Humankind requires stable conditions of the Earth system and continuous supply of natural resources. Non-sustainable human activities can drive the Earth system processes outside their buffer or resilience capacities and to the rapid and drastic erosion and degradation of natural resources. Like other species, human species is not naturally protected against severe disturbances of geochemical and geophysical cycles and against severe depletion of natural resources. Non-sustainable development can lead at worst to the extinction of humankind.
Global environmental changes and their potential catastrophic consequences trigger risks, fear and feelings of powerlessness within the public at large, leading to inertia of our societies. The main environmental challenges to be urgently and efficiently addressed are climate changes and their impacts on health, ecosystems, economy and society, the loss of biodiversity and the complex interlinked systems of Food-Energy-Water (FEW) supply.
The objective of this session is to explore how Geoscientists can provide citizens and decision-makers with new knowledge and tools to empower them in managing natural resources and environment with tools and systems based on co-decision.
Contributors from both natural and social sciences are invited to address these issues with case studies and concrete success stories to open a larger debate about the role of European Geoscientists in supporting actively the development of sustainable participative societies.