23 October 2009

Steve Rayner Speaking Today at CIRES!

Friday, October 23rd, 2009
4:00-5:00 PM

Reception to follow
CIRES Auditorium
University of Colorado at Boulder

The Problem of Uncomfortable Knowledge in Science Policy Debates


Steve Rayner
Oxford University, UK

This talk will address the problem of how evidence is excluded in science policy debates and the difficulty that arguments from outside the conventional framing of issues have in being "heard" in a policy context. Examples include acts of self-censorship by IPCC Working Groups, the refusal of NGOs to countenance alternatives to Kyoto, the ESRC Science in Society Programme, and the ADAM program.

About the Lecturer

Steve Rayner is James Martin Professor of Science and Civilization and Director of the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, from where he also directs the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities. He previously held senior research positions in two US National Laboratories and has taught at leading US universities. He has served on various US, UK, and international bodies addressing science, technology and the environment, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Until 2008 he also directed the national Science in Society Research Programme of the Economic and Social Research Council. He is Honorary Professor of Climate Change and Society at the University of Copenhagen and is a member of Britain’s Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. He was also a co-author of the 2009 Report of Britain’s Royal Society on Geoengineering the Climate.