NZ Climate Change Centre

NOTE: Information and outputs from this workshop including the workshop report can be accessed here.

Ka whakahuihui i ngā hononga whānui, ā, kia wānanga ai hoki i ngā rautaki hou hei whakaheke iho i te tūpono o te paheko āhuarangi.

Climate change-related research, thinking, and discussions, are an increasing part of society and people's everyday lives. While social scientists have attended to a number of related research areas to date only limited attention has been directed specifically to climate change in New Zealand.

The New Zealand Climate Change Centre (NZCCC) in association with the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, Building Research Capability in the Social Sciences Network (BRCSS), the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, and the Royal Society of New Zealand Social Science Advisory Panel invites you to attend an important one-day workshop in Wellington on Monday 6 December 2010 on the social science issues around climate change. Our aim is to help facilitate a dialogue not only within the social science community but also between social scientists and biophysical scientists.

The main goal of the workshop is to identify the potential role of the New Zealand social science community and the research gaps in relation to climate change. To achieve this, the workshop will:

• Review existing social research on climate change, and related research areas, to identify themes and research gaps
• Examine how relationships between social scientists and biophysical scientists (including climate scientists) currently function
• Explore how relationships within and outside the social sciences can be developed in order to identify opportunities for future collaboration
• Develop key social science research questions and future research themes
• Identify new inputs by New Zealand into the international climate change debates based on insights from the workshop.

The workshop will be a predominantly interactive experience. Keynote addresses provided by well-renowned speakers and researchers from New Zealand and overseas will provide stimulus for break-out sessions held during the day. In these sessions attendees will be invited to provide their perspectives and feedback on key issues. Themes to be developed throughout the day include:

• The art and politics of climate science
• Changing climates: reconnecting selves
• How are New Zealand communities making sense of climate change?
• Our tools for responding to climate change.

Reflecting the multi-faceted nature of climate change and the need for improved dialogue around this issue in New Zealand this workshop will appeal to a wide range of participants. Participants will include:

• Researchers including social, biophysical, & climate scientists
• Members of government & non-government organisations
• Business & community representatives
• University students.

Keynote presentations will be recorded and relevant powerpoint presentations will be posted on the NZCCC website. The workshop organising committee will produce a follow-up report summarising discussions and outputs from this workshop which will also posted on the NZCCC website.

Degrees of Possibility: Igniting Social Knowledge around Climate Change will be a landmark event for social science research in relation to climate change in New Zealand.

This free workshop is limited to approximately 100 participants and will conclude with a complimentary informal reception.

Full workshop programme (as of 22 November 2010)

Introductory bibliography with background readings and other reference material

Pre-workshop background videos

Workshop venue information & special Hotel accommodation rates.

Having trouble registering? Click here for a 'word' version of the registration form.

For more information about the workshop please contact Richard Nottage at the NZCCC.

This workshop is supported by: