The UAB to inaugurate the 2024/25 academic year with a conference by Dr Kevin Anderson
Monday 14 October at 12 noon, the UAB will hold the inauguration of the 2024/25 academic year. The event will take place at the conference hall of the Rectorat building and the inaugural lecture will be given by Dr Kevin Anderson, professor of the University of Manchester. His lecture is entitled "Pessimism of the Intellect, Optimism of the Will: from Paris to the EU without the denial". The event will also be streamed live on the UAB YouTube channel.
The event is part of an academic year dedicated to raising awareness of the need to minimise the use of fossil fuels. Under the slogan “Let's reduce the use of fossil fuels!” several activities have been programmed to raise awareness among society about the need to reduce the consumption of oil, coal and gas, and increase the use of clean and renewable energies.
The opening ceremony will also include the presentation of the institutional report of the past academic year (2023-2024) by the secretary general of the UAB, Esther Zapater, and the performance of the University Choir, which will interpret pieces such as Temps, with music by Poire Vallvé on a poem by Vicente Andrés Estelles; The Times they are A-changin', by Bob Dylan, with arrangements by Adam Podd; and Nocturn, with music by Poire Vallvé on a poem by Àngel Guimerà.
As for the institutional speeches, in addition to Rector Lafuente, speehes will be given by Ramon Alberich, vice president of the Social Council of the UAB; Carlos Cordón, mayor of Cerdanyola del Vallès; and Núria Montserrat, Minister for Research and Universities.
The reality of the Paris Agreement
In the opening lecture, Dr Kevin Anderson will attempt to clarify the quantitative scale of the enormous gap between the rhetoric and the reality of the Paris Agreement. By dismantling technical utopias and the methodical avoidance of any element challenging existing power structures, he will demonstrate that there are no longer any non-radical futures. For Anderson, a choice must be made between making a profound but organised shake-up of structural norms and values, or waiting a little longer for chaotic and violent social change to come.
Kevin Anderson is professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University of Manchester and visiting professor at Uppsala University (Sweden). Formerly he held the position of Zennström professor (in Uppsala) and was director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (UK). He engages widely with governments, industry and civil society, and remains research active with publications in Climate Policy, Nature and Science. He has a decade’s industrial experience in the petrochemical industry, is a chartered engineer and fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
To attend, please sign up here. The event will be streamed live on the UAB YouTube channel.