EVENT: What We Need to Know about Ourselves to Deal with Climate Change

The 2010 Joseph Gentilli Memorial Lecture will be given by Winthrop Professor Carmen Lawrence, Director, Centre for the Study of Social Change, School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia.

Scientific evidence indicates that climate change is the result of rising levels of greenhouse gases which are, in turn, due to human behaviours, such as burning fossil fuels and clearing forests. Equally, many of the recommendations to reduce these emissions and to facilitate adaptation to a changed climate depend on people changing their behaviour. From changing our patterns of settlement to modifying our diets, there is no doubt that we need to change - and on a scale that has never before been contemplated. Yet the scientists who study human behaviour and societies have not been part of the global debate about climate change and how to deal with it.

In this lecture, Dr Lawrence will explore why this must be remedied and outline what we know – and need to know - about human psychology (including our occasional irrationality) to make any progress in crafting workable solutions to the problem of climate change.

This lecture is free and open to the public, no RSVP required.