Topics 2010

This year the Summit is dedicated to the social, political and economic key elements and conditions to create a  sustainable society. We will address four central topics: Consumption and lifestyle, energy supply, education and economic development. These topics are inextricably linked with each other and with climate change.

Why do we need another summit on sustainability? Hasn’t sustainability become a mainstream? Communities are starting to think global and act local and some companies incorporate social and ecological criteria in their products. However, the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference did not reach consensus and the loss of biodiversity and international poverty rates urges the youth to take action.

There are two goals of the 2010 WSES: Firstly, the international participants will be further educated in politics, economics and civil sociology. The participants will return to their communities acting as catalysts for positive change. Applying the ideas generated during this Summit, they will implement action items and initiate projects. Secondly, the Summit will act as the cohesive voice of the next generation that will reach a broad audience. A proposal will be created and targeted towards decision-makers in politics, economics and universities. Congruent to the outcomes of the previous summits, the paper will be presented at international climate negotiations.

New multidisciplinary approaches in education and research are crucial to understand the complexity of the environmental problems and find adequate methods of resolution. University students are indispensable when it comes to initiate essential changes that combine expertise, idealism and practicality. The Summit is fusing this potential to generate precise outcomes and actions.

The full schedule is available for download here.