Rethinking our Energy Future

The foreseeable energy shortage and discernible hunger for energy in emerging markets such as China and India have brought the issue of energy increasingly into the focus of public attention.

In contrast to earlier debates, a key element in the debate today is the impact of CO2 emissions and its effects on global climate. The question as to how our energy supply situation will look in the future is one that concerns every per-son on this planet: whether as scientist, entrepreneur, politician or consumer.

The course needs to be set

At the Fifth Dialogue on Science organized by the Academia Engelberg from Monday 9th until Wednesday 11th October 2006 in Engelberg (Switzerland) as part of Swiss Energy Week, around 130 personalities from the worlds of science, business, politics and society will discuss how and what we can all do to help find a solution to the energy question. In roundtables and work-shops, new approaches and visions will be formulated with the aim of helping to sensitize politicians, entrepreneurs and the general public to the need for sustainable action.

Fatih Birol and Ernst von Weizsäcker

The dialogue will be held not only on a cross-disciplinary basis but also between today’s generation and the next generation. Leading experts such as Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency Paris, Borge Brende, Norwegian parliamentarian and former Chairman UN Commission for Sustainable Development, Ernst von Weizsäcker UCSB Santa Barbara USA and many others will seek approaches to answering the question of future energy supplies together with young scientists from Youth Encounter of Sustainability (YES).

Building bridges for science

Fundamental scientific knowledge not infrequently encounters strong reservations and mistrust in the broader population. Academia Engelberg (www.academia-engelberg.ch) tries to do its part in helping to build bridges by fostering a new basis of trust through dialogue between science and the general public. To this end, leading experts from the worlds of science, business, culture, and politics, as well as the media, meet every autumn in Engelberg, Switzerland.

Academia Engelberg is concerned to ensure that this discussion is also held with people from the media.
For further information, contact: Academia Engelberg, Beatrice Suter, KommunikationsWerkstatt, Tel. +41-41-660 96 19, Fax +41-41-660 96 28, E-Mail: media@academia-engelberg.ch, www.academia-engelberg.ch