17 November 2008

Contribute to the Essence climate project

Some news that might stop some grumbling about climate policies (though I am not holding my breath):

ESSENCE is the world’s first global climate collective intelligence event — designed to bring together scientists, industrialists, campaigners and policy makers, and the emerging set of web-based sensemaking tools, to pool and deepen our understanding of the issues and options facing the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. The event is due to start online in January 2009, culminating in a conference at the UK National e-Science Institute in Edinburgh, in April 2009.

From the website: "The aim [of the ESSENCE project] is to develop a comprehensive, distilled, visual map of the issues, evidence, arguments and options facing the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, that will be available for all to explore and enrich across the web. The project is founded on principles of openness, transparency, and discovery; with no preconceptions about the conclusions that will emerge from the event. If you are scientist, industrialist, campaigner, policy maker, tool maker — or someone with other ideas and resources to contribute — and are interested in learning more about and participating in ESSENCE, please get in touch."

Even if the associated critics, vested-interests, anti-science people, oil barons, conspiracy theorists, and assorted willfully ignorant types choose to ignore this invitation, at least they won't be able to say they weren't consulted, or that scientists and climate policy professionals don't want to hear from them. On second thoughts, they might - "there's none so blind as those that just like to sit back and criticize", to paraphrase. 

[Thanks to Simon Buckingham Shum for the information.]

17 Nov 2008 18:45:00 | Science

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