Let’s discuss what change really requires!
Where is the sense of urgency?
Academia should live up to its responsibility to society and convey urgency. What often happens instead is that academic institutions compare themselves with other institutions that do even less, rather than with the physical and ecological reality we live in — a typical mechanism of delay.
We are still in a climate emergency. Shouldn’t we turn academic conferences into emergency briefings? Shouldn’t we organize ourselves to face this unbearable situation together?
Too many words vs. too little action. Disruptions of speeches are ways of drawing attention to issues that are urgent and concern us all. It’s like ringing an alarm bell.
The Free University is hosting an international conference on Sustainability in Higher Education. Keynotes and workshops reflect on the implementation of sustainability in teaching, governance, research and communication. A sign in the good direction!
Or is it really?
Right after the president of the FU Berlin opened the conference, an alarm bell rang, and two conference participants came to the podium holding a banner with the words “Act Now!”. While Jun.- Prof. Matthias Grotkopp was explaining how conferences like this one are by far not enough and scientists should engage more decidedly to pressure governments to declare a climate emergency, fellow scientists from Scientist Rebellion pasted posters (listed below) on the conference hall’s walls.