Events

KLI Colloquia are informal, public talks that are followed by extensive dissussions. Speakers are KLI fellows or visiting researchers who are interested in presenting their work to an interdisciplinary audience and discussing it in a wider research context. We offer three types of talks:

1. Current Research Talks. KLI fellows or visiting researchers present and discuss their most recent research with the KLI fellows and the Vienna scientific community.

2. Future Research Talks. Visiting researchers present and discuss future projects and ideas togehter with the KLI fellows and the Vienna scientific community.

3. Professional Developmental Talks. Experts about research grants and applications at the Austrian and European levels present career opportunities and strategies to late-PhD and post-doctoral researchers.

  • The presentation language is English.
  • If you are interested in presenting your current or future work at the KLI, please contact the Scientific Director or the Executive Manager.

Event Details

Brian Fath
KLI Colloquia
Foundations for Sustainability
Brian FATH (Towson University, Maryland & IIASA, Laxenburg)
2021-07-01 15:00 - 2021-07-01 17:00
Colloquium
Organized by KLI
Register in advance for this meeting:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 
 
 
Topic description / abstract: 
This presentation reviews key concepts in sustainability and asks deep questions about why there are so many symptoms of environmental crises present in the world today (climate disruption, mass species extinctions, nitrogen cycle disruption, ocean acidification, crises with food, energy, and water, and many more).  These symptoms relate to the prevailing approach, in which we use reductionist mental models and treat living and environmental systems as if they are machines.  However, contrary to machines, ecological systems show much resilience and capacity to self-organize, regenerate, and increase their organization and complexity over time.  We believe that achieving a sustainable world will require a shift in the way we approach life and life sciences.  The good news is that such a shift is possible now, without the need of waiting for new technologies, and is limited only by our willingness. 
 

Biographical note:
Brian D. Fath is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Towson University (Maryland, USA) teaching courses on Ecosystem Ecology, Environmental Science, and Human Ecology.  He is also a Senior Research Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Laxenburg, Austria) and since 2011 the Scientific Coordinator of IIASA’ s Young Scientists Summer Program.  He has published over 200 research papers, reports, and book chapters on environmental systems modeling, specifically in the areas of network analysis, urban metabolism, and sustainability. He co-authored the books A New Ecology: Systems Perspective (2020), Foundations for Sustainability: A Coherent Framework of Life–Environment Relations (2019), and Flourishing within Limits to Growth: Following Nature’s Way (2015). Dr. Fath is also co-Editor-in-Chief for Current Research in Environmental Sustainability and past Editor in Chief of Ecological Modelling (2009 – 2020). He was the 2016 recipient of the Prigogine Medal for outstanding work in systems ecology and twice a Fulbright Distinguished Chair (Parthenope University, Naples, Italy, in 2012 and Masaryk University, Czech Republic, in 2019).