[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
to untangle how nature works what I’m
interested in my research is the
complexity of sustainability what does
that mean let’s start with
sustainability you as representatives of
the Generation Y are among the most
sustainability aware people this planet
has ever seen
so this topic doesn’t need an extensive
introduction you know that we only have
this one planet and in case we want
future generations to experience the
same quality of life as we do we need to
change our lifestyles the global
population currently consumes 1.7 times
the resources the earth is able to
reproduce within the year with a rising
trend if we want future generations to
not have to pay back for our overuse
today we need to act now I’m sure you’re
not only very much aware of that fact
you’re probably most willing to even
contribute your share
you might recycle your plastic your
bottles maybe even your clothes you
might take the bike to work and you’re
probably willing to invest the
occasional extra euro in case it really
makes a difference but you might also
know situations like the one when you’ve
been to a public bathroom you just
washed your hands you turn around and
you face a choice between an electric
hand dryer and the paper towel dispenser
and you stand there being confused you
can
waste a little bit of energy or
sacrifice a tree in the forest and you
resort to the convenient wipe on the
trousers yes
sustainability is complex but that does
by no means imply that you have to
freeze like a rabbit in the headlights
and leave others to stare sustainable
development the complexity of the topic
actually provides a great opportunity in
general and for you in particular to see
a positive change to understand why that
is the case we need to look a bit more
into detail into the topic of complexity
a simple yet quite insightful example of
a complex system is a flock of birds
what you see is a beautiful choreography
for a dance in the air the performers a
couple of thousand birds who don’t have
a choreographer without any steering
mind any verbal communication or any
training they manage to never stop
flying
– neither crash into each other or the
tower and – just as a by-product display
this beautiful swarm dynamics for us to
enjoy the key to their success lies in
their complex behavior and complex does
my no means mean complicated complexity
is actually often quite simplistic to
construct a flock of birds all you need
is a couple of birds we call them
multiple agents you teach them free
dynamic interaction rules the first one
don’t crash into your neighbor the
second one fly in the average direction
of your neighbors and the third if in
doubt steer towards the center of the
flock rather than leaving the flock and
with only these three rules
the swarm dynamics we’ve just seen
emerge and as this doesn’t need any
choreographer we call this a
self-organizing process so multiple
agents dynamic interactions and
self-organizing processes these are the
key ingredients of a complex system now
what does that have to do with
sustainability sustainable development
is based on the long-term persistence of
our planet
including all its inhabitants and while
human beings are certainly a little more
eccentric than the average bird life in
its holistic sense can be understood as
one complex system seven and a half
million people certainly qualify as
multiple agents we talk to each other we
meet we gather we haggled we bargain we
trade we love we hate we sleep
with each other and we influence our
lives in a multitude of ways our
interactions trigger self-organizing
processes we form partnerships families
or circle of friends we organize
ourselves in initiatives or companies
and we even create political and legal
frameworks that we write down the
fundamentals of how we want to live
together and if this wasn’t complex
enough the human system is even embedded
in the natural world which provides
energy food and resources so life is one
big complex system decisions can trigger
chain reactions and have wide-ranging
effects so it is obviously not
straightforward
if the choice between an electric hand
dryer or the paper towel dispenser what
kind of impact it has on the global
energy balance the deforestation in the
rainforest the overall consumption of
hand lotion and the overall trajectory
of the socio ecological system obviously
the socio ecological system is more
complex than a flock of birds
nevertheless both exhibit the key
characteristics of complex systems and
there is actually a lot to learn from
studying how a flock of birds navigate
certain challenges imagine you’re a bird
you are happily flying with your flock
and you as a group have decided to
pursue a little more sustainable
lifestyle not all of you are quite sure
where this is heading but you’re very
committed you’re the little orange bird
and you actually have found a way to
live more sustainably which is
referenced by the orange dot what do you
do you turn around what happens
nothing at first remember one of the
three interaction rules was fly in the
average direction of your neighbors
simulation studies have shown that it
actually only takes a small fraction of
a flock of birds to change to see the
whole swarm in another direction so once
your neighbor realizes the new direction
– you’re there the whole swarm is
heading where you want to go now what
does that imply in case you know the
right direction do what is right there
is actually a sustainability example
where this worked remarkably well and
this is the case of the hole in the
ozone layer the ozone layer surrounds
the earth and protects it from UV
radiation which can cause severe sunburn
and skin cancer in the ABS it has been
detected that chlorofluorocarbons which
have been used widely in refrigerators
for example can transform into radicals
and attack the ozone layer and from the
efforts of dedicated individuals over
concerted lobbying of NGOs like
Greenpeace only 15 years later
governments banned the use of
chlorofluorocarbons worldwide it will
still take a couple of decades until the
whole will have free grown fully but is
already visibly going back and all of
this only because a couple of
individuals knew what was the right
thing to do
talked about it and state the direction
of the flock so changing direction of
the flock is possible through individual
behavioural change or through external
regulations like the eventual CFC men
but sometimes you might face a situation
where you have a couple of choices and
don’t quite know what is right this is a
situation that might occur when you go
grocery shopping think about the
situation you want to get a package of
milk and you want to make a sustainable
choice and you end up in front of the
milk shelf and now you can choose
between the green package and the
package that says Eco on the cover and
the package just has a cap happy cow on
the cover and a package from the farm
just outside your city and the package
with additional vitamins and the package
which is carbon neutral e produced
the package which simply cost three
times as much as the others and you just
don’t know what’s the way out demand
transparency in the case of groceries
this has actually started to take the
right direction there is a multitude of
labels out there certifying different
sustainability criteria you can download
apps on your smartphone and scan the
barcode of your product to find out how
it has been produced and if it fills
fulfills different sustainability
criteria nevertheless getting reliable
information about the sustainability
background of your products remains
complicated dare to ask dad to know
their to challenge your vendor your milk
producer your consumer association yes
even your governments lobby for
transparent and reliable information
make sure you get enough information to
be able to steer your flock in the right
direction now sometimes you might not be
faced with a question between a couple
of different brands of milk but with a
question which doesn’t have a clear
answer yet think about the case of
individual mobility all of us know that
the future will be low emission mobility
but we as a global society don’t have a
clue yet if this will mean electric
batteries wood gas biofuels hydrogen or
in an innovation which we don’t even see
coming on the horizon yet we have a
couple of ideas which we are currently
steering towards too but it might very
well be the case that at some point of
time we find out that what we actually
have to do is a 180 degree turn now what
does that imply embrace uncertainty a
flock of birds is actually remarkably
well prepared for this situation they
simply turn around quickly and without
much hassle they’re very simple
interaction rules don’t crash into each
other fly in the average direction of
your neighbors and if in doubt don’t
leave the flock doesn’t only prevent
them from crashing into a charged Tower
it also allows them to quickly change
direction in case they suffer an
external disturbance or discover a new
source of
food they are flexible they are open
they can embrace change and they are
prepared for uncertainty so three rules
we can learn from a flock of birds in
case you know what is the right thing to
do do what is right and talk about it
make sure others find out and find the
right direction too in case you don’t
know what is right try to find out the
right direction and demand transparency
and third in case this information is
simply not available remain flexible
open for innovations and behavioral
change and prepare for uncertainty we as
human beings we are not reliant on these
three simple rules our intellect and our
ability to project into the future
allows us to rationally decide which
trajectory we want to go down a
sustainable one for to allow future
generations to be able to thrive on this
planet nevertheless these three rules
can give a good guideline on what you do
as an individual to stay a positive
change you as an individual you can do
what is right in case you’re wearing
pretty krauser’s and you don’t want to
clean your hands on your trousers you
should use the electric hand dryer
even if the paper towels are recycled
cutting the tree transporting it to the
factory producing the wood filling the
paper towel dispensers and managing the
waste have a larger negative
environmental impact than the 20 seconds
of hot air these are results from
so-called
ecological footprint analyses where the
negative environmental impacts of
different products are compared you
should demand transparency about these
values for your favorite everyday
products to make sure that you can make
an informed choice and you have to
embrace uncertainty who would have ever
thought that an electric device can be
more environmentally friendly than a
recycled paper towel now obviously your
choice of hand drying technique has a
minor impact on the global carbon and
energy balance compared to actions such
as living car-free avoiding airplane
travel or switching to a plant-based
diet and it is very important when
tuning your everyday behavior to not
lose sight of this big and large impact
nevertheless also small actions matter
they matter to effectively put external
regulations into force they matter to
remind you of your ability and your
responsibility to create positive change
and they ensure the flexibility of the
planet and the overall resilience of our
systems luckily your reach goes even
further than your personal life you can
choose to buy products from brands which
put effective sustainability policies
into action and communicate them
transparently
you can choose an employer who values
sustainability and is open for an
uncertain future
you can vote for governments who foster
transparent and reliable information and
education about complex issues for the
public and you can invest your savings
in green bonds because without funding
harmful activities will cease to exist
sustainability is not a hipster topic it
is inevitable eventually those systems
which are sustainable and resilient will
be the ones which persist and no
government no company and no single
human being will be able to thrive on a
planet whose resources have been so
overused that it has to regenerate for
decades which is why all of us have to
act so don’t become discouraged by the
complexity of the topic don’t become
discouraged by the vast amount of
information and the little the vast
amount of choices and the little amount
of non ambiguous information make
sustainability a lifestyle choose those
areas of sustainability which have the
largest impact and which you really care
about and make sure to steel your flock
in the right direction
actively seek opportunities to do the
right things demand transparency and
foster reliable information and remind
open flexible scan the horizons for the
necessity to change your behavior offer
new innovations and embrace uncertainty
make sustainability and everyday action
peed a little were Orangeburg every day
thanks
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
to untangle how nature works what I’m
interested in my research is the
complexity of sustainability what does
that mean let’s start with
sustainability you as representatives of
the Generation Y are among the most
sustainability aware people this planet
has ever seen
so this topic doesn’t need an extensive
introduction you know that we only have
this one planet and in case we want
future generations to experience the
same quality of life as we do we need to
change our lifestyles the global
population currently consumes 1.7 times
the resources the earth is able to
reproduce within the year with a rising
trend if we want future generations to
not have to pay back for our overuse
today we need to act now I’m sure you’re
not only very much aware of that fact
you’re probably most willing to even
contribute your share
you might recycle your plastic your
bottles maybe even your clothes you
might take the bike to work and you’re
probably willing to invest the
occasional extra euro in case it really
makes a difference but you might also
know situations like the one when you’ve
been to a public bathroom you just
washed your hands you turn around and
you face a choice between an electric
hand dryer and the paper towel dispenser
and you stand there being confused you
can
waste a little bit of energy or
sacrifice a tree in the forest and you
resort to the convenient wipe on the
trousers yes
sustainability is complex but that does
by no means imply that you have to
freeze like a rabbit in the headlights
and leave others to stare sustainable
development the complexity of the topic
actually provides a great opportunity in
general and for you in particular to see
a positive change to understand why that
is the case we need to look a bit more
into detail into the topic of complexity
a simple yet quite insightful example of
a complex system is a flock of birds
what you see is a beautiful choreography
for a dance in the air the performers a
couple of thousand birds who don’t have
a choreographer without any steering
mind any verbal communication or any
training they manage to never stop
flying
– neither crash into each other or the
tower and – just as a by-product display
this beautiful swarm dynamics for us to
enjoy the key to their success lies in
their complex behavior and complex does
my no means mean complicated complexity
is actually often quite simplistic to
construct a flock of birds all you need
is a couple of birds we call them
multiple agents you teach them free
dynamic interaction rules the first one
don’t crash into your neighbor the
second one fly in the average direction
of your neighbors and the third if in
doubt steer towards the center of the
flock rather than leaving the flock and
with only these three rules
the swarm dynamics we’ve just seen
emerge and as this doesn’t need any
choreographer we call this a
self-organizing process so multiple
agents dynamic interactions and
self-organizing processes these are the
key ingredients of a complex system now
what does that have to do with
sustainability sustainable development
is based on the long-term persistence of
our planet
including all its inhabitants and while
human beings are certainly a little more
eccentric than the average bird life in
its holistic sense can be understood as
one complex system seven and a half
million people certainly qualify as
multiple agents we talk to each other we
meet we gather we haggled we bargain we
trade we love we hate we sleep
with each other and we influence our
lives in a multitude of ways our
interactions trigger self-organizing
processes we form partnerships families
or circle of friends we organize
ourselves in initiatives or companies
and we even create political and legal
frameworks that we write down the
fundamentals of how we want to live
together and if this wasn’t complex
enough the human system is even embedded
in the natural world which provides
energy food and resources so life is one
big complex system decisions can trigger
chain reactions and have wide-ranging
effects so it is obviously not
straightforward
if the choice between an electric hand
dryer or the paper towel dispenser what
kind of impact it has on the global
energy balance the deforestation in the
rainforest the overall consumption of
hand lotion and the overall trajectory
of the socio ecological system obviously
the socio ecological system is more
complex than a flock of birds
nevertheless both exhibit the key
characteristics of complex systems and
there is actually a lot to learn from
studying how a flock of birds navigate
certain challenges imagine you’re a bird
you are happily flying with your flock
and you as a group have decided to
pursue a little more sustainable
lifestyle not all of you are quite sure
where this is heading but you’re very
committed you’re the little orange bird
and you actually have found a way to
live more sustainably which is
referenced by the orange dot what do you
do you turn around what happens
nothing at first remember one of the
three interaction rules was fly in the
average direction of your neighbors
simulation studies have shown that it
actually only takes a small fraction of
a flock of birds to change to see the
whole swarm in another direction so once
your neighbor realizes the new direction
– you’re there the whole swarm is
heading where you want to go now what
does that imply in case you know the
right direction do what is right there
is actually a sustainability example
where this worked remarkably well and
this is the case of the hole in the
ozone layer the ozone layer surrounds
the earth and protects it from UV
radiation which can cause severe sunburn
and skin cancer in the ABS it has been
detected that chlorofluorocarbons which
have been used widely in refrigerators
for example can transform into radicals
and attack the ozone layer and from the
efforts of dedicated individuals over
concerted lobbying of NGOs like
Greenpeace only 15 years later
governments banned the use of
chlorofluorocarbons worldwide it will
still take a couple of decades until the
whole will have free grown fully but is
already visibly going back and all of
this only because a couple of
individuals knew what was the right
thing to do
talked about it and state the direction
of the flock so changing direction of
the flock is possible through individual
behavioural change or through external
regulations like the eventual CFC men
but sometimes you might face a situation
where you have a couple of choices and
don’t quite know what is right this is a
situation that might occur when you go
grocery shopping think about the
situation you want to get a package of
milk and you want to make a sustainable
choice and you end up in front of the
milk shelf and now you can choose
between the green package and the
package that says Eco on the cover and
the package just has a cap happy cow on
the cover and a package from the farm
just outside your city and the package
with additional vitamins and the package
which is carbon neutral e produced
the package which simply cost three
times as much as the others and you just
don’t know what’s the way out demand
transparency in the case of groceries
this has actually started to take the
right direction there is a multitude of
labels out there certifying different
sustainability criteria you can download
apps on your smartphone and scan the
barcode of your product to find out how
it has been produced and if it fills
fulfills different sustainability
criteria nevertheless getting reliable
information about the sustainability
background of your products remains
complicated dare to ask dad to know
their to challenge your vendor your milk
producer your consumer association yes
even your governments lobby for
transparent and reliable information
make sure you get enough information to
be able to steer your flock in the right
direction now sometimes you might not be
faced with a question between a couple
of different brands of milk but with a
question which doesn’t have a clear
answer yet think about the case of
individual mobility all of us know that
the future will be low emission mobility
but we as a global society don’t have a
clue yet if this will mean electric
batteries wood gas biofuels hydrogen or
in an innovation which we don’t even see
coming on the horizon yet we have a
couple of ideas which we are currently
steering towards too but it might very
well be the case that at some point of
time we find out that what we actually
have to do is a 180 degree turn now what
does that imply embrace uncertainty a
flock of birds is actually remarkably
well prepared for this situation they
simply turn around quickly and without
much hassle they’re very simple
interaction rules don’t crash into each
other fly in the average direction of
your neighbors and if in doubt don’t
leave the flock doesn’t only prevent
them from crashing into a charged Tower
it also allows them to quickly change
direction in case they suffer an
external disturbance or discover a new
source of
food they are flexible they are open
they can embrace change and they are
prepared for uncertainty so three rules
we can learn from a flock of birds in
case you know what is the right thing to
do do what is right and talk about it
make sure others find out and find the
right direction too in case you don’t
know what is right try to find out the
right direction and demand transparency
and third in case this information is
simply not available remain flexible
open for innovations and behavioral
change and prepare for uncertainty we as
human beings we are not reliant on these
three simple rules our intellect and our
ability to project into the future
allows us to rationally decide which
trajectory we want to go down a
sustainable one for to allow future
generations to be able to thrive on this
planet nevertheless these three rules
can give a good guideline on what you do
as an individual to stay a positive
change you as an individual you can do
what is right in case you’re wearing
pretty krauser’s and you don’t want to
clean your hands on your trousers you
should use the electric hand dryer
even if the paper towels are recycled
cutting the tree transporting it to the
factory producing the wood filling the
paper towel dispensers and managing the
waste have a larger negative
environmental impact than the 20 seconds
of hot air these are results from
so-called
ecological footprint analyses where the
negative environmental impacts of
different products are compared you
should demand transparency about these
values for your favorite everyday
products to make sure that you can make
an informed choice and you have to
embrace uncertainty who would have ever
thought that an electric device can be
more environmentally friendly than a
recycled paper towel now obviously your
choice of hand drying technique has a
minor impact on the global carbon and
energy balance compared to actions such
as living car-free avoiding airplane
travel or switching to a plant-based
diet and it is very important when
tuning your everyday behavior to not
lose sight of this big and large impact
nevertheless also small actions matter
they matter to effectively put external
regulations into force they matter to
remind you of your ability and your
responsibility to create positive change
and they ensure the flexibility of the
planet and the overall resilience of our
systems luckily your reach goes even
further than your personal life you can
choose to buy products from brands which
put effective sustainability policies
into action and communicate them
transparently
you can choose an employer who values
sustainability and is open for an
uncertain future
you can vote for governments who foster
transparent and reliable information and
education about complex issues for the
public and you can invest your savings
in green bonds because without funding
harmful activities will cease to exist
sustainability is not a hipster topic it
is inevitable eventually those systems
which are sustainable and resilient will
be the ones which persist and no
government no company and no single
human being will be able to thrive on a
planet whose resources have been so
overused that it has to regenerate for
decades which is why all of us have to
act so don’t become discouraged by the
complexity of the topic don’t become
discouraged by the vast amount of
information and the little the vast
amount of choices and the little amount
of non ambiguous information make
sustainability a lifestyle choose those
areas of sustainability which have the
largest impact and which you really care
about and make sure to steel your flock
in the right direction
actively seek opportunities to do the
right things demand transparency and
foster reliable information and remind
open flexible scan the horizons for the
necessity to change your behavior offer
new innovations and embrace uncertainty
make sustainability and everyday action
peed a little were Orangeburg every day
thanks
[Applause]
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