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GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES- Bridging Disciplines and Cultures

As an NGO member of Forum UNESCO, UNEP, and International PEN, PAEP takes grassroots initiatives, working with and for youth to advance the universal values and principles of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and UNEP: To understand and respect cultural diversity as the common heritage of humanity; foster a new transdisciplinary educational, scientific, environmental and inter-cultural dialogue towards a universal code of ethics for the benefit of future generations; build awareness and mutual understanding; and strengthen international co-operation in the protection and safeguarding of the world's shared natural, cultural, intellectual and scientific heritage.

Upcoming Program

1. The 21st transdisciplinary Canadian International Youth Forum (ScienceSphere) will be held on Saturday, 20 October 2012, honouring United Nations Day.
Under the theme Education for a Sustainable Future:
Exploring New Ways of Knowing - Sciences and Humanities,
Values and Society, topics include:

• Confronting the Ecological Crisis of the Planet:
  The Direction We Must Go -
  Managing without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster
  (MWG - Book) (Related Video)
  Presenter/Author: Peter A. Victor, Ph.D., Faculty of Environmental Studies,
  York University
  
  
• Challenges in Neuroscience: From Brain to Behaviour
  Presenter: Allison B. Sekuler, Ph.D., Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour (PNB) (Deptartment Information)
  Associate Vice-President and Dean (Graduate Studies), McMaster University
  
  
• Nanotechnology: From Vision to New Technologies to Industrial Revolution? Key Roles, Challenges and Benefits for Sustainable Development and You
  Presenter: Ulrich Krull, Ph.D., Professor of Analytical Chemistry (Department Information); AstraZeneca Chair in Biotechnology; Vice-Principal Research, University of Toronto
  
  
• UPDATE: Quadrennial Report to the United Nations Environment Programme
  International Youth Network (IYNet) & PAEP Activities Overview
  2012-2013 Writing Projects: Alternative Energy Resources - The Bridge to the Future Presenter: Saviz Ehyai, Ph.D. Student, Department of Biology,
  York University
  
  

Program outline and schedule here.

This event is held in partnership with the Ontario Science Centre, Toronto.
Admission for this community program is free for students (high school, college, university), and educators (teachers, parents, counselors), and the general public.
Name registration for special free passes is required.

For individual or group registration use:

Email: paep.utm@utoronto.ca
Tel: 416-486-9333
Or fax registration form to 416-483-0002

Closing date: Friday, 19 October 2012

2. The 19th Canadian International Youth Forum included:

• Our Biotech Future - Nanotechnology Meets Biotechnology:
  Science Fiction Or Reality?
  Ulli Krull, Ph.D., Professor of Analytical Chemistry; AstraZeneca Chair in Biotechnology; Vice-Principal, Research, University of Toronto
  (Summary PDF)
  
  
• The Human Science of Violence: Resolving the Problems Together
  Greg Malszecki, Ph.D., Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science; The LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution, York University
  (Summary - Powerpoint)
  
  
• The Integration of Young Muslims Into Canadian Society:
  Preventing Both Marginalisation and Extremism
  Haideh Moghissi, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, School of Social Sciences;
  Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, School of Women's Studies; York University
  
  

The Youth Forum was dedicated to the memory of Prof. Dr. Isam Kadhem Al Rawi (1949-2006), geologist, environmental scientist and peacemaker, Baghdad University, Iraq. A special issue of the Canadian International Youth Letter entitled Environmental Science and Planet Earth: Realities and Facts - Education for a Sustainable Future has been dedicated to Professor Al Rawi, his colleagues, teachers and students, honouring their moral courage and dignity, for the people of Iraq and for us all.

The transdisciplinary Youth Letter includes reports by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that provide a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the current state of knowledge on climate change. Recognizing the problem of potential global climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988.

3. Student Writing Award Projects of the Sciences and Humanities -
Values and Society.
Topic for 2010: Alternative Energy Resources - The Bridge to the Future: Environmental Science and Equitable Sustainable Development for the New Millennium
Closing Date: 1 July 2010 Details

4. The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 was awarded to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

• The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has made it clear that combatting climate change is a central peace and security policy for the 21 century. The IPCC and former US Vice-President Al Gore have contributed significantly to elevating public attention on the issue of global warming while outlining the enormous risks but also the enormous opportunities confronting the world.
  
  
• The role of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of the risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impact and options for adaptation and mitigation. The IPCC does not carry out research nor does it monitor climate related data or other relevant parameters. It bases its assessment mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific/technical literature. Its role, organisation, participation and general procedures are laid down in the "Principles Governing IPCC Work"
  


• Recognizing the problem of potential global climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. PAEP, as an NGO member of UNEP, has contributed in this process, and by also building awareness and disseminating the work of the IPCC to youth in Canada and internationally.
  


• Resolving environmental issues does not so much involve the need for novel technologies and new legislation as an entire change of collective consciousness. This implies a major transformation in the order of the global society. Lack of and insufficiencies of education, violence, wars and conflicts leading to disruptions of value systems, migration, unequal access to goods, and lack of governance are considered to be among the primary contributing factors for the degradation of the environment and the slow progress of international peace.
  
  
• The degradation of environmental resources mirrors the totality of mental, physical, economical, cultural, aesthetic and social circumstances and factors which surround and affect the quality of peoples' lives.
  
  
• As we enter the 21^st century, the biggest challenge facing our next generations is to ensure that the direction of globalization and the advancement of science and knowledge-building becomes an insightful force for a shared humanity. A humanistic force that respects the common intellectual, cultural and scientific heritage of humankind and equitably provisions the world's people with ecological goods and services they need to build and maintain their societies.
  
  
• Of vital importance in this process is preparing youth for the intellectual, moral and ethical responsibilities needed for a deeper understanding of interconnectedness, the understanding and respect for cultural diversity, and the safeguarding of biodiversity for achieving equitable sustainability to ensure the quality of life and dignity of future generations.
  
  

PAEP is fully committed to these objectives. They include moving forward the role of women in science and engineering for humanity; replacing discord with harmony by the maturing away from the glorification of the cult of war and violence, fundamentalism and contempt for science and reason, which is inappropriate to the conditions of the 21st century knowledge, towards a culture of genuine peace; re-channeling the preoccupation with the militarization of science towards a comprehensive understanding of interdependence and equitable sustainable development; thus offering the possibility of a major leap forward in global human progress towards a better world.

5. A new series of the transdisciplinary Canadian International Youth Letter of the Science and Humanities - Values and Society (CIYL) has been developed with an emphasis on science and human affairs. Under the theme "Exploring New Ways of Knowing – A Meeting of Minds, Science and Human Experience", the series incorporates cultural and youth studies as well as research-based information and analysis on the science of human behaviour, including the effects of war, destructiveness and violence on child and youth development, global mental health and the environment.

The series is part of the new project of the International Youth Network for the Advancement of the Sciences, Humanities and Global Bioethics (IYNet)

IYNet Project Development: Core Issues, Key Considerations and Observations

Note: The 18th Canadian International Youth Forum hosted 380 attendants. The forum was held in commemoration of Hannah Arendt's 100th birthday. Hannah Arendt (14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was one of the twentieth-century's most important philosophers and most searching and sane thinkers in political science. Arendt’s work deals with the nature of science (i.e. knowledge), power, and the subjects of politics, authority, and totalitarianism.

Introduction to Public Awareness Education Programs (PAEP)

“Facing the challenges of the 21st century by planning for a sustainable future at home and through international joint ventures is crucial for long-term economic growth, the well-being of our society, the international community, and the success of future generations.

Within the process of worldwide transformation and global adjustments to decreasing natural resources, a new vision for the future and innovative tools for harnessing knowledge are needed. From being present-oriented we will have to become future-oriented. To meet the interdependent requirements of the global direction and to position Canada among the leaders in the new age of sustainable industry, new sciences and innovative technologies are required.”

From the PAEP Mission Statement – Minding Our Future

"On Becoming a Scientist: If we want to give tommorow's world a real chance, then we must give science its rightful place."

John Polanyi, 1986 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry,
2001 Lecture, Canadian International Youth Forum.

The primary objectives of PAEP are:

Preparing youth for the challenges in the increasingly knowledge-driven and interdependent world of the 21st century, by

Advancing not only a scientific-technological, but also an environmentally and inter-culturally literate human resource base, and

Fostering a new educational and cultural dialogue to more effectively increase public awareness, knowledge and understanding of the significance of:

• The sciences and innovation
• Research and development
• The environment and sustainable development
• The development and engineering of new technologies,

as an integral part of our education and culture.

To accomplish this, PAEP’s innovative, youth-focused programs under the theme, “Exploring New Ways of Knowing,” establish important transdisciplinary linkages with the humanities, the branches of learning that sustain creativity, social thought, ethics and the values we rely upon as a society, especially: history, philosophy, literature, the arts, and the cognitive and social sciences.

This key transdisciplinary program design serves to:

• Inspire greater interest in science, innovation and technology
• Place the societal significance of science in its proper perspective
• Deepen perception and creative thinking for science
• Anchor the principles that build and strengthen international understanding
• Promote excellence in science.

Program contributors are scholars and educators, scientists and engineers of national and international distinction, representing advanced education, the humanities and social sciences, as well as public life and industry. Their progressive ideas, scientific, cultural and social thought for the world and future generations help build and advance constructive dialogue towards universal values and action for sustainable development.

As speakers, members of the Advisory Council and contributors to the Canadian International Youth Letter they share their knowledge and experience. They help build linkages, networks and partnerships across Canada and the international community.

PAEP programs and initiatives provide the opportunity for students (high school, college, university) and educators (teachers, guidance counselors, student teachers, parents), and the general public,

• To access the world of the new sciences and emerging technologies, and prepare for the 21st century by linking innovative ideas to new knowledge for new skills
  and careers


• To share their commitment to working for a sustainable world community and to building a better future.



PAEP goals are advanced through:

• Canadian International Youth Forums – Exploring New Ways of Knowing
• International Youth Network for the Advancement of the Sciences,
  Humanities and Global Bioethics (IYNet)
• Canadian International Youth Letter
• Writing Award Projects
• Global Bioethics
• PAEP Science International – A Global Perspective
• UNESCO, UNEP

Additional information:

• Canadian International Youth Forum Highlights 1994 - 2006
• Program Highlights 1984 - 1993
• PAEP speakers, directors, and members of the Advisory Council