Location: Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (Kiev, Ukraine), Chernobyl (Pripyat, Ukraine)
Organisers: OSI ReSET Project – Governance of Global Environmental Change, The National Technical University of Ukraine ‘Kyiv Polytechnic Institute’ (Kiev, Ukraine), Central European University (Budapest, Hungary), VU University (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), in cooperation with the European Commission Tempus Project – Environmental Governance for Environmental Curricula, and DEVAST Project – Disaster Evacuation and Risk Perception in Democracies, with endorsement by the Earth System Governance Project.
Faculty: Agnieszka Karczmarczyk, Alexander Slinchak, Andrey Timoshchenko, Anton Shkaruba, Eduard Podgaysky, Estelle Balian, Felix Stolberg, Hans-Peter Nachtnebel, Iryna Usava, Jan Milicka, Katarina Pavlickova, Marc Le Menestrel, Matthijs Hisschemöller, Matyas Szabo, Rem Khlebopros, Reiko Hasegawa, Ruben Mnatsakanian, Ruben Zondervan, Siamion Kundas, Sybille van den Hove, Tamara Dudar, Tatiana Kuchinskaya
The central theme of the Spring School in Kiev was civil nuclear governance, and allowed for a joint reflection on both the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents. It explored, amongst other things, the differences and similarities in information and communication flows, as well as the kind of crisis management deployed in nuclear accidents in such distinctively different societies as the USSR of the 1980’s and more recently in Japan. Both the participants and the faculty placed their focus on issues of nuclear energy in society, and on teaching them at the tertiary level. As a central component of the event, a field trip to Chernobyl was organised. Participants jointly reflected on risks and options for the future governance of nuclear energy and of its legacy. The Spring School provided a unique training opportunity to explore issues related to nuclear governance and more broadly environmental governance from multiple perspectives, including scientific, political, economic, technical, social and individual viewpoints.
The key purpose of the Spring School was not only to provide quality research training on governance of nuclear issues, discussing the actors and networks involved in the issue, their interactions, their rationalities and their stakes. There was a second key purpose, and that was simply to create a discussion space for various topics. The discussion of topics covered such areas as communication, ethics, economics, politics of the nuclear energy sector, as well as essential technological and social considerations. The event also gave participants space to reflect on possible strategies for rehabilitation of contaminated areas and ways to stimulate adaptation within local communities. Where possible, the controversies raised by these issues were identified and put forward. Speakers and participants were invited to give their honest and straightforward comments, while a range of opinions were offered by the faculty.
The Spring School and field trip served as platforms for genuine exchanges among participants from different cultural and institutional backgrounds. The field trip enabled participants to experience a direct, personal, and emotional journey into the reality of a
post-nuclear accident site. This provided participants not only with original insights on nuclear governance, but also with a genuine emotional experience and a great networking opportunity. Participants enriched their knowledge about the key challenges of nuclear energy governance and reinforced both in themselves and in other participants a sense of what critical and transformative capabilities would be needed to address these challenges. The Spring School strengthened the participants’ capacity to formulate and to support their opinions with arguments, and to participate in both scholarly and professional discussions on the issue.
Organising Committee & Faculty
- Agnieszka Karczmarczyk, Assistant Professor, Life Science University in Warsaw – SGGW (Poland)
- Alexander Slinchak, Professor and Head of Geographical Department, Pskov State University, (Russia)
- Andrey Timoshchenko, Professor, Head of Department for Nuclear Safety, International A.Sakharov Environmental University, (Minsk, Belarus)
- Anton Shkaruba, Research Fellow, Central European University (Budapest, Hungary)
- Eduard Podgaysky, Russian State Hydrometeorological University (Sankt-Petersburg, Russia)
- Estelle Balian, Research Associate, Median SCP (Barcelona, Spain)
- Felix Stolberg, Professor, Head of the Department of Engineering Ecology, Kharkiv National Academy for Municipal Economy (Ukraine)
- Hans-Peter Nachtnebel, Professor, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences – BOKU (Vienna, Austria)
- Iryna Usava, NGO Ecoproject, ENECA (Minsk, Belarus)
- Jan Milicka, Assistant Professor, Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia)
- Katarina Pavlickova, Head of Department for Landcape Ecology, Ass. Professor, Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia)
- Marc Le Menestrel, Professor of Business, University Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain); Visiting professor of Ethics, INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France); Partner, Median SCP, (Barcelona, Spain)
- Matthijs Hisschemöller, Senior Researcher, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands
- Matyas Szabo, Director of Curriculum Resource Centre, Central European University (Budapest, Hungary)
- Rem Khlebopros, Professor, Siberian Federal University (Krasnoyarsk, Russia)
- Reiko Hasegawa, Researcher, Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations, Internationales (IDDRI) (Paris, France)
- Ruben Mnatsakanian, Professor, Central European University (Budapest, Hungary)
- Siamion Kundas, Rector, International A. Sakharov Environmental University (Minsk, Belarus)
- Sybille van den Hove, Director and Partner, Median SCP; Visiting Professor, Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Autonomous University ofBarcelona (Spain); Member of the Scientific Committee, European Environment Agency
- Tamara Dudar, Assistant Professor, Institute for Environmenmtal Security (Kiev, Ukraine)
- Tatiana Kuchinskaya, National Technical University of Ukraine ‘Kyiv Polytechnic Institute’ (Kiev, Ukraine)
Please contact ipo@earthsystemgovernance.org for more information.
