Talk Title: “Greater Than the Sum of Their Parts: Deceiving Assumptions in Analyzing Complex Human-environment Systems”
Speaker: Kaveh Madani, Head, Nexus Research Programme, United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES)
Abstract: Coupled human-environment systems are characterized by uncertainty, limited predictability, bounded rationality, indeterminate causality and evolutionary change. To determine the impact of specific policy intervention, an integrated analysis approach is needed that provides a holistic view of complex interactions within such systems. In this seminar, Kaveh Madani, the head of the Nexus Research Programme at the United Nations University, highlights some of the major challenges of modelling and managing complex human-environment systems to argue why we often fail to develop comprehensive technological and policy solutions that can solve one problem without creating new ones.
Speaker Bio: Kaveh Madani is a globally recognized environmental scientist, educator and activist, working on complex human-nature systems at the interface of science, policy and society. He is currently the head of the Nexus Research Programme at the United Nations University in Dresden, Germany (UNU-FLORES). He has previously served as the deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment and vice president of the U.N. Environment Assembly Bureau. He held different strategic roles during his public service and led Iran’s delegation in different major intergovernmental summits, including the COP23 climate change negotiations. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) and has received numerous awards and recognitions for his fundamental research contributions, teaching innovations, and outreach and humanitarian activities.
About the Series: CITRIS Research Exchange delivers fresh perspectives on information technology and society from distinguished academic, industry and civic leaders. Free and open to the public, these seminars feature leading voices on societal-scale research issues. Presentations take place on Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. PT. Have an idea for a great talk? Please feel free to suggest potential speakers for our series.
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