Discover the CIVIS Hubs with Prof. Alasdair Skelton, Chair of CIVIS hub 1: climate, environment and energy

Interview with Prof. Alasdair Skelton from Stockholm University

This interview was held during the Global CIVIS days 2020.

Follow-up questions on the achievements and next steps for CIVIS HUB 1 activities on climate, environment and energy.

Climate, environment and energy was the first hub to be developed within CIVIS. What has the CIVIS hub team achieved so far?

The first hub of CIVIS which is on climate, environment and energy is now up-and-running. The Hub 1 Council, with representatives from each participating university, has met on four occasions. At our meetings, we are joined by a representative from the CIVIS project on Africa and Mediterranean and from CIVIS management. At our first meetings, we were able to recommend CIVIS endorsement of six education activities. These are Virtual field trips and Webinars on Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology, a PhD network in solid Earth dynamics, Summer schools focusing on the Copernicus satellite and on Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, with a focus on climate change solutions, as well as a course on engineering of microorganisms for biofuels. Each activity is hosted by at least 3 of our partner universities.

What are the next steps for our CIVIS hubs?

Hub 1 has now published a second call for education and research activities. In this call, we are inviting proposals for “ready to go” and “planning stage” activities centred on five focal challenges. These are:

1. Deliver energy, water, and food for all

2. Decarbonise socio-economic systems to stabilise the climate

3. Safeguard the terrestrial, freshwater and marine natural assets

4. Increase resilience and promote sustainable transformations

5. Create fundamental knowledge about climate, environment and energy

The deadline for this call is on February 1, 2021. In making our recommendation to the Board of Rectors, we will use the following criteria for prioritization:

Virtual activities (for environmental reasons).
Transdisciplinary challenge-based activities.
Civic engagement initiatives tied to Open Lab (WP3) activities.
Academic initiatives for which Mediterranean/African partners have been identified with assistance from WP5.
Academic initiatives which also stimulate research collaboration.

Once approved, “ready to go” activities will be eligible for staff and student mobilities and “planning stage” activities will be eligible for staff mobilities. All activities will be eligible for CIVIS branding and network support.

We warmly invite all involved with CIVIS to propose activities and to contact the Hub 1 Council chairperson for help finding partners and with any other questions (alasdair.skelton@geo.su.se).