GERMANY, THE EU, AND THE ENERGIEWENDE; TOWARD A MORE JUST AND SUSTAINABLE EUROPE

This virtual event is part of the TransAtlantic Masters Program Fall Friday Lecture Series and 2021 Campus Weeks.

Europe continues to lead the way in mitigating global climate change through decarbonization, transitions to renewable energy, and related shifts towards sustainability. From the EU-level European Green Deal, to the vast array of policies and practices within individual municipalities across Europe, European leaders and residents are reimagining a sustainable future at multiple levels of governance and civil society. This has only increased as stakeholders across the private and public sectors work to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, the focus on Europe’s environmental sustainability in the midst of a global climate crisis increasingly includes a stress on making Europe more socially inclusive and expanding economic opportunity for all. Indeed, documents such as the European Commission’s Cohesion Policy and the New Leipzig Charter (adopted at the recent Informal Ministerial Meeting on Urban Matters) highlight, Europe’s sustainable development should be built upon a foundation of cities and regions which are not just green and blue, but also productive and just. However, despite significant innovations and progress towards environmentally sustainable development, such efforts have not always lead to greater environmental justice or equity for all Europeans (sometimes even exacerbating already existing disparities). This panel will examine the examples, opportunities, and challenges emerging from Europe’s on-going efforts to mitigate climate change and foster a more green, productive, and just Europe.

Please register in advance to receive a Zoom link.

Panelists

Greg Gangi

Greg Gangi is the associate director for education and serves as a clinical assistant professor at the UNC Institute for the Environment. He is also a senior lecturer in the curriculum in environment and ecology. Experiential education is something Gangi believes is crucial for students’ development. He has led various trips that has provided students with experiential education opportunities, including to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Galapagos Islands, Siberia, St. John, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. In addition to leading trips for students, in collaboration with the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, he coordinates the UNC Clean Tech Summit, which brings together professionals in business, policy and academia from across the state and region for discussions, workshops, mentoring and networking to foster leadership and growth in the southeast’s clean tech industry. Gangi is concerned with the broad scope of the relationship between the environment and society. By training, he is a tropical ecologist with a strong interest in conservation and sustainable development. He is also interested in public policy and international studies and has taught a number of courses in these fields. Gangi also holds a membership with the Ecological Society of America.

 

Jon Lepofsky

Jon Lepofsky is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his BA in Metropolitan Studies from New York University and his PhD in Geography at UNC, along with a Graduate Certificate in Cultural Studies. His empirical and theoretical work on urban economic geography and community development has been published in a range of journals, including Community Development Journal, Ethics, Place & Environment, Health & Place, Journal of Environmental Studies & Sciences, Urban Affairs Review, and Urban Studies. He has also authored entries for the Encyclopedia of Human Geography and the Encyclopedia of Geography. Such work has examined urban citizenship and the politics of community.  His current courses focus on geographies of globalization as well as environmental justice in urban Europe.