Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability

June 4 - 5, 2015

Past

Agenda

About

The most recent meeting of the Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability was held on June 4-5, 2015 in Washington, DC. As a first event of a year-long initiative, the June 4 Roundtable meeting hosted a session that provided an overview of the state of the science on sustainability indicators and metrics in the context of climate change and infrastructure vulnerability. The purpose of the session was to assess what indicators and metrics have been found to be the most useful for promoting sustainability as well as identify knowledge gaps related to developing indicators that integrate across the ecological, social, and economic sciences. During the meeting, the Roundtable heard presentations on examples of select sustainability indicators and metrics that incorporate various disciplines and sectors and that are being used to inform policy and action related to sustainability practice and research. A published summary of the event was issued in October 2015.

The day was capped by a dinner speech from Patricia Beneke, Director and Regional Representative of the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for North America, describing the United Nation’s sustainable development goals and post-2015 agenda including the role of science and technology.

The second day featured presentations addressing issues related to sustainability and climate change adaptation for infrastructure. Sustainability is a becoming a key consideration as the public and private sectors engage in climate change adaptation planning efforts, particularly given the impact of climate, weather, and extreme events on the engineering and design of built and natural environments. The sheer increase in the number and scope of national and international sustainable engineering activities as part of climate change adaptation planning is further evidence of this increased focus. However, a more strategic discussion on how sustainability can and is being integrated into climate change adaptation planning for infrastructure is needed. To begin this discussion, the presenters reviewed examples of public and private sector efforts related to climate change adaptation in select infrastructure sectors and discussed approaches for how to move this topic forward.

For the session on NRC updates, Roundtable members reviewed and provided suggestions on current and planned STS program activities. An update on the recent NRC report from the Ocean Studies Board and Water Science and Technology Board, Reducing Coastal Risks on the East and Gulf Coasts (2014), was also provided. Roundtable members raised suggestions for future Roundtable topics and activities.

Contact

Contact us

Sustainability@nas.edu

Location

National Academy of Sciences Building

2101 Constitution Ave NW

Washington DC 20418, USA

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability

Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability