Ideafest: Climate change, water and governance—challenges and opportunities in our backyard, and for our Earth

Date: March 6th, 2018

On March 6, 2018, the University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies (CFGS) hosted a panel discussion titled “Climate Change, Water and Governance: Challenges and Opportunities in our Backyard, and for our Earth” as part of the 2018 Ideafest symposium. Panelists were each presented with a specific question relating to the current climate change discussion and were encouraged to look beyond the science at the challenges and opportunities presented by a changing climate.

Panelists:
(0:00 – 5:55)
Introduction by Dr. Oliver Schmidtke (Director, CFGS)

(5:56 – 28:36)
Dr. Ged McLean (Associate Director, Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions) addresses the question, “Wildfires, flogs and extreme weather events have plagued our globe this year, is this our new normal?”

(28:37 – 48:26)
Dr. Edward (Ted) Parsons (Associate Fellow, CFGS; Faculty Co-Directs, Emmet Institute on Climate Change and the Environment) talks about the global response to climate change and what it means for the future climate trends we will face, directly commenting on how the Paris agreements could limit the risks we are facing.

(48:26 – 1:02:15)
Dr. Tom Gleeson (Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria) discusses how one of the most important aspects of dealing with climate change is related to building resilience and adaptation in ecological systems, particularly within the global hydrological cycle and answers the question, “What is the current condition of the global hydrological cycle?”

(1:02:16 – 1:18:11)
Rosie Simms (Project Manager and Researcher, POLIS Water Sustainability Project) looks at how the complex global changes in climate and hydrology manifest at the local level and addresses how we can make decisions about our water locally given the new realities of escalating water issues and increased uncertainty.

(1:18:12 – 1:37:08)
Dr. Anita Girvan (Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Victoria) looks at how we can use alternative stories and knowledge systems as a foundational response to climate change to transform world views.

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Ideafest is the University of Victoria’s annual week-long festival of research, art and innovation. All events are free and open to the public.