Basic Sciences and Sustainability

ICTP is set to host an international workshop that will address the challenges of sustainability through the lens of basic science. From 25 to 29 July 2022, the Workshop on Quantitative Human Ecology will gather scientists in disciplines ranging from economics to climatology to foster a science-based consensus on challenges that are central to sustainability, such as rising inequality, demographic crises, migrations, biodiversity loss, and the impacts of climate change.

Co-organisers of the workshop include the Fondazione Internazionale Trieste, the Santa Fe Institute and the Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA). The workshop is co-sponsored by the US Mission in Italy, and is part of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD).

"With its active, multidisciplinary research programme and strong scientific experience in a number of related areas, ICTP closely identifies with the overall theme of sustainability proposed by the Human Ecology Workshop," said ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar, adding, "I hope that this event will be a catalyst for deeper conversations on how to apply basic sciences towards a sustainable future for all. The workshop will also show the importance of the Trieste System for science and its connections with top international research organisations such as the Santa Fe institute."

The highly multidisciplinary workshop will include the participation of international academics such as Daniel P. Schrag, director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment; Sandra Diaz, professor of ecology at the National University of Córdoba; and economist Partha Dasgupta of the University of Cambridge.

Recognising the importance of sustainability to all, workshop organisers have planned two activities targeted at the general public:

• On 25 July, immediately following the workshop's opening ceremony, a special colloquium will be held under the auspices of the IYBSSD. Titled "Quantitative Human Ecology: Untangling the Determinants of Sustainability", the event will feature talks by Partha Dasgupta and Pablo Marquet, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and The Santa Fe Institute, USA. The two will discuss how basic science can shed light on the determinants of sustainability in systems of human and non-human interacting agents. Matteo Marsili, head of ICTP's Quantitative Life Sciences section, will moderate the event, which will be livestreamed on ICTP's YouTube channel starting at 10:30.
• On 27 July, physicists Guido Sanguinetti of SISSA and Elisa Omodei of Central European University will be the protagonists of a public event about how Big Data is impacting our lives and how it could be used to achieve the UN sustainable development goals, with an introduction by Alessandro Vespignani of Northeastern University. The event (in Italian) takes place at Trieste's Sartorio Museum starting at 20:30 and is open to all.