The Citizen between Science and Policy: Innovation in Governance and Climate Change Resilience

On June 6, 2015, beginning at dawn in the Pacific Islands and ending at dusk in the American Southwest, 10,000 everyday citizens in 76 countries met to participate in the largest-ever public consultation on climate and energy. The results of the World Wide Views on Climate and Energy deliberations offer useful insight into citizens’ perspectives for addressing climate change and effecting a transition to low-carbon energy. On October 22, 2015, we will present and discuss the engagement model, key results, and policy implications of this unprecedented citizen engagement.

How can results from World’s largest citizen deliberation on climate inform, empower, and influence the negotiations leading to the Climate Conference in Paris (COP 21)?
How can Article 6 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) be enhanced to close the widening democratic gap between citizens and policymakers?
How can the engagement model developed for the four U.S. deliberations—collaborations between universities and local science centers—be used to inform and support other critical policy decisions?
How can we leverage citizen science, crowdsourcing, and participatory engagement models to empower citizens, inform climate assessments and decision-making, and build resilience from the ground up?