Sustainability@MIT – MIT’s student group for sustainability – held their 2nd annual MIT Sustainability Summit on 23 April at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center. There were over 200 students and sustainability professionals in attendance. The event was entirely student run and organized and supported through sponsorship contributions from The Alliance for Global Sustainability.

2010 Sustainability Summit

Keynotes were given by Peter Senge – a senior lecturer at MIT and founder of the Society for Organizational Learning; Kook-Hyun Moon -President of the New Paradigm Institute and former CEO of Yuhan-Kimberly; and Anne Kelly – Director of Governance Programs at Ceres. Then attendees selected from 15 different interactive panels and exercises structured around the Summit’s theme of Collaboration and Communication. These included an introduction to systems thinking, a mock climate change negotiation, and a panel discussion on ESG investing. This year’s Summit left organizers and attendees energized for the 2011 MIT Sustainability Summit. We hope to see you there!

Pictures and proceedings can be found at: http://sustainabilitysummit.mit.edu

Text by Yoshimasa Takahashi and Susanne Droescher

The AGS-UT Student Community hosted an international student workshop in Tokyo in March 2010. Our goal was to discuss and propose solutions for sustainability problems in Asia and to launch a sustainability network among Asian students. 50 students from Bhutan, China, India, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Asian countries, as well as Japan, were joined by students from the other AGS universities (ETH, MIT and Chalmers).

Our main motive was to focus on sustainability issues in Asian countries, so we focused on the theme “Growing Asian Cities: Structuring Sustainability Problems”. Asia has some of the world’s fastest growing economies, and global sustainability discussions often neglect the problems that accompany this growth.

We achieved our goals at the meeting through the group work. Each group of six students represented an Asian country and tackled an issue the group decided was important for this country. For example, groups addressed solid waste management in Malaysian cities, and the Bhutan government climate change strategy. We used methods introduced by Marc Neff from Arizona State University, who showed us interactively how to structure a problem and identify its causes and effects. This gave us a broad picture of the situation, which then allowed us to analyze possible points for intervention. This stage of identifying pros and cons of different ideas for solutions raised very interesting discussions that lasted whole nights. In a final session all groups presented their work and were given feedback from the other groups and from representatives of the AGS universities and industry. We also had welcome and closing parties and a field trip to Toyosu, Tokyo, as a case study for the urban remodeling project.

“The most difficult challenge was reaching consensus in group work, not only because group members were very diverse in nationalities and academic backgrounds but also the sustainability issues themselves were diverse, complex and ambiguous. The most memorable experience, though, was sharing each group’s ideas and solutions in the presentation session. Though it was a big challenge to discuss and reach consensus, we were able to unite and propose innovative ideas together and this gives us hope for the future. Now our network has been launched, and we look forward to cooperating and initiating sustainability events with the friends we have made.”
Yoshimasa Takahashi, AGS-UT Student Community, The University of Tokyo

“The most impressive experience for me was the intensity with which every participant was drawn into the group work. Our different backgrounds provided a large number of viewpoints onto our chosen issue, which was later displayed in the (sometimes) unconventional proposals for solutions. Besides learning about “Coal mining in the province Jiangxi in China” I learned a lot about social systems and the economic situation in the countries of the other group members, and about their concerns.”
Susanne Droescher, president of [project21] students for sustainability at ETH Zurich.

The AGS and the World Student Community for Sustainable Development sponsored students to join the COP15 in Copenhagen. These students from diverse backgrounds and countries have shared their opinions and experiences of the Climate Summit here and in the blogs of the WSC-SD and the AGS universities.

Read about their huge store of impressions and encounters, emotions swinging from inspiration to despair and frustration, impromptu encounters with delegates, experts, and indigenous people. Hoping for a FAB- a Fair, Ambitious and legally Binding – climate treaty. Organising workshops and getting together to generate momentum for the ideas of the young generation on how to achieve the low carbon society.

Student reports from the COP-15>>
Report on WSC-SD at the COP-15 – experiences>>

Read about their huge store of impressions and encounters, emotions swinging from inspiration to despair and frustration, impromptu encounters with delegates, experts, and indigenous people. Hoping for a FAB- a Fair, Ambitious and legally Binding – climate treaty. Organising workshops and getting together to generate momentum for the ideas of the young generation on how to achieve the low carbon society.

Reports from the COP15>>

AGS students at the first COP-15 week:

The University of Tokyo (Todai)

• Akira HIRAISHI, MSc student
  Akira HIRAISHI“I will keep an eye on the political significance of any “Post-Kyoto Decision” and conflicts of interests between major countries over the new framework. Also I have the aspiration to make the “IR3S joint workshop” and its student session successful.”Akira Hiraishi is a masters student of the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo. His current research is focused on the evaluation of policy through an economic approach.
• Yasuaki KAMBE, PhD student
  Yasuaki KAMBE“At the COP15, I’m interested in watching the relation between science knowledge and negotiation/discussion matters. My biggest question is how we can overcome the gaps in our scientific knowledge and negotiation/political knowledge between scientists and politicians.”Yasuaki Kambe is a PhD student of the Graduate School of Engineering, Dept. of Chemical System Engineering, at the University of Tokyo. His study is aero-chemistry, mainly the detection of air polluted species and developing detection systems.
• Takako OGIMOTO, MSc student
  
  Takako OGIMOTO“I’m now feeling very lucky to be the witness of a historical turning point of the global movement to tackle climate change. And also very eager to see how each country exerts its political influence in the negotiations.”Takako OGIMOTO is majoring in international conflict resolution process and the negotiation. She is interested in the political science of conflict resolution processes in ethnic conflict and other cases.
• Makoto TAMUGI, MSc student
  
  Makoto TAMUGI“First, I planned to research only about the topic of technology transfer. However, I realised that technology transfer could not be included within the CDM, but it was a theme involved in various aspects of the negotiations. So I am going to follow all topics about technology.”Makoto TAMUGI is a student in the Masters of the Graduate school of Frontier Sciences of The University of Tokyo. His major is International Studies.
• Fang-Ting CHENG, PhD student
  
  Fang-Ting CHENG“For me, the reason to participate in the COP15 is to witness the political determination of concerning Parties as well as to observe the process in negotiating futures agreement. What will be the key factors of making progress? I would like to hear your opinions and the purposes bring you here.”Fang-Ting CHENG comes from Taiwan and she is a PhD student of Graduate School of Law and Politics in The University of Tokyo, majoring international politics on global environmental issues.
• Marcos Makoto IKEGAME, PhD student
  
  Marcos Makoto IKEGAME“The reason I am participating in COP is that I would like to see how politics shape policy making and how policy making, in turn, spur the creation of new industries.”Marcos Makoto IKEGAME is a PhD student at The Univesrity of Tokyo. He is studying the promotion (i.e. policy making) and economic impacts of bio-energy and bio-fuels in the Department of Advanced Interdisciplinary studies of the Graduate School of Engineering.
• Takara TERANISHI, part-time student
  
  Takara TERANISHI“I will attend COP privately to focus on my research. I would like to draw the picture; what is the best scenario and mechanism for many countries for both developed and developing countries. This is a very difficult question.”Takara TERANISHI is a part-time student, who is working at JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation). She is seconded to JFC (Japan Carbon Finance) to purchase CER from the project.

Chalmers University of Technology

• Johan TORÉN, MSc student
  
  Johan TORÉN“The large scale problems facing our global community, be it climate change or the broader trials facing us as we stride for a sustainable future, cannot be solved without strong international cooperation at all levels in society. The COP15 meeting in Copenhagen presents a great platform to connect with individuals and organisations determined to work for a better tomorrow in the large and in the small.”Johan TORÉN is a MSc student in Industrial Ecology. He is combining thesis work and research at the division of Physical Resource Theory, focusing on industrial energy use and green house gas emissions in a carbon constrained world. He is also developing methodologies for biomass potential assessment as part of an EU wide initiative.
• Linus HELMING, MSc student, CSS and WSC-SD
  
  Linus HELMING“In order to meet the needs of future generations, sustain natural resources and mitigate climate change, my personal view is that all people in the society has a responsibility to take action, debate these issues and participate in the negotiations of climate change and thus COP15.”Linus HELMING has a MSc in Chemical Engineering from Chalmers and works in the Chalmers Physical Resource Theory group on an EU project on alternative fuels and alternative more efficient automotive technologies. He is an active member of Chalmers Students for Sustainability and the WSC-SD.
• Marcus HÖGBERG, PhD student, CSS and WSC-SD
  
  Marcus HÖGBERG“We are all part of the global system – which makes us sensitive to changes in our living environment on the planet. However, at the same time we are all individuals and can decide about our own consumption, way of transportation and way we are living in general.”Marcus HÖGBERG has an MSc in Chemical engineering from Chalmers and works as a process engineer at Akzo Nobel. He is an active member of Chalmers Students for Sustainability – vice chairman 2008 and advisory board member 2009.
• Guoguo LIU, MSc student at Chalmers, CSS and WSC-SD
  
  Guoguo LIU“Faced with the increasingly serious climate problem, COP15 is a great opportunity for all environment advocates to exchange ideas and network on the climate issue. I will get to know the political attitudes of different countries, but also learn more about how other organisation contribute and plan for the future. Global cooperation is the only solution.”Guoguo LIU is an active environment activist and member of WSC-SD. She has a master degree in Civil Engineering, Industrial Ecology and Management of Science and Technology. She intends to do her master thesis in Waste Technology and Management Direction at Chalmers.
• Carl Justin Kamp, PhD student at Chalmers, WSC-SD co-president
• Christopher Hedvall, research assistant at Chalmers, CSS and WSC-SD
• Rasmus Einarsson, PhD student at Chalmers, CSS and WSC-SD
• Christian Stöhr, PhD student at Chalmers
• Kristina Sahleström, architecture student at Chalmers, CSS and WSC-SD
• Susetyo Priyojati, student at Chalmers, CSS

ETH Zurich

• Markus HUBER, PhD student
  
  Markus HUBER“Climate change represents an enforced opportunity for collaboration between policy, science and economics. The tools to cope with the issues of climate change have already been derived in these fields. Let’s hope that they are being implemented in Copenhagen.”Markus HUBER studied physics at ETH Zurich and is currently writing his PhD thesis in climate physics. He co-founded the student club ETH Model United Nations and an interdisciplinary Climate Change PhD lunch to foster interdisciplinary discussions at ETH Zurich.
• Tim SCHLOENDORN, MSc student
  
  Tim SCHLOENDORN“Climate change is the greatest danger for mankind since the Cuba missile crisis. This time the critical decision will not be taken by a handful of actors, but will be in the sum of uncountable individual decentralised actions.”Tim SCHLOENDORN is currently writing his masters thesis in Environmental Sciences in the research group Environmental Policy and Economics at the ETH Institute for Environmental Decisions.

Second week of the COP-15 negotiations

ETH Zurich

• Franziska AEMISEGGER, PhD student
  
  Franziska AEMISEGGER“The climate change debate is a new opportunity of historical importance to face frighteningly old problems linked to power, equity, as well as social, economical and technical development.”Franziska AEMISEGGER has a master degree in Environmental Engineering. She is now writing her PhD in the Atmospheric Dynamics research group of the ETH Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science.
• Katja HALBRITTER, MSc student
  
  Katja HALBRITTER“Yes, we can!…. But do we do?”Katja HALBRITTER holds a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Cologne. She is currently working on her MSc thesis in Management, Technology, and Economics at the ETH Institute for Environmental Decisions.

MIT

• Kat Potter, PhD student and co-president of Sustainability@MIT
• Aaron THOM, BSc student at MIT and co-president of Sustainability@MIT
  
  Aaron THOM“I’m greatly interested in the relationship between science and policy, especially on an international scale. The negotiators will (likely) be non-technical people talking about data which they themselves did not compute. Of course, they have multiple other values to conider that the scientists did not, including social and econimic impacts of their decisions. How do they manage these various factors? Will our WSC_SD group have a different perspective or insights? What can we learn about how we can become more effective ourselves?”Aaron THOM is president of Sustainability@MIT – he helped set up the first annual MIT Sustainability Summit and many other events. He is working for his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering with minors in Economics and Political Science at MIT. His interests focus on the relationship between science and policy, with an emphasis on environmental management.

Chalmers University of Technology

• Emil LEEB-LUNDBERG, MSc student and NORESD
  
  Emil LEEB-LUNDBERG“I feel very lucky to be witness to this historical event. Personally, I am interested in seeing the application of efficient solutions to replace outdated and unsustainable methods of society.”Emil LEEB-LUNDBERG is a student in Chemical Engineering with Engineering Physics at Chalmers.
• Robert Rochowiak, Alexander Poestra, Nordic Engineers for Sustainable Development (NORESD) at Chalmers

Other students in the World Student Community for Sustainable Development

• Christopher Baan, WSC-SD Executive board member, Morgen – the Dutch national student network for SD, The Netherlands
• Sina Birkholz, WSC-SD Co-president, Augsburg, Germany
• Tamilla Khalilova, WSC-SD Executive board member, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
• Mohammed Rizwan Shamim, WSC-SD student, BRAC University, Bangladesh
• Annisa Utami, WSC-SD student, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia
• Lindsey Cray, WSC-SD student, The State University of New York
• Juan Diego Venezuela, WSC-SD member, NGO, Venezuela
• Pieter Ploeg, WSC-SD member
• Urias Goll, WSC-SD member

LINKS TO RELATED BLOGS:

• WSC-SD blog: http://cop15.wscsd.org
  The WSC-SD is a global community of students motivated to take action for sustainable development. A team from all over the world and from 6 universities blogged every day.
• ETH Klimablog (german only): http://blogs.ethz.ch/klimablog/
  Der ETH-Klimablog will die aktuelle Debatte zum Klimawandel aufnehmen und einer breiten Öffentlichkeit vermitteln. Die Blogger sind sowohl Professoren und Studenten der ETH Zurich als auch Gast-blogger aus Politik, Wirtschaft, Kultur und Gesellschaft der Schweiz.
• Chalmers and Göteborg Universities blog: http://forskarbloggcop15.wordpress.com/
• AGS-University of Tokyo students blog: http://todai-cop15.blogspot.com/

This meeting discussed different approaches to ESD from a student perspective, and how students and student communities can improve the education in sustainable development.
More information and application on the WSC-SD website.

Carl Justin Kamp (WSC-SD, AGS Chalmers) with Dr. Peter Agre, Nobel Prize Chemistry 2003

The 59th Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany was held June 28^th-July 3^rd with the focus area of chemistry. 580 graduate students from 67 countries spent the week with 23 Nobel Laureates from chemistry, physics and physiology/medicine. The schedule was packed with fascinating lectures, smaller discussion groups, cultural and social events, as well as 2 panel discussions on ‘The role and future of chemistry for renewable energy’, and ‘Global warming and sustainability’ with participants including R. Pachauri (IPCC), B. Lomborg, T. Stocker and W. Woomaw. Although the Nobel Prize is awarded to individuals at the top of seemingly narrow scientific fields, the Lindau meeting articulated that multidisciplinary and international approaches are vital in solving large-scale problems, thus motivating the need for groups such as the AGS.

The 59th Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany was held June 28^th-July 3^rd with the focus area of chemistry. 23 Nobel Laureates and 580 graduate students from 67 countries spent a week full of lectures and discussions concerning the synergies between science education, fundamental research, sustainable development and our common future.

Link to Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings

The S³ asked fascinating and timely questions that are not yet part of the mainstream debate on sustainable development: what drives countries and powers to compete for increasingly scarce resources, and what are the consequences? How does the international financial system hinder the anticipation of natural limits? What incentives other than money steer people’s behavior towards sustainability? How can open source publishing contribute to sustainable development?

Over 90 students from all over the world met in Switzerland – many of them thanks to funds raised by the organizing team from [project 21] students for sustainability of the ETH and University of Zurich – and discussed intensively with their selected experts, as well as having a good time.

More about the Student Summit for Sustainability 2009

Videos of the keynote talks, including Andrea K. Riemer, Bernard Lietaer, Colin Campbell, and Daniele Ganser, at http://www.sss2009.blip.tv/#1910009

More about CSS activities

Hillary Clinton visited UT

17 February 2009, Tokyo

When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited The University of Tokyo, she wanted to meet students who could tell her about sustainability and about the challenges of becoming a woman leader in male-dominated Japan. A student from the AGS-UT Student Community relates her experience:

“We shook hands, introduced ourselves to her one by one, and then I explained to her what I do in our AGS student community, for example I was one of the organizers of the Student Summit for Sustainability 2007. In her speech, she talked about gender equality, her alarm for the present state of world affairs, and the abduction issue with North Korea. We all were touched by her powerful performance. The most impressive part was when somebody asked, ‘How can I work as strong as you?’ She answered, ‘The most important advice is to be true to yourself, to do what you believe is important and meaningful in your own life.”

More about the AGS-UT Student Community