Paradigm Shift

   

World Academy of Art & Science

World University Consortium

Agenda for Future Programming

November 10, 2015 

 

 

Venue: CERN, Charpak Room (Main building, 6th floor conference room 60-6-015) Register at reception in Building 33 

Increasing globalization of the economy in Space, accelerating velocity of movement and social change in Time, growing Complexity and integration of activities, sectors and levels of society, rapid Evolution of global society undergoing continuous transformation, and rising imbalance between technological development and cultural adaptation present unparalleled challenges for individuals, nations and the human community. Evolving effective responses to these challenges and ways to transform them into opportunities for human progress lie at the heart of the Academy’s agenda in collaboration with the World University Consortium and partnering organizations.

On November 10th WAAS and WUC convened a meeting in Geneva to summarize core findings of fifteen conferences and workshops conducted over the past four years and to identify the agenda for future work. A consensus has emerged from these efforts that a new conceptual framework is urgently needed to reflect the complex realities of global society. This calls for a paradigm shift in thinking in the social sciences as significant as the earlier shifts in the natural sciences from a geocentric to a heliocentric universe and from a mechanistic Newtonian world to the complexity revealed by Quantum Mechanics. This paradigm shift will represent a quantum shift away from mechanistic, naturalistic, materialistic conceptions and models of human society, making human welfare the focal point and central objective, affirming the central importance and validity of universal values in the human sciences, restoring scientific legitimacy to subjective experience, and recognizing the catalytic role of creative individuals in the evolution of the collective.

Agenda

 10:00 – 11:30 New Economy – Garry Jacobs, Moderator

  • NET Overview – Garry Jacobs (20 min)
  • Presentation – Tomas Björkman, Ekskäret, Sweden (15 min)
  • Employment – Ivo Šlaus & Garry Jacobs (10 min)
  • Discussion
 11:45 – 13:00 Economy & Ecology – Alexander Likhotal, Moderator

  • Need for Integrated Systems Perspective – Martin Lees (20 min)
  • Green & Inclusive Growth – Adam Koniuszewski (10 min)
  • Evolutionary Economics – Pascal van Griethuysen at 12:30 (10 min)
  • Discussion
 13:00 – 14:30 Lunch
 14:30 – 16:00 Governance – Ivo Šlaus, Moderator

  • Values, Law, Democracy & Governance – Winston Nagan (20 min)
  • Multiculturalism – Nebojša Nešković (15 min)
  •  Discussion
 16:00 – 18:00 Education – Heitor Gurgulino de Souza, Moderator

  • Person-centered Education – Alberto Zucconi (15 min)
  • Active Learning – Stefan Brunnhuber (15 min)
  • Mind & Creative Thinking – Garry Jacobs (15 min)
  • Discussion

Presentations

  1. Paradigm Shift Project Review by Garry Jacobs
  2. People Centered Education by Alberto Zucconi
  3. Ekskäret Foundation by Tomas Björkman
  4. On Common Future Education by Stefan Brunnhuber

Garry Jacobs
NET Overview

Tomas Björkman
Ekskäret

Ivo Šlaus
Employment

Adam Koniuszewski
Green & Inclusive Growth

Martin Lees
Need for Integrated Systems Perspective

Pascal van Griethuysen
Evolutionary Economics

Winston Nagan
Values, Law, Democracy & Governance

Nebojša Nešković
Multiculturalism

Alberto Zucconi
Person-centered Education

Stefan Brunnhuber
Active Learning

Garry Jacobs
Mind and Creative Thinking