by Dr. Andreas Losch
Humans are setting out for the stars. Our space environment is being used more and more intensively, mega-constellations are beginning to light up the night sky and disrupt science. Junk is accumulating in the more heavily used Earth orbits. Several countries now want to go to the Moon, and this time plan to use its resources.
As time on Earth is limited, we need to move. But we need ethical guidelines in the area of outer space, which is an international domain, especially because the law remains open to interpretation. Moreover, we need to link the issues of sustainable space use with the environmental debate here on Earth: we should discuss an 18th Sustainable Development Goal for our space environment.
Do we really need to grow into space? How can we do it in a sustainable way? It is high time for an integrated discussion of space matters with planetary concerns. The workshop #PLASUS21 – „Planetary Sustainability 21: Challenges, Opportunities and Necessities” connects space & global sustainability, key space actors and sustainability thinkers and takes place on this week’s Thursday 29/4/21 9-17 CET online. Speakers include
- Christian Berg, Club of Rome, on „Planetary Boundaries and Limits to Growth»
- Xiao-Shan Yap, EAWAG/University of Utrecht, on „Earth-Space Sustainability»
- Thomas Schildknecht, University of Bern, on „Environmental challenges: Space Debris; the Brightness of Megaconstellations“
- Luc Piguet, ClearSpace.today, on „How to address the space debris challenge“
- Gaetan Petit, Space4Impact, on „Space can do more for Earth“
- Dovilé Matuleviciute, Luxembourg Space Agency, on „Space Resources & Innovation“
- Stefaan De Mey, European Space Agency, on „Forward to the Moon: Europe’s exploration program Terrae Novae and Artemis“
- Emmanuelle David, EPFL, on „Sustainable Space Logistics“
- Oliver Ullrich, University of Zurich, on „Biological Challenges in Space“
- Andreas Losch, University of Bern/University of Pretoria, with André Galli, University of Bern and Xiao-Shan Yap, EAWAG on „Planetary Sustainability: the concept“
The workshop will be opened by Natália Archinard from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland and concluded by a panel yet to be announced.
There is also the opportunity to arrange 1:1 meetings amongst participants on the platform during lunchtime and after the event.
For more information on the speakers and an up-to-date schedule visit www.plasus21.events.
The workshop is organized by the University of Bern and supported by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, the UZH Space Hub, the Reformed Churches Bern Jura Solothurn and the International Space Science Institute Bern.