2017 CONFERENCE STATEMENT
The "Wicked Problem" of Climate Change: What is it doing to us and for us?
63rd Conference of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
in partnership with the Parliament of the World's Religions
June 24 - July 1, 2017, Star Island off Portsmouth, NH
Climate change is a “wicked problem” with causes and consequences in economic, ecological, ethical, and technological realms. As climate change continues to alter our planet, how can we use this monumental change as an opportunity for societal and spiritual transformation?
“Uncertainty and ambiguity emerge here as resources, because they force us to
confront those things we really want—not safety in some distant and contested
future, but justice and self-understanding now.” - Sheila Jananoff
What is the way forward? We must confront climate change as a planetary community. It affects every institution, society, public policy, culture and ecosystem into the foreseeable future. Every possible course of action intertwines with issues of international and intra-societal economic and social justice. Climate change is a multigenerational, transnational “wicked problem” with no single, simple solution.
Tasks to be Addressed:
Coming to terms with what the “wicked problem” of rapid climate change might do for us will take creativity, imagination, and complex interdisciplinary thinking of organizations like IRAS.
Conference Committee: Emily Austin [email protected] and Karl Peters [email protected], (Co-chairs), Paul Carr (Conference Champion), Tanya Avakian, Jane Bengtson, Marj Davis, Larry Greenfield Sol Katz, Ted Laurenson, Ruben Nelson, Spencer Stober, Emily Troxel, Jennifer Whitten, James van Pelt, and Barbara Whittaker-Johns.
Download Conference Statement .pdf Download 2017 Orange Book
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS: Matthew Fox, Ellen Kennedy, Solomon H. Katz, Bill Shoemaker, Mary E. Westfall, Paul H. Carr, Robert S. Pickart, Emily Austin
SPEAKER BIOS
REGISTER FOR IRAS CONFERENCE
30% discounts on registration fees are available for members of IRAS, our Partners and Sponsors. 30% discounts for room and board are outlined on the Star Island website.
FORMAT, ACTIVITIES, AND CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
ADULT PROGRAM: Each morning the conference will feature daily plenary dialogues followed by small discussion groups. Selected papers and workshops, interest groups, ad hoc meetings, informal activities and a social hour fill the afternoon. Each evening will feature novel and collaborative ways to engage one another. We explore/express what we are feeling, thinking and learning and carry our thinking forward in a collaborative-constructive way. See Annual Summer Conference.
YOUTH PROGRAM: Children and youth will meet in their age groups each morning from during IRAS theme talks. Activities include island exploration/ beach time, marine lab and island musician visits, art, field games, and conference-themed, age-appropriate activities. The afternoon Serendipity Program offers art projects on the porch and lawn games on the front lawn every day except Wednesday, when we’ll hold our annual Intergenerational Olympics. Evening activities include a bonfire, theater games, singalong and storytelling evening, art, games, and Candy Bingo.
All conference attendees will be invited to propose workshops on the themes of the conference, as well as workshops that examine the future roles of IRAS in relation to its founding ideas and the wider context of science, religions, and society in which we now live.
63rd Conference of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
in partnership with the Parliament of the World's Religions
June 24 - July 1, 2017, Star Island off Portsmouth, NH
Climate change is a “wicked problem” with causes and consequences in economic, ecological, ethical, and technological realms. As climate change continues to alter our planet, how can we use this monumental change as an opportunity for societal and spiritual transformation?
“Uncertainty and ambiguity emerge here as resources, because they force us to
confront those things we really want—not safety in some distant and contested
future, but justice and self-understanding now.” - Sheila Jananoff
What is the way forward? We must confront climate change as a planetary community. It affects every institution, society, public policy, culture and ecosystem into the foreseeable future. Every possible course of action intertwines with issues of international and intra-societal economic and social justice. Climate change is a multigenerational, transnational “wicked problem” with no single, simple solution.
Tasks to be Addressed:
- Better understand the current scientific expectations for the future of the climate and its impact on our children and on all life.
- Take stock of what we can or can’t control in terms of the consequences of human action.
- Deal with our grief, hope and desires in the midst of great losses and shifts that will occur.
- Recognize the limits and capacities of our evolutionary heritage. Think beyond our current economic and political identities into new ways of imagining and living into the future.
- Move away from anthropocentric thinking and learn to realize our human purposes as part of a finite, planetary community.
- Use the resources of guiding wisdom from the world’s religious and philosophical traditions.
- Formulate compelling narratives of creation care to enable us as persons, groups and cultures to see what needs to be done and have the courage to do it.
- Use new understandings of how we should live to bring about social and economic justice for all in a sustainable earth community.
Coming to terms with what the “wicked problem” of rapid climate change might do for us will take creativity, imagination, and complex interdisciplinary thinking of organizations like IRAS.
Conference Committee: Emily Austin [email protected] and Karl Peters [email protected], (Co-chairs), Paul Carr (Conference Champion), Tanya Avakian, Jane Bengtson, Marj Davis, Larry Greenfield Sol Katz, Ted Laurenson, Ruben Nelson, Spencer Stober, Emily Troxel, Jennifer Whitten, James van Pelt, and Barbara Whittaker-Johns.
Download Conference Statement .pdf Download 2017 Orange Book
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS: Matthew Fox, Ellen Kennedy, Solomon H. Katz, Bill Shoemaker, Mary E. Westfall, Paul H. Carr, Robert S. Pickart, Emily Austin
SPEAKER BIOS
REGISTER FOR IRAS CONFERENCE
30% discounts on registration fees are available for members of IRAS, our Partners and Sponsors. 30% discounts for room and board are outlined on the Star Island website.
FORMAT, ACTIVITIES, AND CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
ADULT PROGRAM: Each morning the conference will feature daily plenary dialogues followed by small discussion groups. Selected papers and workshops, interest groups, ad hoc meetings, informal activities and a social hour fill the afternoon. Each evening will feature novel and collaborative ways to engage one another. We explore/express what we are feeling, thinking and learning and carry our thinking forward in a collaborative-constructive way. See Annual Summer Conference.
YOUTH PROGRAM: Children and youth will meet in their age groups each morning from during IRAS theme talks. Activities include island exploration/ beach time, marine lab and island musician visits, art, field games, and conference-themed, age-appropriate activities. The afternoon Serendipity Program offers art projects on the porch and lawn games on the front lawn every day except Wednesday, when we’ll hold our annual Intergenerational Olympics. Evening activities include a bonfire, theater games, singalong and storytelling evening, art, games, and Candy Bingo.
All conference attendees will be invited to propose workshops on the themes of the conference, as well as workshops that examine the future roles of IRAS in relation to its founding ideas and the wider context of science, religions, and society in which we now live.
Copyright 2018 by The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science