Headline: IASS lecture series examines Latin American perspectives on sustainable development

Renowned Latin American scholars and political thinkers address equitable economics and sustainability/ IASS opens its doors to the public for its first lecture series
September 22, 2011. Latin American countries appear to exist in a dichotomy between economic and social progress, and the initiative to protect their natural resources. To open a discussion on these issues, the IASS invites the public to the lecture series “A Different Kind of Development? Perspectives from Latin America.” Four renowned South American scholars and political thinkers will take up issues of identity, sustainability and economic development on four evenings beginning October 9th.
Can technology and the desired economic vitality play a positive role and remain compatible with democratic identity and a healthy natural environment, particularly in face of the world economic crisis? What perspective can be taken to achieve a balance between the unequal states of development? Guest speakers are the economist Alberto Acosta, Ecuador, former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos Escobar, the Brazilian philosopher Cândido Mendes de Almeida and the scholar Francisco Sagasti of Peru.
The lectures will be held on four Sundays at 18:00 hours from October 9th til December 4th in the Kleistvilla, Berliner Str. 130, 14467, Potsdam. All lectures will be held in English or Spanish with simultaneous German translation.
Oct 9, 2011, 18:00: Alberto Acosta (Ecuador): „La Naturaleza con Derechos – Una propuesta de cambio civilizatorio“ („Nature with Rights – Towards a Change of Civilization”)
Oct 16, 2011, 18:00: Cândido Mendes de Almeida (Brazil): „Development and Social Identity: Sustainability and Ecology”
Oct 23, 2011, 18:00: Francisco Sagasti (Peru): „Development, knowledge and environment in the post-Baconian age: a Latin American Perspective”
Dec 4, 2011, 18:00: Ricardo Lagos Escobar (Chile): „A New Latin America: After the Crisis. Challenges and Opportunities”
Additional lecture, Dec 9, 2011 (friday), 15:00: Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga (Honduras): „Sustainable development in the face of today’s social challenges“
Location: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) Potsdam, Berliner Straße 130, 14467 Potsdam
“A Different Kind of Development? Perspectives from Latin America” is a project by the IASS Cluster “Global Contract for Sustainability,” which addresses sustainability challenges through a trans-disciplinary approach, focusing on the social sciences and humanities and providing a platform for dialogue with practitioners.