The Nicholas Institute will host a day-long forum—convened in honor of its tenth anniversary—to assess how we can harness big data, cutting-edge technologies, and adaptation research to create science-based, interdisciplinary approaches attuned to the accelerating and dynamic change in the world.
8 – 8:45 a.m. - Coffee and Registration
8:45 – 9:30 a.m. - Opening Remarks
9:30 – 9:45 a.m. - Networking Break
9:45 – 11 a.m. - Shaping Environmental Policy in the Big Data Era
Big data—shorthand for the staggering volume, velocity, and variety of data creation—is reshaping how people live, work, and communicate. Harnessing data to improve environmental decision making will require tools and analytics to turn data into actionable information. This session will explore how we can better enable the sharing, parsing, and interpretation of data to lower risk, increase operational efficiency, and inform environmental policy.
9:45 – 11 a.m. - Advancing Policies and Investments to Achieve Global Sustainable Development Goals
In September, the United Nations will review progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which has renewed the global conversation about ensuring environmental sustainability while eradicating extreme hunger and poverty. The session will examine policies and technologies for making the world more productive and sustainable in its efforts to provide food, water, and power in the face of population growth and development.
11 – 11:15 a.m. - Networking Break
11:15 – 11:45 a.m. - Leadership in a Time of Rapid Change: Environmental Organizations in the U.S.
Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund
11:45 – 12:45 p.m. - Buffet Lunch and Networking
12:45 – 2 p.m. - Using Innovative Finance to Sustain the World's Fisheries
Unlocking more capital to cover the cost of addressing the world’s environmental challenges will require innovative financing solutions. This session will examine what innovative financing mechanisms could and have been used to help sustain and rebuild fisheries.
12:45 – 2 p.m. - Designing a Regulatory System that Adapts to Emerging Risks, Technologies
Innovations in science and technology are reshaping the world in which we live. This session will examine strategies for designing a flexible environmental governance system that fosters development of beneficial technologies while also evaluating and responding to risks associated with those technologies.
2 – 2:15 p.m. - Networking Break
2:15 – 2:45 p.m. - Leadership in a Time of Rapid Change: The Role of Public and Private Sector Leaders
2:45 – 3 p.m. - Networking Break
3 – 4:15 p.m. - Exploring the Future of Environmental Markets
Traditionally, economic development has depended heavily on the services provided by natural ecosystems, jeopardizing their long-term sustainability and impacting future quality of life. Markets can be used to create incentives to maintain environmental capital and sustain environmental services and benefits. This session will examine public interest in extending and developing new environmental markets in light of their recent successes and failures, the extent to which such markets are transferrable to the developing world and the potential for such markets to become an avenue for impact investing.
3 – 4:15 p.m. - Creating the Electricity Sector of the Future
The U.S. electricity sector is in the early stages of a major transition driven by rapid changes in energy markets, technology, regulation, and emerging business models. Together, these factors will fundamentally alter the production and consumption of electricity by the middle of the century. This session will examine policy strategies to ensure that the transition results in an affordable, reliable, and clean energy system.
4:15 – 4:30 p.m. - Networking Break
4:30 – 5 p.m. - Leadership in a Time of Rapid Change: Global Environmental Organizations
