Cornell hosts Hong Kong sustainability meeting April 6-7

Cornell’s wide-ranging, interdisciplinary expertise in global sustainability issues will be front and center when the university hosts a conference about sustainability research, community engagement and opportunities for collaboration in Asia, April 6-7 in Hong Kong.

“Sustainability in Asia: Partnerships for Research and Implementation” – organized by Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future and the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies – will bring together international scholars, scientists, business practitioners and policy influencers from the United States and Asia to advance sustainable practices and solutions throughout the world. The Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs provided financial support.

Conference registration deadline is March 27. There will be a reception and dinner on April 6, and the registration fee for April 6-7 is $160; and the fee to attend April 7 only is $130. Fees include meals and refreshment breaks.

“We are holding the sustainability conference in Hong Kong in honor of the late Cornell President Elizabeth Garrett, who carried the vision for an expanded Cornell global presence, beginning with renewed innovative collaborations in China. She saw the necessity for the university to focus its strengths on critical global problems as part of its leadership in the world,” said Laura Spitz, vice provost for international affairs. “Societies today are interconnected in complex ways – business, science and academia are global activities. Developing sustainable solutions requires comprehensive approaches that derive best from interdisciplinary thinking. That is why international partnerships are foundational in our teaching and research activities.”

David M. Lodge, the Francis J. DiSalvo Director of the David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, will give the initial keynote address, “Global Sustainability Progress, Challenges and Opportunities.”

Ronnie Coffman, the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor and director of International Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will provide the second keynote, “Agricultural Engagement in Asia and Lessons for Successful Partnerships.”

Hirokazu Miyazaki, director of the Einaudi Center and the John S. Knight Professor of International Studies, will give the third keynote lecture, “Developing New Forms of Communication and Collaboration.”

A panel discussion, “Sustainable Energy Systems in Asia and Beyond,” will examine anthropogenic climate change and the cost of finding sustainable energy sources. The panel features Miyazaki; Lance Collins, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering; Jeff MacCorkle, managing director of China’s Pacific Rim Resources; Supree Srisamran, senior analyst in the Economic Intelligence Center at Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank; and Satsuki Takahashi, professor of sustainability studies at Tokyo’s Hosei University.

“One Health” – a concept on how people, animals and the environment are intrinsically connected – will feature panelists Daryl Nydam, Cornell’s director of Quality Milk Production Services and professor of veterinary studies; Mike Van Amburgh, professor of animal science; Nancy Wells, professor of design and environmental analysis; Dirk Pfeiffer, professor of One Health at City University of Hong Kong; and Charles Shao, CEO of Wondermilk China.

“Rural-Urban Transitions to Sustainable Settlement Systems” will examine Asia’s economic growth through discussion focused on challenges and solutions facing individuals and societies in the transition from rural to urban spaces. The panelists are Kieran Donaghy, professor of city and regional planning; Robin McNeal, director of Cornell’s East Asia Program and professor of Asian studies; Neema Kudva, director of Cornell’s International Studies in Planning program and professor of city and regional planning; Jeremy Wallace, professor of government; Pratim Roy, co-founder of the Keystone Foundation, India; and Zhilin Liu, professor in the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, China.

In addition to Lodge and Collins, the closing panel will bring together Provost Michael Kotlikoff; Daniel Huttenlocher, founding dean and vice provost, Cornell Tech; and J. Gregory Morrisett, dean of the Faculty of Computing and Information Science.

This article is written by Blaine Friedlander and was published in the Cornell Chronicle on March 16, 2017.