This Open Space workshop aims to contribute to the priority setting in European research policy in social sciences and humanities research on transformation in the context of climate change, as basis for future pan-European research programmes in JPI CLIMATE and beyond.

The workshop brings together selected junior researchers that are active on the interface of social sciences and humanities and climate change research and who – as Future Research Leaders – are considered to shape future research agendas on transformation in a changing climate.

Objectives of the workshop are:

• to define research priorities at the interface of social sciences and the humanities and climate change research, including views of researchers working on the interface of natural sciences and social sciences and the humanities;
• to identify innovative and promising research directions, including ideas and approaches, and
• to facilitate networking and community building among the research leaders of tomorrow.

This conference will serve as a creative, innovative and inspirational gathering that catalyzes new insights on transformation processes and the implications for research, policy and practice.

Conference Aim

Climate change is considered by many to be the greatest challenge to humanity -- a “perfect storm” that will lead to unprecedented social and ecological impacts unless addressed in a comprehensive, urgent manner. Yet there is a growing recognition that traditional, “business-as-usual” approaches to mitigation and adaptation are insufficient to address the breadth, scale and complexity of challenges associated with climate change. In fact, there have been many calls for new modes of thinking about multiple interacting processes, policies, and programs, and both scientific and policy discourses increasingly emphasize the need for deliberate transformation in response to climate change. There are, however, significant research gaps on transformation that are critical to address. The “Transformation in a Changing Climate” conference aims to fill these gaps by bringing together diverse perspectives on deliberate transformation in response to climate change.

Overarching Questions

The conference will adress the following overaching questions: What do we actually mean by transformation? Do we know how to make it happen? Do we have a sufficient knowledge base to inform strategies and actions for deliberate, ethical and sustainable transformation at the rate and scale that is called for? What is the role of science in the transformation process?

Call for Papers

We are pleased to announce a call for papers to the conference "Transformation in a Changing Climate". The conference will emphasize various aspects of transformation, including the following:

• The Economics of Transformation
• The Politics of Transformation
• Technical and Infrastructural Transformation
• Urban Transformation
• Community-based Transformation
• Transformative Learning and Leadership
• Social-ecological Transformation
• Transformation of Values, Norms and Worldviews
• Transformation of Research and Policy
• Transformative Communication
• The Art of Transformation

While we are interested in papers that are directly linked to one or several of these themes, we also welcome those that cut across themes to look at the linkages between different scales and dimensions of transformation. In particular, we are interested in understanding relationships between personal, cultural and systems transformation. We seek papers that address questions such as:

• What types of transformation are considered necessary?
• What factors facilitate transformation in theory and in practice, across different systems, sectors, and domains?
• What types of capacities and competencies need to be developed to initiate and facilitate transformations that are both ethical and sustainable?
• How does science itself need to change, and how can new approaches to global change research contribute to transformation of both theory and practice?

Mit den jährlich seit 2009 stattfindenden Spiekerooger Klimagesprächen wurde
ein bundesweit bislang einmaliges Forum zur Diskussion des gesellschaftlichen
Umgangs mit dem Klimawandel etabliert. Dieser interdisziplinäre
wissenschaftliche Diskurs wird nach den Gesprächen jeweils einer breiten
unternehmerischen Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht und mit bzw. in
Unternehmen ganz konkret diskutiert.

Den mit diesen Veranstaltungen angesprochenen Expertenkreis – dazu
gehören insbesondere Vertreter aus Unternehmen, Unternehmensverbänden
und Behörden sowie Wissenschaftler – möchte wiederum exklusiv nach
Osnabrück eingeladen werden, um gemeinsam vorhandene Informationen und Positionen zum Thema auszutauschen und innovative Ansätze unternehmerischer „Nachhaltigkeit“, „Zukunftsfähigkeit“, „Resilienz“ etc., zu diskutieren.

This conference is envisioned as an agenda-setting gathering of the research community, and the first in a series on the theme of transformation. We anticipate a rapid growth in scholarship and practical concerns related to transformation in the coming years. In this context, we aim to draw together the best thinkers on the topic, to “gather the seeds” of what we know at this time, and build a joint knowledge, from which research programs, projects and assessments can build upon over time. It will serve as foundation and benchmark against which our growing knowledge on this topic can be measured. The conference will cover diverse aspects of transformation, including the following:

• The Economics of Transformation
• The Politics of Transformation
• Technical and Infrastructural Transformation
• Urban Transformation
• Community-based Transformation
• Transformative Learning and Leadership
• Social-ecological Transformation
• Transformation of Values, Norms and Worldviews
• Transformation of Research and Policy
• Transformative Communication
• The Art of Transformation

The conference will generate discussions that cut across themes to look at the linkages between different scales and dimensions of transformation, addressing questions such as:

• What types of transformation are considered necessary?
• What factors facilitate transformation in theory and in practice, across different systems, sectors, and domains?
• What types of capacities and competencies need to be developed to initiate and facilitate transformations that are both ethical and sustainable?
• How does science itself need to change, and how can new approaches to global change research contribute to transformation of both theory and practice?

Trotz aller Bemühungen zum Klimaschutz wird es auch in Karlsruhe in den kommenden Jahren Veränderungen durch den Klimawandel geben. So erwarten Klimaforscher einen merklichen Anstieg der Sommertemperaturen in der Stadt. Der Hitzesommer 2003 bleibt kein Einzelfall und wird immer häufiger auftreten. Um sich an diese Folgen des Klimawandels anzupassen, hat die Bundesregierung einen Aktionsplan verabschiedet. In diesem Rahmen veranstaltet das Umweltbundesamt (UBA) in Karlsruhe die Ideen- und Kooperationsbörse mit dem Titel Hitze in der Stadt, um freiwilliges Handeln zur Anpassung an Hitzerekorde in der Stadt anzustoßen.

Ziel der Ideen- und Kooperationsbörse ist es, Raum für einen Ideenaustausch zwischen Unternehmen, Wissenschaft, Zivilgesellschaft und engagierte Bürgerinnen und Bürgern zu schaffen. Die Kooperationsbörse soll helfen, gegenseitig Wissen auszutauschen und sich die Auswirkungen künftiger Hitzesommer bewusst zu machen. Zudem können konkrete Initiativen und Projekte zu Anpassungs- und Schutzmaßnahmen entwickelt werden.

Beispielkooperationen könnten sein: (1) Umweltamt, Deutscher Wetterdienst und Umweltvereine bieten Infoveranstaltungen für Wohnungswirtschaft und Pflegeheime zur Vorbeugung gegen Hitzewellen. (2) Eine private Initiative zum "Urban gardening" sucht Sponsoren für neue Begrünungsprojekte. (3) Akteure aus der Stadt und der Region formen ein lernendes Netzwerk zu Klimawandel, Hitzeanpassung und Wirtschaftsleben.

The London Symposium on Climate Change is a special interest meeting of London Symposia, an organization devoted to scholarly research, writing and discourse. This interdisciplinary conference is an opportunity for scientists and policy makers from the different disciplines affected by climate change to meet and discuss the issues.

This interdisciplinary conference seeks to bring to the table academics from the realms of engineering, health, law, trade, agriculture, nutrition, political science, philosophy, education and the physical and chemical sciences to present papers and engage in discourse relevant to global warming and its effects on human welfare and progress.

You are invited to present a paper on an aspect of research, or you may wish to attend as an observer. If you wish to present a paper you will be requested to submit a brief abstract for review by the Programme Committee. Papers presented will be subsequently peer reviewed by external readers for possible inclusion in Symposium books or as sponsored journal articles.

The NCCARF Climate Adaptation 2013 knowledge+partnerships conference will be the nexus between the research community and the users of climate change adaptation information in Australia. Building on the success of the NCCARF-CSIRO Climate Adaptation in Action 2012 Conference, the successful delivery of $27 million in adaptation research and the building of formal research networks and informal adaptation partnerships, this will be Australia’s pre-eminent event focusing solely on climate change adaptation for 2013.

The 4th Water Horizon Conference 2013 will be based around the White Paper Research Field 1 "New Challenges Emerging from Global and Climate Change: Food and Water, mega-Urbanisation, Risk and Vulnerability" and Research Field 6 "Water Scarcity: New Perspectives for a Circum-Mediterranean Research Initiative". You are invited to send in your ideas on new research approaches to be discussed in an “Open Space Workshop”. These Open Space Workshops may serve as a stepping stone to develop project proposals to be funded through national or European funding programs, and be further developed into so-called “Thematic Clusters” of the Water Science Alliance.

If you are interested in organizing an Open Space Workshop at the 4th WRHC or you have ideas that you would like to discuss in a Workshop, please send a short abstract (1/2 page) or contact Elisabeth Krüger (wafo@ufz.de) for further information.

About Energy & Meteorology
The growing body of knowledge and experience in weather and climate risk management in the energy industry has spurred a rapidly growing research interest at the nexus between weather, climate and energy. Although this increased attention has been stimulated by a renewed and fervent interest in renewable energy sources, weather and climate information is also critical to managing the energy supply from other energy sectors (e.g. offshore oil operations) as well as understanding and estimating energy demand. Until recently, such applied research was discussed in specialised sessions during conferences organised by industry-specific organisations related to wind energy (e.g. American Wind Energy Association), solar energy (e.g. SolarPaces), meteorology (e.g. European Meteorological Society).
To take advantage of the substantial overlap between these energy activities and their use of weather and climate information, first the well-received Workshop “Weather risk management for the energy industry”
was held in Italy in October 2009. Successively the highly successful International Conference Energy & Meteorology (ICEM) 2011 was convened in Queensland, Australia. The objective was to provide a dedicated forum where scientists, engineers, economists, policy makers, and other specialists and practitioners involved in research or implementation activities at the intersection between weather, climate and energy could discuss recent research findings and emerging practices ranging from operational activities to long-term investment planning and to policy making. Such discussions were framed within the context of all energy sector uses, including climate change mitigation and weather/climate risk management practices.

The Event
Energy & Meteorology 2013 will be an international platform with excellent networking opportunities, as well as a source of the state-of-the-art in the science, policy, planning and operations in Energy & Meteorology. This unique event will bring together meteorologist and climatologist researchers
and service providers, energy specialists such as regulators, planning institutes, financial and insurance services, utilities, T&D operators (i.e. both policy makers and engineers) working in any energy sector (renewables, power, oil and gas, etc) with the goal to:

• ŸŸExpose research findings relevant for operational activities, long-term investment planning and policy making in the energy industry

• ŸŸAdvance ways to manage weather and climate risk by the energy industry, especially in the face of climate variability and change

• ŸŸEnhance coordination between experts in weather & climate research and the energy industry to leverage experience and resources

• ŸŸExplore the possibility to establish an international network for the exchange of information between the weather & climate community and the energy industry

Registration till 26 March 2013

This conference will bring together experts from practice, policy and science across Europe. The programme is interdisciplinary and includes key note presentations from Jacqueline McGlade, outgoing director of the European Environment Agency, Hartmut Grassl, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Chris Thomas, University of York, Katrin Böhning-Gaese, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Micheal O’Briain, DG Environment, European Commission, and others.

We will highlight and debate the importance of adapting to climate change in conservation from an ecological, policy and economic perspective, and showcase successful conservation partnerships across Europe. Discussions at the conference will lead to recommendations for climate change-adapted nature conservation in Europe.

Excellent networking opportunities include a free evening reception and a conference dinner.