"Curating Contemporary Art" Seminar Program
Seminar: 3 Degrees? - Science and Politics as the Climate Crisis Accelerates
Speaker: Ümit Şahin
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm
Climate change is accelerating. Despite all the measures taken and the ongoing energy transition, the world is warming by 2 degrees Celsius in 20 years and at least 3 degrees Celsius by the end of this century compared to pre-industrial times. This average temperature has not been seen on Earth for 5-10 million years, and it is not clear whether the human species and our civilization can survive in such a hot world. Is it possible to get out of such a crisis through a slow and cautious transformation, as far as we can, without affecting industrial lifestyles and consumption levels, without eliminating inequalities, without continuing to ruthlessly exploit nature? In this seminar we will discuss how we are heading for 3 degrees, the reasons for it, its historical meaning and what inadequate struggle and wrong solutions look like.
About Ümit Şahin
Senior fellow and climate change studies coordinator at Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center. He also teaches global environmental issues, climate change and environmental policies at Sabancı University. He was born in Istanbul in 1969. He graduated from Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine in 1991. He earned a PhD in public health. He has been involved in the green movement since the 1990s. He served as the president of the Association of Physicians for the Environment, which he co-founded, and as a co-spokesperson for the Green Party. In 2007, he coordinated the “Turkey Sign Kyoto!” campaign. He has written reports, articles and book chapters on climate change, ecology, green politics and environmental health. Since 2008, he has been preparing the program Açık Yeşil (Open Green) with Ömer Madra on Açık Radyo and writing for Yeşil Gazete.
* To learn conditions of participation in a single seminar, we would kindly ask you to send an e-mail to apply@curatingcontemporaryart.org address noting the required seminar details. Single seminar participation fee is 650 TL.
* The program will take place on the online platform Zoom.