2011 Freiburg Forum on Environmental Governance
Reports and Impressions
Inspiring Change Towards a Green Economy
It is widely agreed that we need a greener economy, but asking what that looks like or how we get there unleashes a lively debate. Throughout conflicting political discourses, one common agreement stands out: Business as usual is no longer an option - there must be a fundamental change of the status quo.
The Freiburg Forum on Environmental Governance welcomes this debate and asks the questions: Where will change come from and how radical does it need to be in order to succeed? Will it come from top-down or bottom-up, i.e. from new governance structures and regulations or from creative initiatives of thousands of small experiments? What types of changes are being championed by civil society, by businesses, and by governments and can they effectively accelerate us towards a green economy?
We - 26 Environmental Governance Master Students representing 16 countries - invite you to join us to discuss these questions and to explore promising initiatives and transformational activities. Our 2-day Inspiring Change Forum is structured so that participants learn from each other as well as from high-profile speakers and MEG alumni with leading-edge professional experience. The Forum will include case studies, a panel discussion, and workshops, and will maximize opportunities for participation and for sharing real-world experiences. The target audience for this conference are 100 international students from selected universities across Germany, alumni of the MEG program, and the general public of Freiburg.
The Freiburg Forum is an annual event organised by students of the M.Sc. Environmental Governance (MEG) of the Albert-Ludwigs-University as part of their study program. Unique worldwide, the interdisciplinary MEG program was established to train future leaders to facilitate environmental governance that includes market, state and civil society. The 2011 event is the 4th in the series with previous editions attracting outstanding speakers such as Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, the recognized environmental activist Vandana Shiva and other high profile personalities.
Previous Freiburg Fora
 |
 |
 |
| 2007: The Role of Individual Leadership in Environmental Governance | 2008: The Role of Religion in Environmental Governance | 2010: The Role of New Media in Environmental Governance |