Climate change is a European reality. Ece Temelkuran is a prominent Turkish journalist, author, and political commentator on climate change and its impact on societies around the world. In her writings and speeches, Temelkuran emphasizes the urgent need for global action to address this existential threat to humanity. She will be discussing the dilemma of climate democracy with writer Eva Rovers and Clare Farrell, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion.
Europe has set ambitious climate targets, including reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 relative to 1990 levels. In any event, the question remains whether these targets will be met in time to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
While some propose new institutional forms of public consultation to circumvent political inactivity, others believe it is necessary to act more quickly. During this programme, the following question will be examined: can we save the planet without breaking the political system?
Programme setup
Loes Damhof will guide the audience through an interactive thought experiment. Based on the principles of Futures Literacy – a capability developed by UNESCO – the audience and panellist will explore multiple futures and identify their assumptions on democracy and agency.
Reframed based on those assumptions, they are invited to view the debate through a different lens. What does agency mean, when do we question our assumptions? This quick democratic flex is followed by Ece Temelkuran‘s keynote address, plus a panel discussion with Eva Rovers and Clare Farell.
About the speakers
Ece Temelkuran is a prominent Turkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for her critical perspective on the politics of Turkey and the wider Middle East region. Temelkuran has been an active commentator on climate change and its impact on societies around the world. In her writings and speeches, she emphasizes the urgent need for global action to address this existential threat to humanity.
Eva Rovers is a Dutch writer and cultural historian. She is also the co-founder of Bureau Burgerberaad. In her most recent book ‘Nu is het aan ons’ – Oproep tot echte democratie” (“Now it’s up to us. Call for real democracy”), she passionately argues for not leaving politics exclusively to politicians. The multifaceted problems of the 21st century require a multifaceted approach, and citizen assemblies are ideal for that.
Clare Farrell is an active citizen, devoting her creativity, her energy, and occasionally her personal liberty, to fight against climate collapse and the wider environmental crisis. As one of the cofounders of Extinction Rebellion her work to date has included coordinating the creative team that delivered the name, identity, and messaging that the movement set out with in 2018, co-editing the bestselling book, This is Not a Drill, and now works with the UK media team and acts as a spokesperson.
Loes Damhof was elected as Lecturer of the Year of all higher education in The Netherlands in 2016, and decided to use the Comenius Grant to further advance the skill of Futures Literacy. In short terms, training Futures Literacy invites us to use different conceptions and ideas about the future as lenses for interpreting, understanding and seeing anew our world and ourselves in it in the present. In 2018, Loes received the UNESCO Chair on Futures Literacy in Higher Education at Hanze University of Applied Sciences.
Loes Damhof
In addition to her research and teaching practices, Loes consults and trains staff of global organizations such as FutureWomenX, UNESCO, UNFCCC, ClimateKIC, Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies and Oxfam. Over the years, Loes and her team have set the golden standard for training and teaching Futures Literacy. Currently she is building The Emergence Academy; new school for new activism, that fosters a new attitude towards complexity, uncertainty applied to wide range of societal domains.
Speakers
Forum on European Culture:
Simon Schama: What History Teaches Us About Pandemics
CANCELLED Eline Arbo & Natalie Haynes on European Tragedy
