PINT OF SCIENCE FESTIVAL
19-21 MAY 2025
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Scientific advances and societal evolution have always gone hand by hand in History, so how can science help to solve the challenges of the 21st century? The experts in this session will help us to deal with climate change, social inequalities, industrial production or politics from a scientific perspective.
Why we cannot ask shopkeepers to solve the climate crisis
Gerard Govers
Professor, Vice Rector and Head of the Sustainability Office
KU Leuven
Imagine you run a shop and you must decide when to start your sales. Early sales will increase your volume and profit, at least if you are the only shopkeeper doing so. But what if all other shops would also start early? Would you still profit from your decision? You may wonder what this problem has to do with environmental sustainability and the mitigation of climate change. In fact, quite a lot. In this talk, we will explore these parallels and their implications in combatting climate change effectively. It may change your vision on where your priorities should be with respect to climate change.
No stars in their eyes? Political parties and the EU
Gilles Pittoors
PhD Fellow in Political Science, GASPAR
Ghent University
Democratic politics in Western Europe depend on two fundamental concepts: the nation-state and political parties. A hot topic nowadays is how European integration affects, or even challenges, the traditional nation-state. But how do political parties respond to this (not entirely) new, supranational level? Parties barely (if at all) discuss European policies, nor do they adapt their internal organisation accordingly. Yet parties remain fundamental to our democracies. During this talk, we will discuss the role of parties in the democratic nature of the EU and how to reconcile these two.
How to spot unconscious bias and how to fight it
Nellie Konijnendijk
Policy officer equality and diversity
KU Leuven
We are all witnessing prejudices (or bias) on a daily basis by politicians, world leaders and/or in the media. Yet, we do not always realize how often we are exposed to bias in our day-to-day interactions or how it affects us and the people around us. How can we detect if prejudice is at play in our own environment? How can we know if we unintentionally take part in it? And what can we do about it? In this talk, we will discuss how scientists detect prejudices in academia, what this research teaches us and how we can use it to reduce prejudice and inequality around us.
