ICOSSE 2011 pre-workshop: Engineering response to climate change - adaptation, mitigation and sustainability

Evidence for climate change has been widely investigated by the scientific community, and the projected impacts are expected to become a major influence on the world’s economy and societal structures within a few decades.

In addressing how to reduce the undesirable consequences of climate change, debates over adaptation vs. mitigation approaches have ensued, especially among climate change scientists and public policy makers.The interrelation between these different avenues is regarded as being complex, but very few comprehensive discussions have been held that include engineering analysis of the considerable technological challenges.

This NSF workshop will focus on the integration of mitigation and adaptation approaches and will emphasize the centrality of engineering in developing a sustainable technological “roadmap” for climate change. Engineering research and development must clearly be enhanced to ensure that the key scientific discoveries, technological advances, and systems-level approaches are available to reduce future vulnerability to climate change.

This NSF-sponsored workshop (with support from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy) will address the critical engineering issues related to climate change, specifically focusing on U.S. challenges and responses but within a global framework.

An interdisciplinary group of engineers, climate-change scientists, eco-system biologists, and public policy makers will be invited to address adaptation, mitigation, and the broader context of sustainability. The pre-workshop will be held at the ICOSSE 11 meeting to determine the program, speakers, and reporting mechanism for the full workshop. The full workshop will be held in March 2011.