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This workshop was attended by about one dozen members of the Conference. Before discussing SGR's position with regard to Climate Change, its participants asked to hear about the publicity surrounding the Climate Train, which had by that time arrived in Novosibirsk and been in touch with the Conference by phone earlier in the day. Dani Kaye briefly outlined the massive press and media interest which had been generated by this project, and the work done in the past half-year to generate and 'feed' this interest. A separate booklet will provide more detailed coverage of the Climate Train and of some of the press releases generated in relation to it.
The discussion then turned to the draft 'Position Statement', presented by Tim Foxon for consideration and amendment, before being issued as the official SGR position on Climate Change and on COP3. There was a great deal of debate concerning the contents and 'tone' of the statement - whether it was too technical or not technical enough, for example - and SGR's support for 'Contraction and Convergence' model of the Global Commons Institute (GCI). Some members of the group felt very strongly that we should not be supporting Contraction and Convergence, but the majority opinion was in favour of the GCI position. Some of the data cited were questioned, and the format of the statement was also examined.
It was finally decided that members of the workshop group would send suggestions on the paper to Tim within one week of the conference, and that there should be a 'resume' section, which would outline the main points of the paper and serve as a simplified press release. Dr Stuart Parkinson offered to help with the drafting.
One valuable item to emerge from the session was the revelation that students, wishing to find data and references on various scientific topics, were very keen to use SGR as a 'mentor' in this respect. They were advised that they were welcome to tap the advice service in specific scientific topics that we offer the media and press. However, it was also pointed out that, as science students, they should not expect to find ready-made, cut-and-dried 'facts' in science, rather that they should be aware of the received wisdom of the moment, particularly in such rapidly developing topics as climate change, since mutability is the heart of science, particularly in areas which are still being actively researched and debated. This implies that every serious student should also be prepared to do a great deal of spadework and research for himself or herself. A very interesting discussion about the distinction between facts and data occupied a fair amount of our time.
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Send correspondence about the web-site to This page last updated: 28th July 2003 |
