Special Lecture & Euroculture Workshop by Professor Ronald Holzhacker (Professor, The University of Groningen, The Netherlands)
★ A Euroculture Alumna, Miki Fukuda, Policy Researcher, Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies, Kanagawa (Japan), will join the Workshop as a guest facilitator.
To download the posters, click Special Lecture & Euroculture Workshop
About the speaker: Prof. Ronald Holzhacker is Professor of 'Comparative Multi-level Governance and Regional Structure' in the Faculty of Spatial Science, Department of Spatial Planning and Environment, and also teaches in the Faculty of Arts, Department of International Relations and International Organization and the Euroculture Master's program at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He holds a PhD from the University of Michigan in political science, and a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Minnesota Law School. He is broadly interested in questions of governance and planning, sustainable development in cities, climate adaptation, and the interaction between civil society organisations and institutions in political systems. He is the founding Director of the Groningen Research Centre for Southeast Asia and ASEAN (SEA ASEAN). He has led an inter-disciplinary team of scholars and 32 PhD researchers over the past decade, engaged in theoretically driven comparative research focused on governance, societal impact, and sustainable society in Southeast Asia. His latest edited volume is Transformative Futures of Cities: Climate and Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia (Leiden: Brill forthcoming 2025).
About the guest: Miki Fukuda, Policy Researcher, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Kanagawa (Japan) Former Euroculture student (2020-2022), University of Groningen / University of Deusto.
Date and Time: May. 19 (Monday), 12:30 to 14:40 [Lecture: 12:30 to 13:30, Workshop: 13:40 to 14:40]
Place: Nakaniwa Conference Room, 1F Main Building (School of Letters) (中庭会議室、文学部本館一階)
Title: Transformative Futures of Cities: Climate and Sustainable Development ―Moving from scientific research to societal impact ―
Abstract of the lecture:
This lecture is focused on the search for synergies in the climate change and sustainable development agendas. We begin by looking at how cities in Southeast Asia have responded to climate change with mitigation and adaptation measures while maintaining a focus on sustainable development and progress toward achieving the SDGs. Next, we broaden the debate to discuss how scientific research can be better structured to increase societal impact. We discuss five key stages:
1) designing research incorporating citizens, stakeholders, policymakers
2) organizing international academic conferences to include senior and emerging scholars, with graduate student workshops
3) conferences designed to include exchanges with political leaders, policymakers, civil society organizations, journalists,
4) publication of books and journal articles, but also shorter, more popular dissemination opportunities in national languages,
5) popularization and visualization of key findings, insights, and actions for citizens.
We conclude with the screening of a selection of short videos (2-2.5 minutes each) produced by a creative agency based on our book ‘Transformative Futures of Cities,’ and finally with a selection of winners from our Wubbo Ockels School of Energy and Climate NL-Asia Pacific Short Video Contest on Climate and Sustainable Development in Cities, based on student research from the BA to PhD levels.
Highlights of the Euroculture Workshop:
- Interdisciplinary study of European society, politics, and culture
- Study at multiple European universities
- Erasmus Mundus scholarship opportunities
- Career paths in international organizations, NGOs, academia, and more- Gain real insights from a graduate, who will share her experience and answer questions during the sessions.