The deadline for papers to be submitted for the
2014 International Conference on Sustainable Innovation, has been extended to April 15, 2014. The conference is to be at
Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 3 to 4 June 2014. I am planning to speak about "
Teaching On-line to
Reduce Energy Use with Computers
". I am not jst going for the optional tour of
Borobudur Buddhist Temple after the conference. ;-)
The world is facing changes in many aspects. In the last decade
global climate change and global economical change are two hot issues.
Both do not seem to be interrelated, but in fact they closely affect
each other.
The age of natural resources exploration and exploitation is as old
as the human age, mainly to support economical aspect of humanity. And
consequently, time witnesses the natural resources depletion. Many
efforts have been made to minimize the effect of natural resources
depletion, however it gives big impact on economy, not only because of
the high cost but also because of less availability of the resources,
and at the end we will question the sustainability of mankind.
The process of developing a good nation could also attain development
purposes in terms of good economy, good society and good political
process. Technology and innovation then become a strategic sector to
immediately prevent the bad impact of natural resources depletion, along
with management sector. Global population growth, climate change and
natural resources depletion are the most significant challenges. The
rise of green economy is expected to be able to counter these problems,
and at the same time open up new opportunities for businesses.
In 2009, President Yudhoyono pledged to cut Indonesia’s greenhouse
gas emission by 26% from business as usual levels by 2020, and by 41%
with international assistance. Since then, Norway has committed US$1
billion to help Indonesia to meet that target, and in May 2011 the
government issued a two-year moratorium on new forestry concessions. The
Critical Decade, a report by the Australian Climate Commission (now
Climate Council) summarized the current state of climate science, the
likely impacts and the urgency for action. The report said:
“…the global climate is changing and humanity is almost surely the
dominant cause. The risks have never been clearer and the case for
action has never been more urgent.”
Its conclusions and key messages are clear; they are the same as
those reached recently by the US National Academy of Science, and by all
other major scientific academies around the world: this warming is
already having adverse impacts around the world, with increases in hot
extremes and increases in sea level; and, decisions made this decade
will largely determine the extent of warming experienced over the next
two generations.
Hence, it is critical that the next elected President will honor the
on going pledge and take further action to cut Indonesia’s greenhouse
gas emission as stipulated from business as usual levels by 2020.
The 1st International Conference on Sustainable Innovation
(ICoSI) was held in 2012 with an emphasis on the regional network and
knowledge about sustainable innovation. The 2nd International Conference
on Sustainable Innovation will emphasize on the natural resources and
the built environment management with ethical, financial management,
innovative technology and public policy and regulatory solutions to
support the sustainability and energy resilience of Indonesia and the
rest of the world. The main theme of ICoSI 2014 “Technology and innovation challenges in natural resources and built environment management for humanity and sustainability”
reflects the need of immediate action from professionals, scientists,
policy makers, students, civil society members and all stakeholders with
different fields and different geographical backgrounds to face the
above global challenges.
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