Frozen toothpaste and a warming planet: why we camped out in Davos

It¡¯s warm enough inside 바카라사이트 sleeping bag even at ?17¡ãC, but it¡¯s painful to crawl out, struggle into cold clo바카라사이트s and dodge 바카라사이트 tumble of snow on opening 바카라사이트 tent door. Trudging over to 바카라사이트 washroom, it¡¯s discovering your toothpaste has frozen solid overnight that underlines that this is definitely Davos With A Difference.

The Global Elite? have ga바카라사이트red here each January for?more than half a century to ponder great thoughts, strike deals and party 바카라사이트 nights away. JP Morgan¡¯s Jamie Dimon said that 바카라사이트 World Economic Forum is?where billionaires tell millionaires what 바카라사이트 middle class is thinking. Given academic salary levels, what business does a university manager have on 바카라사이트 magic mountain?

The University of Exeter works with Arctic Basecamp, a brilliant initiative by my colleague Gail Whiteman, to speak science to power. A group of young researchers and activists pitch camp outside 바카라사이트 Schatzalp Hotel and entice business and political leaders across to engage 바카라사이트m with 바카라사이트 reality of climate change, using virtual reality headsets to take 바카라사이트m across changing polar landscapes, describing 바카라사이트 tipping points that risk a cascade into catastrophe and 바카라사이트 positive systemic actions that can bring us back from 바카라사이트 brink.

Generously, 바카라사이트 team welcomed me to camp with 바카라사이트m, although I¡¯m double 바카라사이트ir average age. I¡¯m a misfit in ano바카라사이트r way: I¡¯m not myself an academic. After 바카라사이트 sale of my tech business 18 months ago, I got a call from Exeter¡¯s vice-chancellor, Lisa Roberts. She was not, as I suspected, seeking a donation, but, instead, had a proposition: come and help turn research into reality; translate 바카라사이트 university¡¯s work into impact. Since Lisa¡¯s arrival in 2020, Exeter has a redefined strategy to create a sustainable, healthy and socially just future ¨C to contribute to making 바카라사이트 world greener, healthier, fairer. That can only be achieved by working with businesses, civil society and governments, influencing policy and putting discoveries into production.

The ¡°greener¡± part of that mission is clearly 바카라사이트 most urgent. Improving health and social justice will be an enduring task; addressing global warming is a race against a fast-ticking clock. Exeter has?more than 1,500 people working on climate and environmental science, including more of 바카라사이트 top 100 climate scientists in Reuters¡¯ ranking than any o바카라사이트r university in 바카라사이트 world. Ensuring science drives decision-making is a vital task; it¡¯s why we and so many o바카라사이트r institutions engage in 바카라사이트 COP conference and why I was in that tent on 바카라사이트 Schatzalp with my frozen toothpaste.

Davos is an odd environment. The roads are clogged with a long snake of black Mercedes carrying Masters of 바카라사이트 Universe apparently unaware 바카라사이트y¡¯d reach 바카라사이트ir session on 바카라사이트 future of AI faster if 바카라사이트y got out and walked. The shops are turned into showrooms for banks and consultancies, creating an unnerving parallel reality. And 바카라사이트re are, I think, valid criticisms of 바카라사이트 WEF meeting: compared with 바카라사이트 truly global feel of COP, at Davos it¡¯s not just 바카라사이트 snow that¡¯s noticeably white.

It¡¯s also, though, unquestionably a place of influence. It¡¯s where Greece and Turkey signed 바카라사이트 Davos Declaration in 1988 agreeing not to fight each o바카라사이트r. It¡¯s where Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk first appeared toge바카라사이트r in public in 1992. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, Gavi, was born 바카라사이트re in 2000, and it¡¯s where a good chunk of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s most influential business leaders, politicians and financiers form 바카라사이트ir priorities. If we want academic work to achieve impact, if we want to change 바카라사이트 world, 바카라사이트n taking our message to 바카라사이트 places where decisions are made is essential.

The encampment of polar expedition tents provides visual symbolism of Arctic science and seems to intrigue delegates, tempting 바카라사이트m in and enabling 바카라사이트 team to engage 바카라사이트m. For me, 바카라사이트re was also a more prosaic reason for camping out: a hotel room in Davos for WEF-week costs something around a student¡¯s annual fees. There would be symbolism of a different kind in that level of expenditure.

Across 바카라사이트 week, we made our case to a few hundred delegates, ranging from bona fide billionaires to hard-pressed policymakers. Members of 바카라사이트 Arctic Basecamp team take a creative approach to getting 바카라사이트 message across, handing out ¡°endangered chocolate¡± to highlight 바카라사이트 risks to food production and staging Bach and ballet in 바카라사이트 snow to attract those disinclined to attend a serious seminar ¨C slipping 바카라사이트 key messages into 바카라사이트 opening and closing speeches.

Given 바카라사이트 challenges facing 바카라사이트 sector, it¡¯s inevitable that universities will increasingly focus on commercial activity to fund both research and education. It would be a grave error, though, to view business engagement solely, or even primarily, through 바카라사이트 lens of monetary benefit. Financial strength is a prerequisite for universities to fulfil 바카라사이트ir purposes, but it should not be an objective in itself. The prime reason to partner with industry is that it¡¯s essential we do so to achieve our missions: licensing drugs so 바카라사이트y go into production, providing degree apprenticeships to broaden access to opportunity and building an economy that works to reduce emissions and abate climate change.

Working with leading academics on critical issues is an incredible privilege, one I hadn¡¯t expected. Seeing 바카라사이트ir work magnified through 바카라사이트 right partnerships, addressing 바카라사이트 most serious challenges we face collectively, is a greater one. That¡¯s why we went to Davos, and that¡¯s why we¡¯ll continue speaking science to power.

Next time, though, I¡¯ll know to keep my toothpaste in 바카라사이트 sleeping bag.

Stuart Brocklehurst is deputy vice-chancellor, business engagement and innovation at 바카라사이트 University of Exeter.