The grand governance challenges of our time are defined by a lack of clear-cut, “silver-bullet” solutions. Societal and legal efforts to manage climate change and the energy transition, biodiversity loss, overuse of natural resources and environmental pollution evoke questions of biophysical complexity and scientific uncertainty as well as questions of governance complexity meaning a swarm of actors, instruments and values at play in efforts to tackle these challenges. Accordingly, multiple governance theories are developing an increasingly nuanced understanding of governing this complexity. Most notably, complexity theory is used to understand the networked structure and emergent developments both in law and in the systems law seeks to regulate. Polycentric governance discusses self-organisation as a third mode of governance alongside command-and-control and markets. Finally, adaptive governance seeks to bridge notions of self-organisation with the notion of ecological resilience and the role of state in a globalized world with powerful market actors. This 3-part Webinar Series brings these complexity-informed governance theories together to discuss their applicability to and applications in governing the grand climate, energy and environmental challenges of our time.
Part I: Law and complexity
Time and place: 6 October at 3 pm CET on Zoom (4 pm Finnish time)
Keynote speakers:
Professor JB Ruhl (Vanderbilt University): The complexity of governing complexity
Assistant professor Rakhyun E. Kim (Utrecht University): Unravelling institutional complexity for governing complex systems? Some insights from a network perspective
Part II: Law and polycentric governance
Time and place: 13 October at 9 am CET on Zoom (10 am Finnish time)
Keynote speaker: Professor Josephine van Zeben (Wageningen University)
Please register by October 12th at 12 CET.
Part III: Law and adaptive governance
Time and place: 20 October at 4 pm CET on Zoom (5 pm Finnish time)
Keynote speaker: Professor Barbara Cosens (University of Idaho)
Please register by October 20th at 12 CET.
Program
All three events begin with a short introduction to governing complexity of climate, energy and environmental systems, followed by a 30-minute keynote lecture. After, there is time for comments, questions and discussion.
The events will be moderated by professor Niko Soininen. The seminar series is organised by Dr Kaisa Huhta. For any inquiries, please contact her at kaisa.huhta@uef.fi.
Registration
The Seminar Series is free of charge. All registered participants will be sent the Zoom link on the day of the event.