Trans-Atlantic Research and Development Interchange on Sustainability Workshop (TARDIS, 2019)

Vishwamitra Research Institute, Crystal Lake IL

Investigators

Abstract

The focus of the Trans-Atlantic Research and Development Interchange on Sustainability Workshop (TARDIS 2019) is the role of uncertainty in managing the planet for global sustainability. The workshop will involve participants from the United States and Europe. NSF funds will be used to help support the participation of U.S.-based researchers. Funding is anticipated from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture to help support the participation of European researchers. Workshop participants will include experts from the engineering, mathematical sciences, physics, ecology, economics, and political science fields. Planet-wide, humanity has the imperative of managing the Earth within livable limits. This requires that humans be able to: (1) accurately assess the current condition of the Earth, and (2) forecast future trends as accurately as possible. Because any observation always has uncertainty, the first requirement represents a formidable challenge. Because any forecasting methodology also has uncertainty, the second requirement presents a significant additional problem. The workshop will focus on how to optimally manage the Earth for sustainability across diverse aspects including physical (climate), biological (biodiversity), economic (value generation), energy generation (renewable and/or low impact), production (meet human needs with minimal resource use) and others, given uncertainty in measurements and knowledge. The questions for the workshop are: 1. What is state of the art in assessing uncertainty in observations of global sustainability issues? 2. What improvements are needed to minimize uncertainty in these observations? 3. What is state of the art in uncertainty when forecasting? Participants will be chosen to represent a balanced mix of Government, the private sector, and academic institutions. Care will be taken to achieve adequate representation across disciplines, including economics, engineering, ecology, policy, political science, and law. The organizers will strongly encourage participation by underrepresented groups. Participants will be expected to submit material for study by workshop attendees in advance of the workshop. The workshop deliverable will be a report that synthesizes all these perspectives, and it will be posted on the TARDIS public website for dissemination. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.