The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm University and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) are proud to present the Gordon Goodman Memorial Lecture 2019 to be delivered on October 3, by Sverker Sörlin.
Sverker Sörlin is a Swedish historian of ideas and a professor in environmental history, working at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Sörlin was Associate Director for the Center for History of Science in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 1988–1990, and the founding director of the Swedish Institute for Studies in Education and Research, SISTER (2000–2003). 2006–2009 he chaired the Swedish committee for the International Polar Year. 1994–1998 and 2005–2009 he served on the Swedish Government’s Research Advisory Board, and he is currently a member of the Swedish Climate Policy Council.
His research areas include science history, research policy, popular history, cultural criticism, environmental humantities, innovation studies and much more. He frequently appears in Swedish media, and also writes popular science and narrative non-fiction.
Sverker has been active at prominent institutes and universities in several countries and has recently published a book on the history of the environment titled The Environment- A History of the Idea.
The event will take place at the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry.
Last date to register: September 27
Programme
14.30
Welcome and introduction by co-organisers
Dan Larhammar, President, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Astrid Söderbergh Widding, President, Stockholm University
Måns Nilsson, Executive Director, Stockholm Environment Institute
14.45
Memorial Lecture: The ‘environment’ – Unearthing the past, present and future of one of the most successful policy concepts of the twentieth century
Sverker Sörlin, Professor in environmental history at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
15.30
Coffee break
15.45
Panel discussion
Sverker Sörlin
Fiona Lambe, research fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute
Rebecka Le Moine, conservation biologist and member of parliament for the Swedish Green Party
Olle Torpman, researcher of practical philosophy, Institute for future
Anders Wijkman, Chair Climate-KIC, SEI Associate and Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Moderator: Somya Joshi, Head of Governance and Institutions Unit, Stockholm Environment Institute
16.45
Concluding remarks
Åsa Persson, Research Director, Stockholm Environment Institute
17.00
Mingle and refreshments
Abstract
Title of lecture: The ‘environment’ – Unearthing the past, present and future of one of the most successful policy concepts of the twentieth century.
This lecture will be a journey through the history of the concept ‘environment’ and the changes of its meaning. When was it first used, and in what contexts and by whom? What does the word actually refer to? How did it become so successful in science, in culture, in politics?
Sverker Sörlin will be drawing on the recent and widely acclaimed book by himself and co-authors Paul Warde, Cambridge University and Libby Robin, The Australian National University, Canberra, titled: The Environment — A History of the Idea (Johns Hopkins University Press).
It is 2019 and the word ‘environment’ is becoming a possible victim of its own success — what is not related to environment? Its important early property, to be relevant for anything and everything, is starting to weigh on it and opens the space for contenders — words such as ’sustainability’, ’planet’, or ’Anthropocene’. What is happening to the concept today and what may the future bring?
This annual memorial lecture is in honour of Gordon Goodman, founding director of the Beijer Institute at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 1977–1989 and the Stockholm Environment Institute from 1989–1991.
The event is co-organised by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Stockholm University.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences occasionally record and photograph during its events. Photographs and video footage will be processed by the Academy and submitted to third parties for processing. Photographs and videos may also be used in our communication activities to provide information about the Academy’s activities in any of the digital and/or printed channels used by the Academy. If you do not consent to this or have other questions about our processing of personal data, please call us on +46 8 673 95 00, or email kva@kva.se