IRCELYON, UMR 5256–CNRS–Univ. Lyon 1, Villeurbanne -France
15h45 - 17h30
Amphi L'Huillier
This course in chemistry and sustainability, with elements from Earth-system sciences and social sciences, will cover the content below, with particular attention toward the terms in bold :
Anthropocene, Great acceleration, crossover point, Planetary Boundaries, chemistry, sustainability, transdisciplinarity, situated knowledges.
This course will first give an overview of the concepts of great acceleration,1a Anthropocene,1b crossover point1cand safe-operating space at the Earth system level defined by the planetary boundaries framework. Examples on how Chemistry is in part associated with some of this period’s fast systemic changes will also be provided.
Secondly, the usefulness for chemists striving for sustainability to establish transdisciplinary discussion with experts of the problem outside chemistry such philosophers, economists, historians, sociologists, anthropologists (and beyond the proximal cross-disciplinary allied fields we already are familiar with: toxicology, environment, computer sciences, earth sciences, physics, engineering …) will be suggested by taking concrete examples around CO2 and ammonia in the energy transition.2
Finally, a specific project called “Situated Green chemistries” will be presented.3 The project aims at broadening the research topics addressed by chemistry for sustainability by taking into consideration a concept from social sciences and humanities called situated knowledges. 4 Can expliciting the diversity of the community’s core drivers improve the quality of the science we produce ? How does, in research, attempt to loosen and explicit the entanglement between researchers’ situation and science production increase the transformative power of both?
References
[1] (a) W. Steffen at al. “The trajectory of theAnthropocene: The GreatAcceleration” Antrop. Review –1-18 (2005) DOI: 10.1177/2053019614564785 (b) P. Crutzen, “Geology of mankind” Nature 415, 23 (2002). DOI : 10.1038/415023a (c) E. Elhacham et al. « Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass. » Nature 588, 442–444 (2020). DOI : 10.1038/s41586-020-3010-5.
[2] M. Prévot et al, Chem. Sci., 2024,15, 9054-9086
[3] E. A. Quadrelli “Situated Green Chemistries” Submitted
[4] Donna Haraway Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective " Feminist Studies, Vol. 14, No. 3 , pp. 575-599 (1988) https://www.jstor.org/stable/3178066