RISE 2019 Conference

Leaders' Armchair Discussion: Challenges and Opportunities Facing Higher Education and Research Institutions in Addressing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters

 

Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM, November 19

Location: Ballroom - Campus Center

Unprecedented storms, record level flooding, uncontrollable wild fires, and extreme heat (and cold), are increasingly common place in our everyday lives.  Today’s higher education leaders have a unique opportunity to bring about transformative change in addressing these global challenges, while at the same time, strengthening resilience in our local communities.  Confronting our changing climate is a responsibility of growing importance across academia as climate related disasters continue to escalate.  Our university and college leaders nationwide oversee institutions that are well resourced with intellectual capital, knowledge creation capacity, and state-of-the-art research facilities immersed in missions that both better society and safeguard and protect our communities.  These leaders also face operational limitations and critical resource and policy decisions that add an additional level of complexity to the decision-making process.  This presents a particular challenge for colleges and universities as they look for optimal ways to build a culture of resilience and engage this societal responsibility.  Through education and training, research and development, and public-private partnership, higher education leaders are charting new pathways to discover, innovate, teach, serve, and inspire a new era of community resilience and global sustainability.  This Armchair Discussion will explore the challenges and opportunities before our nation’s universities and colleges to bring to scale the next generation of leaders and climate adaptation solutions that bolster resilience through research, innovation and the creation of new knowledge.