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GLOBAL CHANGE
Challenges to Science and Politics
Bonn, May 1990 - A short summary by Heiner Benking
for more pictures about this exhibition please
go here
In 1988-1989, after the Global Change Conference in Moscow, initiatives
were started world-wide to study the challenges to Science and Politics
under the premise that their is something like Global Environmental. Each
country was invited to present their view on the matter and present the
status of what we know and what can be done in a synoptic exhibition which
needs to address the public, science, industry, and politic at the same
time.
The author of this summary was invited, beside the research centeres
who can contribute, like National Research, Frauenhofer Institute, Max
Planck Institutes, National Global Change Secretariats,... to contribute
to such an overarching topic. See full list of partners can be found here.
Not only researchers or administrators with their in-depth knowledge, but also independent writers and synthesisers were finally involved, like a journalist in charge of PR and media of the German research centers (AGF), Eberhard Gockel, and a researcher from a center for arctic research (AWI) Dr. Manfred Lange who was later appointed head of the GLOBAL CHANGE secretariat (1992). By the way, inviting science writers and jounalists to do such jobs is the typical thing to do, when you want to make an exhibition for the public. You have to hire the "macroscopic" view, the step back from the issue, the ability to see and visualize relations, which you typically can not "afford" or maintain when you are personally involved and "in charge for certain details in your "field".
So what we are talking here about was a "one-time ever" event. No other country tried to put all together to see the CHALLENGES synoptically. The problem is one of language and concepts, do be right and precise, and of context at the same time in order to be understood by children, scientists, politicians,... anybody. The other is neutrality, coherence and completeness, because everybody sees his work as of paramount importance and wants to present it, first to show is contribution, second to make sure funding continues or new programmes can find support out of the public or political will generated from the insight into "what is going on".
This paper is a report not only to make this exhibition more public, as it was somehow lost in the world-wide political agenday, the Berlin Wall disapeared, and the interest was suddenly in the new directly at hand "bonazas" of the East, not into long term perspectives of economy and ecology with dubious qualities, trends, scales...
The Exhibition made some records, it toured Germany for eight years and was so well received that is a backlog for another 3 years of towns or universities interested to host the exhibition. Due to this demand and the rapid change of research and insight it was necessary to update the temporal presentation of research projects and, like an eternal law, the number of posters presenting "unique" contributions of certain research institutes, grew gradually. The problem: research projects come and go but the central issues do not get the needed publicity when the interest is primarily on the most recent research initiative.
But the public showed much interest in the overall theme and as there was never a catalogue prepared, people poored in to see the exhibition. After the organizing and contracted institution, the AGF changed his name, becoming the Helmholz Society it became necessary to change the central posters with the names and do a general overhaul in1997-8 as some posters where worn out after so much travel, and also some changes had to be made as our insight into what is going on changed gradually, maybe marginally some might say. But beside that, there were short term changes to be considered. For example our president (Richard von Weizsaecker, on a bicycle to show life stile changes) had to leave his post and there is even an incoming president to be considered in 1999, as is predecessor might very well not be in place next year.
Fragmented interests, short sightedness and vested interests
This paper is written as the whole exhibition is endangered, even though
as up to date than never before during the last 8 years, the experts have
met and found that certain details, typically in their specific range of
expertise need and update and even more naturally a new research programme!
This is unacceptable to the author as his invited contribution was about
to be implemented in the general (lasting) section and had been worked
on for 8 years to present a new step in communicating complexity.
As a background inforamtion: During the last 11 years the number of posters presenting research efforts of certain institutions increased gradually and present the mayor part of the exhibition. Updating of such technology survey posters were costing a lot of money as their is a high fluctuation, but to no surprise thecentral posters, the content and context, how things are connected and what needs to be done remained unchanged or only with minimal changes.
We can summarise: Institution in charge of research and in search for
money from politics, are in the wrong place as curators of exhibitions
which have a theme which covers societal, political, cultural, philosophical
dimensions.
It was possible to create the exhibition as independent thinkers and
writers in that institution had the power to invite contributors and keep
interests of certain institution in check. But when such persons retire,
we are confronted with a very serious alternative, 1. the research centes
consider Challenges to Science, Politics, even Culture and Humanities their
turf and misuse the broad educational mission of the exhibition for their
acquisition of research monies. 2. The administrator now in charge is not
at all interested in the broader topic, even cherishes a "Contrarian View"
and creates all to have experts decide that details are "OUT OF DATE".
In this case such posters should have been considered: "Akquisition of
funds from politics" and been disposed like brochures anyway after a couple
of months or have to pay to be part of an exhibition which was invited
by politics to show alternatives for society and cultures.
What can we learn from that, maybe also in view of the forthcomming Rio+10 preparations:
- Money should be made available to pay for simple exhibitions explaining SYSTEM EARTH and the position and role of individuals and societies.
- Institutions like UNESCO or Wuppertal Institute should be or should have been involved to secure that not one technological perspective is presented, but instead a wider or global picture involving societal and cultural issues, just as the HUMAN DIMENSION OF GLOBAL CHANGE was designed later, but is suffering like other institution in this "field" namely UNESCO from severe lack of financial power.
- Other media should have been employed. It is not acceptable that not even a catalogue was produced for wider awareness of these relevant public issues, but instead posters were produced and exchanged on a frequent bases which can only present very limited activities and topics, issues which somehow do not match the broader theme of the exhibition. This also includes having the texts available on a CD-ROM and on the Internet ! and translated to other languages as many other countries have shown interest in the past. (the author has translated all posters in 1990 to have an English version, but there were no funds and interests for such a broader more public education theme. Maybe today an initiative again of the Chancellery or the BMBF (Ministry for Education and Research) is indicated.
- The author has invested a lot of time and money for his contributions and was never paid at all. The exponats (exhibition pieces) he produced or travels and preparations he had to organise and produce exponats were not paid either. As an individual he sees it as an honour and priviledge to contribute to such relevant themes, but when urgent improvements are now not possible as the project leader retires and his predecessors want to discontinue the efforts - he sees it as his duty to speak up, make sure relevant contributions can find their place in future discussions, and secure that broad issues and themes are not utilised just for technology and research PR, or as the other option, disposed, as the findings and content of the exhibition were not designed to serve the view and interests and perspectives of one field or group only, but to present a global picture, a global view on the challenges Humanity is facing. A good and recent synopsis of what is at stake can be found in the 2001 roundtable "Is Humanity destined to Self-Destruct?" by Lynton Caldwell with invited comments from people who try to look beyond their field.
Footnote:
The author was asked many times "how come" how did you got involved and who paid you for the job. Why have you been mentioned as an individual. Here the answers:
- I had also worked with international publishers like Kluwer's GeoJournal on themes like GLOBAL CHANGE 1988 (Moskow) ******** and integrated research and management, was part of the steering bodies of the German Society of Informatics (GI) on Environmental Applications (Informatik im Umweltschutz)
- was a consultant to UNEP- HEM, an office to harmonise information about the Environment. As compatible and comparable data about the environment is a prerequisite to GLOBAL CHANGE research and considering access issues in a multitude of repositories, we already had contact to the German Chancellery, and
- most of the mayor European research centers had been my clients in the mid and late 80ies when I was in the field of scientific data visualisation in applications and market development/marketing functions, so I knew the players and the applications add some article HERALD TRIBUNE TIMES and the UNIRAS product philosophy papers.******
- had started some research initiatives on integrated environmental research and management projects like forest die-back research, infrastructure and evacuation planning in Alpine Regions (TOPOGRAMM) with ZEISS, INTERGRAPH and some ministries in Austria, Switzerland and Germany,
- knew the co-ordinator of the exhibition Eberhard Gockel as a college form science writer organisations like TELI ******** and the respective fairs and conferences, and the scientific director Dr. Manfred Lange from his research work (see 3)
- AND was willing to contribute for this important exhibition on short notice and without asking first about the monies and budgeds involved. Defiibuitely the exhibition is also on alternative energy and housing and help identify interesting approaches and technologies which lead "besidess" to my contributions. Such contributions included not only contacts, facts and figures, or designing and producing or identifying/designing exhibition pieces like the Black-Box or "low-energy" models for private houses (see model of the ISORAST house model as part of the exhibition) ******.
- AND was looking for funds by sponsors, not asking to be paid but looking into the challenge of trying to find answers to such an "gargantuan" question and challenge.
