Just Transitions Symposium 2024

Tuesday, May 14th

Opening Reception & Dinner

  • Time: 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
  • Location: Heritage Room (4th Floor), Homer Babbidge Library, 369 Fairfield Way, Storrs, CT 06269

Agenda:

  • Welcome & Setting the Agenda for the Just Transitions Symposium
  • Speakers:
    • Anji Seth, Professor and Head, Geography; Chair of Atmospheric Sciences Group, UConn
    • Bandana Purkayastha, Associate Dean, Social Sciences, Regional Campuses, and Community Engagement, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, Sociology and Asian American Studies, UConn

Wednesday, May 15th

Session Locations: All sessions will be held in Lawrence D. McHugh Hall, Room 305, Hillside Rd, Storrs, CT Meal Location: Lunch and dinner will be held in the Student Union, Room 304B

8:30 AM – 8:45 AM

  • Coffee and Breakfast Items

8:45 AM – 9:00 AM

  • Welcome & Introduction
  • Speakers:
    • Anji Seth, Professor and Head, Geography; Chair of Atmospheric Sciences Group, UConn
    • Ofer Harel, Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Professor of Statistics, UConn
    • Kathleen Segerson, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Economics, UConn

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

  • Session I: Global Inequalities and Climate/Energy Justice and the Rights of Nature
  • Moderator: Eleanor Ouimet, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, UConn
  • Panelists:
    • Helen Kopnina, Assistant Professor, Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University
    • Dirk Hanschel, Max Planck Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
    • Thomas Bontly, Associate Professor of Philosophy; Director of Environmental Studies Program, UConn

10:30 AM – 10:45 AM

  • Break

10:45 AM – 12:15 PM

  • Session II: Integrative Systems Changes for Just Regenerative Futures
  • Moderator: Carol Atkinson-Palombo, Professor of Geography, UConn
  • Panelists:
    • Alexandra Lamiña, Institute of Latin American Studies LLILAS, University of Texas at Austin
    • César Abadia-Barrero, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Human Rights, UConn
    • Catalina Alvarado-Cañuta, PhD student, Anthropology, UConn
    • Francisco Huichaqueo-Pérez, Filmmaker
    • Jill Desimini, Director and Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, UConn

12:15 PM – 1:30 PM

  • Lunch (Student Union 304B)

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM

  • Session III: Socio-Economic Policies and Politics for Just Transition
  • Moderator: Mark Healey, Professor and Head, History, UConn
  • Panelists:
    • Nick Romeo, New Yorker Journalist
    • Mimi Sheller, Dean, The Global School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
    • Lavinia Steinfort, Project Coordinator, Public Alternatives Project, Transnational Institute
    • Thea Riofrancos, Associate Professor of Political Science, Providence College

3:00 PM – 3:15 PM

  • Break

3:15 PM – 4:45 PM

  • Session IV: Innovations for the Just Green Energy Transition
  • Moderator: Oksan Bayulgen, Professor and Head, Political Science, UConn
  • Panelists:
    • Mary Buchanan, Community Resilience Planner, Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA), UConn
    • Alex Agrios, P.E. Associate Professor, Al Geib Professor of Environmental Engineering, UConn
    • Robert Bird, Professor of Business Law, Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics, and Research Fellow, UConn School of Law
    • Carolyn Lin, Professor of Communication, UConn

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

  • Benton Museum, Guided Tour of Exhibition: Seeing Climate Change
  • Guide: Robert Thorson, Professor of Earth Sciences, UConn

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Dinner (Student Union 304B)

Thursday, May 16th

Session Locations: All sessions will be held in Lawrence D. McHugh Hall, Room 305, Hillside Rd, Storrs, CT Meal Location: Lunch will be held in the Student Union, Room 304B

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM

  • Coffee and Breakfast Items

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

  • Session V: Just Transitions for the Next Generation: Youth and Environmental Learning/ Curriculum
  • Moderator: Kerry Marsh, Professor of Psychological Sciences, UConn
  • Panelists:
    • Lesley-Ann Dupigney-Giroux, Professor of Geography and Geosciences, University of Vermont; Vermont State Climatologist
    • Phoebe Godfrey, Sociology Professor-in-Residence, UConn
    • Andy Jolly-Ballantine, Geography Professor-in-Residence, UConn
    • Stacy Maddern, Urban and Community Studies Assistant Professor-in-Residence, UConn
    • Ugur Pasaogullari, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UConn
    • Oksan Bayulgen, Professor and Head, Political Sciences, UConn
    • Elaina Hancock, PhD Student, Geography; Research Writer for University Communications, UConn

10:30 AM – 10:45 AM

  • Break

10:45 AM – 12:15 PM

  • Session VI: Wrap-Up Discussion and Next Steps
  • Moderators:
    • Carol Atkinson-Palombo, Professor of Geography, UConn
    • Mark Healey, Professor and Head, History, UConn
    • Anji Seth, Professor and Head, Geography; Chair Atmospheric Sciences Group, UConn
  • Discussion Items: Table of Contents for Edited Volume, Contributing Authors, Timeline

12:15 PM – 1:30 PM

  • Lunch (Student Union 304B)