The International Year of Global Understanding Newsletter #5/2016

Dear colleagues,

Many of this year’s events have demonstrated the irreplaceable necessity for a better understanding of the global condition humanity is facing or, in other words, a better global understanding. There are a growing number of people who fear globalization, and around the world there are political forces that are profiting from this fear. We need to take these fears seriously, and we should help to overcome them by creating a better understanding of the new conditions people find themselves living with.

Keeping this in mind, at the IYGU we have been working hard to create a better Global Understanding. We would like to share many exciting developments with you. Keep reading to go over the most important events, updates, and developments for the IYGU!

Best wishes,

Benno Werlen, IYGU Executive Director

Spotlight on Asia!

Japan

An International Symposium will be held at the Hiroshima University on 28th of November, “University Education for Global Understanding”. Increasing concern in onsite knowledge in university education and its possibility for local and global understanding will be discussed. It will be held at the Higashi-Hiroshima Campus, Hiroshima University, with a keynote by Prof. Benno Werlen and afternoon presentations from the University Education Programs in Japan. Click here for the program and the program website
Taoyaka

n the 30th of November, a lecture by Prof. Werlen will be held at the at Kyoto University. The lecture is titled "Global Understanding for Global Sustainability" and will deal with the IYGU and its program. Keep an eye on the RAC in Hiroshima for details!

On the 3 December, the Science Forum of the Science Council of Japan will host Promotion of Grass-Root Activities towards Realization of Sustainable Society - An IYGU Initiative -
Organized by Science Council of Japan, sponsored by the Japan Geoscience Union, Japan Organization of Geographical Sciences and the RAC in Hiroshima

Science Council of Japan is the representative organization of Japanese scientist community ranging over all fields of sciences subsuming humanities, social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. Click here to see Japanese program.

India

11th International Innovation Day

City Montessori School, Lucknow, India, the world’s largest Montessori school with more than 51,000 students, is celebrating their 11^th International day with a wide variety of activities for students aimed at awakening & nurturing the spirit of innovation. Students will submit work that is in line with the IYGU’s main goals.

“Global Understanding for a Better World - A Celebration of the International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU 2016)”

From December 26-27, a two day national seminar will be held on Global Understanding, at the Srijani Auditorium, City Centre, Durgapur. It will focus on global landscape and it will be a thought-provoking to listen to optical experts over two days of interactive exchanges. This conference will through new light and provide tangible and implementable solutions to guide policy makers toward enhancing global security.

This is a national celebration of achievements of the well-being of humankind with a strong emphasis on energy, education, communications, health, climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, migration etc with the involvement of young people. This is an effort to bridge the gap between the industrial houses and academic institutes & R&D organizations.

Taiwan

The 10th Taiwan Geopark Conference was held in Penghu from 7th to 9th October. The head of our Taiwan RAC Wen-Cheng Wang presented the IYGU at the conference

Our RAC for Taiwan at Taipei is in the process of establishing an agreement with the publishing house Book Republic for a marketable and popular-science book about the IYGU program. The RAC will also develop IYGU 365 days online, where everyday one person will give an account of the local-global impact of her/his everyday life. They will be published every year for the next 10 years.

Cooperation with Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR)

Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) is a decade-long global, transdisciplinary research programme created to address the major challenges posed by natural and other hazards. The complexity of the task is such that it requires the full integration of research expertise from the natural, socio-economic, health and engineering sciences. It also needs policy-making, coupled with an understanding of the role of communication and public and political responses to reduce the risk.

IRDR are organising the Regional Innovation Forum - Asia (RIF-Asia). If you are interested in attending the RIF-Asia, register here.

Galway Science and Technology Festival

In Galway the 2016 Science and Technology Festival will run from November 14 to 20. It will explore and celebrate the theme Science Rising in this the International Year of Global Understanding, exploring how the local affects the global.

Galway will play host to a staggering 35,000 primary and secondary school students from across the city and county, as they packed out 180 free events at Ireland’s biggest Science & Technology Festival.

The Royal Dutch Geography Society's (KNAG)
Teachers Day

The Royal Dutch Geography Society (KNAG) held their Teachers Day on the 11th of November. 888 geography teachers and more than 100 others gathered in Den Bosch to participate in and attend geography education workshops as part of the VIVA program.

Tell Your Story Competition goes live!
Find out more here!

More and more students are registering for the IYGU Tell Your Story competition! Students have until the Dec 31, 2016 to submit. So far we have more than 100 registrations and received official submissions from more than 30 countries across the globe! Make sure you don't miss the cut off date, click here to find out more. The competition has received impressive institutional support from across the globe, including the International Council of Social Sciences (ISSC); International Council of the Human Sciences (CIPSH); Future Earth; Future Earth Germany; Integrated Research for Disaster Reduction (IRDR); Sensor and System: Making sense of Global Change (USA); Living Geography (Germany); Centre for Geographic Analysis/Harvard University (USA); GIS Lounge (USA); Home of Geography (Italy); Kansas State University (USA, School on the Cloud (UK); EU Global Learning Programme; Asian Surveying and Mapping; ESRI Germany, India, USA and UK.

The Story Map Competition will also be promoted at selected GIS Day events on the 16th November. In addition to being disseminated by all RACs and IYGU associates, including the Society of South African Geographers. The call has also reached more than 5000 registered anthropologists working with the World Council of Anthropological Associations and the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences.

The Official Stamp of the IYGU from the Portuguese Postal Office

New Scientific and Outreach Panel Members

We are excited to be able to welcome Prof. Dr. Thomas Reuter to the IYGU Scientific Panel. Prof. Thomas Reuter is a past President / Chair of the Australian Anthropological Association (2002-2005) and the World Council of Anthropological Associations (2008-2012). He is currently Senior Vice-President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, a member of the executive of the International Social Science Council, a member of the board of Future Earth (Asia) and an expert advisor to the IPBES and IPCC. Research in Indonesia and beyond has focused on indigenous people, social movements, religion, political elites, ecology, food security and globalisation.

We are excited to be able to welcome Professor Rajib Shaw to the IYGU Scientific Panel. A Japanese national of Indian origin, Professor Rajib Shaw is the Executive Director of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk. He is also the Senior Fellow of Institute of Global Environmental Strategies, Japan, and the Chairperson of SEEDS Asia. His expertise includes community-based disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, urban risk management, and disaster and environmental education. Prof. Shaw has published more than 45 books and over 300 academic papers and book chapters.

The IYGU is excited to welcome Kersten Karl Barth as a new member of the Outreach Panel. Kersten is the Chair of the Commission on Environment and Energy of the International Chamber of Commerce. He is an experienced General Manager and Executive with international and intercultural expertise. During his 24 years in industry, Kersten has held various positions for Bilfinger and Siemens across the company's portfolio and geographical reach, ranging from hydropower in Latin America to industrial energy efficiency in Europe and field service for power plants worldwide. During his time as Sustainability Director, Siemens was awarded three times in a row the most sustainable industrial company by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

We warmly welcome to Prof. Michel Lussault to the IYGU Outreach panel. A french national, he is professor at the École normale supérieure de Lyon and is urban geography specialist, working on actors, performances, speeches and the production of urban space. Michel Lussault was the Third Vice-President of the Conference of University Presidents (CPU) from 2006 to 2008 and president of the de l'agence de mutualisation des universités (AMUE) 2005 in 2008. He has authored nine scientific works (written and directed or co-directed) and more than 80 articles in edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals.

IYGU and the Arts

Click here to see the update for the IYGU, the Conseil International de la Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines, UNESCO-MOST & Mémoire de l’Avenir Call to Action. Help us unite artists and projects around the world in order to demonstrate the involvement and the contribution of the arts in society.

In the upcoming weeks the website will be up and running, and people will be able to view the platform where all work will be displayed. Keep an eye on ARTSANDSOCIETY-IYGU.org for further information

Our congratulations also go out to our Global Centre for the Arts, coordinator Margalit Berriet and Mémoire de l'Avenir, who have been shortlisted for the prestigious Global Pluralism Award

Publications

Two of the three IYGU Open Access Springer books Eating, Drinking, Surviving (Peter Jackson, Farhana Sultana and Walter Spiess) and Working, Housing: Urbanizing (Allen Scott, Peter Taylor and Jennifer Robinson) can be downloaded as open access books or purchased as a soft cover printed version.

‘The Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics’ has published an article on the IYGU by June Kaminski.
The Year of Global Understanding: How Informatics Fits, (Vol.11, No. 1)

A multilingual lexicon on sustainability and Global Understanding keywords will be produced and edited by Luiz Oosterbeek and Benno Werlen (coordinator) in cooperation with APHELEIA. A large part of the problems related to establishing common strategies for sustainability is derived from different understandings of similar words, which actually have different meanings in other cultures (including the words “sustainability” or “human rights”).

RAC Activities

Italy

The Italian RAC in Geona was involved in a lab within the program of Festival della Scienza. It is a lab addressed to kids 8-13 entitled "Codice-Segni. Un percorso di andata e ritorno" (that is "Code-Signs. A roundtrip path"), until 6 November in Genoa. Kids were guided to develop an app or a videogame building on bit and bytes like playing with Lego bricks. It is an educational activity within the theme communicating/networking//INTERACTING.

Milan, Italy November 25: The Italian RAC will host a conference entitled "Metakoinè." The conference will address the issues of communication and mediation as a fundamental and indispensable tools for Global Understanding.

“Florence 1966-2016: Resilience of Art Cities to Natural Catastrophes: The Role of Academies"

On 12 October, IGU Vice President R. B. Singh spoke about "Disaster risk reduction in heritage and cultural cities of India: role of science-policy-community interface" at the conference, which ranfrom 11-13 October in Rome.

IYGU and the City of the Future, Lueneburg 2030+ and Lünefood

IYGU und die Zukunsftstadt Lüneburg 2030+ und Lünefood
(IYGU and the City of the Future, Lueneburg 2030+ and Lünefood)
This project is the result of a competition in which 750 Leuphana Universität students participated, supported by 200 local practitioners. 25 visions for Lueneburg’s future were developed: the main focus being sustainable innovations in the areas of mobility, demographic development and resource-conserving energy generation. The framework was designed through a local interpretation of the Sustainable Development goals and the IYGU. The project “Vision Lünefood”– food for the city and global sustainability – is in line with the Springer Brief ‘Eating, Drinking: Surviving’ by Peter Jackson et al.

Center for Global Sustainability and Cultural Transformation (CGSC)
The IYGU Regional Action Center for Germany at Luenburg is coordinating and establishing activities with the Center for Global Sustainability and Cultural Transformation (CGSC), in cooperation with Arizona State University

Santa Maria, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil

In Santa Maria, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil from the 16-18 November, Poder, Cultura, Fronteiras. Congressa International da Historia (Power, Culture, Boundaries. International Congress of History) will be held. Discussions about power, culture and borders in their most diverse scopes and levels of manifestations and concerns, the objective is to provide the academic-scientific community and the interested public with a new space of dissemination, problematization, creation, Update, dialogue and meetings will take place. For more information click here

International South American Humanities Conference

Under the auspices of CIPSH (the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences) and UNESCO, the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) hosted the International South American Humanities Conference in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, from 4th to 7th October 2016..

Chile

On 21st October 2016 the international seminar Territory, interdisciplina y sociedad was held at the University of Chile with the Chilean RAC being involved in the event organisation.

Upcoming events

Galway, Ireland November 14 – 27 : the Science and Technology Festival will be held in Galway with the theme Science Rising, and it is partly attributed International Year of Global Understanding, as they will explore how the local affects the global.

Santa Maria, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil November 16-18: Poder, Cultura, Fronteiras. Congressa International da Historia (Power, Culture, Boundaries. International Congress of History) will be held. Discussions about power, culture and borders in their most diverse scopes and levels of manifestations and concerns, the objective is to provide the academic-scientific community and the interested public with a new space of dissemination, problematization, creation , Update, dialogue and meeting.

Taipei, Taiwan November 21-24: The First IASS KLASICA International Case Studies Symposium. The Taiwan KLASICA symposium is the first in a series of events intended to advance understanding of and stimulate action on collective behavior change (CBC) toward just and equitable sustainable futures. In this symposium, the focus will be on cases of island and isolated communities in Asia seeking paths to sustainable futures.

Hiroshima, Japan November 28: International Symposium for IYGU titled “University Education for Global Understanding”. The symposium intends to discuss increasing concern in onsite knowledge in university education and its possibility for local and global understanding. The symposium will be held at the Higashi-Hiroshima Campus, Hiroshima University, and Prof. Dr. Benno Werlen will deliver the keynote speech.

Hiroshima, Japan November 29: Business meeting for IYGU RAC Japan

Kyoto, Japan November 30: Lecture at Kyoto University “Global understanding for global sustainability”

Tokyo, Japan December 3: The Science Council of Japan (SCJ) organizes the Symposium "Promotion of grassroot activities towards realization of sustainable society: an IYGU initiative". For more information click here. English version of the program could be found here.

Bangkok, Thailand December 6-7: Regional Innovation Forum-Asia (RIF-Asia): RIF-Asia is a creative forum for fostering multi-sectoral partnerships to “solve the unsolved” problems that are hindering disaster risk reduction (DRR) and humanitarian efforts in the Asia region. RIF will bring together local practitioners and thought leaders from countries across the region to identify and develop solutions to challenges from the field and show-case some of the region’s key innovation practices. Register your interest to attend RIF-Asia here.

Bern, Switzerland December 15: Prof. Werlen will present 'Mutually Assured Diversity in the International Year of Understanding' at semester long forum run by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE )

Leipzig, Germany December 13, 2017: Lecture Series University of Leipzig on Refugees – Migration – Integration. Sophie Hinger, Osnabrück will present Asyl? Das ist ja ein ganz aktuelles Thema.« Erfahrungs- und Reisebericht über ein Promotionsprojekt (Asylum? This is a very topical issue. "Report on the experiences and travels of a promotion project)

Leipzig, Germany January 13, 2017: Lecture Series University of Leipzig on Refugees – Migration – Integration Prof. Dr. Felicitias Hillmann, Berlin, will present Der Beitrag der Migration zur Regenerierung von Städten (The contribution of migration to the regeneration of cities)

Jena, Germany January 23-27, 2017: Symposium from German Nature conservation federation (NABU) in Jena titled “Energie aus Wind, Sonne und Pflanzen” (Energy from wind, sun and plants) will feature a presentation from Prof. Benno Werlen, titled "Wir machen alle Weltpolitik – Jeder Kann Einfluss nehmen" (We make all world politics - everyone can help influence)

Boston, USA April 5-9, 2017: the Association of American Geographers will have their AAG Annual Meeting and two IYGU related sessions are in development.

Liège, Belgium August 6-12, 2017: World Humanities Conference with the motto "Challenges and Responsibilities for a Planet in Transition" organised by UNESCO, CIPSH, and LIEGETOGETHER.

Ongoing Lecture Series

Nuremberg-Erlangen, Germany October (2016) - January (2017): The Fränkische Geographische Gesellschaft (Franconian Geographical Society) will be hosting lectures that focus on Global Understanding during the winter semester 2016/17.

Bern, Switzerland September (2016) - January (2017): The lecture series 'Global Understanding – Wir leben in EINER Welt', will be held by the 'Geographische Gesellschaft Bern. More informations here.

Basel, Switzerland September (2016) - March (2017): The lecture series Globales Verstehen als Conditio Humana, will be held by the Geographische - Etnologische Gesellschaft Basel. More informations here.

St. Gallen, Switzerland October (2016) - December (2016): The lecture series 'Jahr der Geographie - Brücken bauen zwischen globalem Denken und lokalem Handeln', will be held by the Ostschweizerische Geographische Gesellschaft. More informations here.

Zürich, Switzerland October (2016) - January (2017): The lecture series 'Brücken bauen zwischen globalem Denken und lokalem Handeln', will be held by the Geographisch-Ethnographische Gesellschaft Zürich. More informations here.

Past events

Québec, Canada September 21- 23: International Symposium Baie-Saint-Paul, inspirer le monde! (Baie-Saint Paul, inspire the world!) The Symposium brought together scientific advances, the major schools of thought on sustainable development, best practices and citizen concerns. The key thematic component of sustainable development issues for municipalities and cities will be discussed.

Athens, Greece September 22 – 24 The Integrated Development of Mountainous and Geographically Isolated Regions. Members of Gr-RAC team participate in the Conference by shortly presenting its goals, as well as their work on “Participatory Management of Cultural Resources as a Pillar for Local Development: The Case of the Kissamos Province-Crete”, aiming at diffusing the experience gained by the use of participatory approaches in cultural management as a good practice for their sustainable exploitation and their contribution to local development

Zurich, Switzerland October 19: Brücken bauen zwischen globalem Denken und lokalem Handeln' (Building Bridges between Global Thinking and Local Actions).Prof. Martin Coy presented ‘Im Griff der Globalisierung - Agrobusiness und Regionalentwicklung in Brasilien’ (In Globalisation’s grip – Agrobusiness and Regional Development in Brazil)

Nuremberg-Erlangen, Germany October 24: An International Scientific Year – Global Understanding. The lecture series was opened by Benno Werlen, who gave a lecture titled Die Idee des Wissenschaftsjahres ‚Global Understanding’ (The Idea of a Global Scientific Year, Global Understanding)

Swiss Alps, Switzerland November 1: Lecture Program – Global Understanding – Wir leben in EINER Welt (Global Understanding, we live in ONE World). Students from the GIUB taking part in the 2016 field course went on an excursion to UNESCO World Natural Heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch

Zurich, Switzerland October 19: Brücken bauen zwischen globalem Denken und lokalem Handeln' (Building Bridges between Global Thinking and Local Actions). Tobias Francke presented Friedensvermittlung in Isreal/Palästina – Erfarungsbericht eines Menchenrechtsbeobachters im Westjordanland (Report of human rights observers in West Jordan)

Frankfurt, Germany November 3: Night of Science – The public were invited to visit the Uni Campus Riedberg to see it in a very different light, during the night. The 2016 Night of Science celebrated the IYGU.

Bern, Switzerland September 22: Development and the Environment Forum. Stephen Siebert und Jill Belsky presented ‘Anthropogenic Disturbance and Its Role in Protected Areas’ as part of a lecture series on Cultural Landscapes and Sustainable Development - Mutually Assured Diversity for Sustainable Development

Taiwan November 6: Embracing Taitung - 2016 Geological Carnival supports the promotion of Taiwan's geological knowledge. The event will also play host to an IYGU booth.

Aschaffenburg, Germany 31 October – 11 November There was IYGU Book Exhibition at the University of Aschaffenburg. Books that are related to the IYGU thematic content were part of an exhibition conducted in order to celebrate the IYGU and disseminate the IYGU’s core themes.

Den Bosch, The Netherlands 11 November: The Royal Dutch Geography Society (KNAG) held their Teachers Day on the 11th of November. 888 geography teachers and more than 100 others gathered to participate in IYGU and geography education workshop as part of the VIVA program.

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The International Year of Global Understanding 2016 · Löbdergraben 32 · c/o Department of Geography · Jena 07743 · Germany