.

This lecture is a joint event organised by the Horizon Lecture Committee at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Darwin Day Committee at the Department of Biological Sciences, and Academia Europaea Bergen Knowledge Hub. See poster from Darwin Day in Bergen.

EASAC holds open session on Regenerative Agriculture Report at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) in Budapest, in cooperation with the AE Budapest Hub

An international webinar, Monday 25th April 2022, with Academia Europaea as co-host.

Additional information and registration at Academia Europaea Cardiff Knowledge Hub.

15:00-16:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST) and South Africa Standard Time (SAST)
14:00-15:00 West European Summer Time (WEST), UK and Ireland
09:00-10:00 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) in United States

University and academy networks of expertise play a key role at the research-policy interface, but is their role really understood, recognised and sufficiently resourced? And what is their role at times of crisis?

Science advice to policymakers has come to the fore during the Covid crisis. It is likely to remain so, given the ever-increasing complexity of the knowledge needed for dealing with 21^st-century global policy challenges.

University and academy policy engagement networks (such as UPEN in the UK, the Africa Research and Impact Network, Research Impact Canada and SAPEA in the European Union) have established themselves as a core element in the science advice ecosystem. Working across traditional organisational and disciplinary boundaries, they facilitate knowledge generation, synthesis, brokering, horizon-scanning, and much more. They do so in a way that is both nimble and responsive, while also evidence-based and non-partisan.

But is the role of such networks fully understood or acknowledged? How has their role changed over time? Where is the evidence with regard to ‘what works’, especially in relation to sharing best practice or nurturing leadership? What sorts of pressures do these networks and their members find themselves under and how do they cope? How can we make our networks even stronger?

Join our international panel of experts, who will discuss and debate the issues with the audience. Our webinar is free and open to all worldwide.

Our expert panel

• Professor Ole Petersen, Vice-President, Academia Europaea (Chair)
• Dr Oludurotimi Adetunji, Associate Dean of the College for Undergraduate Research and Inclusive Science, Brown University
• Professor Matthew Flinders, Professor of Politics and Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield and Chair, Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)
• Dr Cornel Hart, Senior Lecturer, Community Development Programme, University of the Western Cape, and Board Member of South African Higher Education Community Engagement Forum (SAHECEF)
• Dr David Phipps, Assistant Vice-President, Research Strategy & Impact (Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation) at York University and Director, Research Impact Canada
• Chris Webber, Head, Open Innovation Team, UK Government

Foredrag ved Lars Egil Helseth, professor ved Institutt for fysikk og teknologi, UiB. Arrangører: Fagrådet i Tekna Bergen avdeling i samarbeid med NTVA og Academia Europaea Bergen Knowledge Hub. Tid: 27. april kl 19.00.

Om foredraget: Ønsket om å bytte ut fossilt brennstoff med mer miljøvennlige alternativ har muliggjort en en helt ny industri for oppladbare batterier. Dette pådrivet er ytterligere forsterket av EUs forslag om forbud mot salg av bensin- og dieselbiler fra 2035. Per idag er litium-ione batterier de mest realistiske energikildene til bruk i biler og andre mobile enheter, kombinert med superkondensatorer der ekstra stor elektrisk effekt er påkrevd. I dette foredraget vil noe av den relevante teknologien beskrives, sammen med de muligheter og utfordringer som knyttes til denne utviklingen også her i Norge.

Foredraget er gratis og åpent for alle interesserte, og begynner kl. 19.00. Det blir lett servering, og av hensyn til planlegging ønsker vi derfor påmelding. 

Arrangementet finner sted på Høgskulen på Vestlandet, Kronstad, 1. etasje i M-bygget. Vær ute i god tid, da ytterdøren til bygget vil være stengt når foredraget starter.

Om foredragsholder: Lars Egil Helseth har vært ansatt som professor ved Institutt for Fysikk og Teknologi ved Universitetet i Bergen siden 2008. Han har de siste årene arbeidet med ulike typer teknologi for fornybar energi, som blant annet superkondensatorer, regnceller og solceller. Han har tidligere vært innom et europeisk prosjekt for utvikling av nanostrukturerte silisiumsanoder i litium-ione batterier (2012-2014).

Arrangører: Tekna Bergen, i samarbeid med NTVA og Academia Europaea Bergen.