ACG participated for the 2nd year at the Interdisciplinary School for Environmental Crisis organized by the ARISTEiA-Institute for the Advancement of Research & Education in Arts, Sciences & Technology, U.S., in Edipsos, Northern Euboea, December 16 – 22. The School aimed to educate the new generation of scientists in following an interdisciplinary approach to resolving issues that are related to the current multidimensional environmental crisis. It hosted more than 50 lecturers and students, undergraduate and postgraduate, from 40 university departments in Greece, Cyprus, USA, Spain, Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Great Britain.
The School started with the Policy Conference on Environmental Crisis: Health – Economy – Sustainability – Culture that took place 16-17 December 2023, and the keynote speech on ‘Venus, Mars, and Titan: the past and future of the Earth’ by Dr. Athena Coustenis, Director of research, French National Center for Scientific Research, at LESIA, Paris Observatory, Meudon. The Policy Conference was organized around 6 panel discussions. On December 17, 2023 Dr. Stella Apostolaki, Assistant Professor and Executive Director of the Center of Excellence in Sustainability (CoES), ACG participated in the panel discussion ‘Thirst for Change: Solutions for a Water-Secure Future’, with Prof. Despo Fatta-Kassinos, University of Cyprus and Prof. Georgia Destouni, Stockholm University, Sweden. Other panel discussions were: Identifying human health risk factors and resolving them with green chemistry solutions; Preparing Health Care Systems for combined Environmental and Mental Health Crisis; Sustainable use of biomass for energy, chemicals and polymers, chaired by Prof. Stratos Tavoulareas, George Washington University, USA and Board member of the Center of Excellence in Sustainability, ACG; Effects of climate risk and environmental disasters on household finances; Discussion on the Policy Conference outcomes.
Euboea is selected as the host location for ISEC based on an effort to support the region on the environmental, economic and social issues that result from the devastating fires that the island has experienced. The ARISTEiA Institute, which undertook the academic and organizational part of the Interdisciplinary School and the associated Policy Conference, will continue to organize the ISEC in northern Euboea in order to gradually highlight the region as a global destination for the organization of scientific events related to environmental issues.
