After Hours

What's the connection between satellites and petroleum? And what can they tell us about natural gas as the so-called bridge fuel? Or about the distribution of solar farms?

Satellite pictures are useful not only for the scientists who conduct research on the causes and symptoms of climate change. They can also be useful in evaluating the climate catastrophe response strategies. Both from the scientific and the journalistic perspective.

Join me for a conversation around a few examples of using satellites in the context of climate that I have prepared.

Aleksander Jasiak

Geologist, informal educator, trade unionist. Lover of using satellite pictures in socially committed education. Co-creator of “Satellite pictures in school” online course. Within Copernicus Science Centre, he coordinates the Space Education Office ESERO-Poland. Works at Autonomous Educational Space.

Our activities generate carbon footprint – if we wish to reduce it, we should be wary of imprudent actions which don't really make a difference, or even make things worse! In order to act rationally, we need to start with finding the sources of our individual emissions, take a closer look at their importance, and consider possible substitutes. That is how we begin to tackle the most important issues!

Dariusz Aksamit

Scientist, science communicator, and NGO activist. A medical physicist at the Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology. Works on applications of ionising radiation in medicine, radiation and radon measuring, and radiological protection. Cooperates with, among others, the National Research Institute of Oncology and the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology. Former employee of the Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection. Takes action within NGOs: he's a co-founder and the first Chair of The Spokesmen of Science, co-founder and board member of Marsz dla Nauki Foundation. Recipient of “Science Communicator 2018” prize in the category of Animator, awarded by the Science in Poland website and the Ministry of Education and Science.

You are welcome to join our discussion on economic issues related to climate change. We will take a closer look at the energy sector, which – in the nearest future – needs to undergo a fundamental transformation, in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses, while, at the same time, reliably providing energy to developing economies. So, let's talk about the energy transition. What are its possible scenarios, what chances do they bring, and what are the dangers. Is there a realistic threat of a serious breakdown of energy systems, of a blackout? How should we change our ways of producing and using energy? We will also talk about the stances of economists who deal with climate change, and the values that guide them.

Zbigniew Bohdanowicz

Economist and psychologist. Works at the Laboratory of Interactive Tecnologies, at the National Information Processing Institute – National Research Institute, where he conducts research on transformations of the energy sector within the European Union, new models of using electric

energy, energy awareness in societies, and attitudes towards new solutions. He works as a climate educator at the University of Warsaw. He's the co-author and one of science editors of an interdisciplinary handbook on climate change, “Climate ABC”. He's a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; executed a research project on attitudes towards climate policies in Poland and Germany.

The fight against the results of climate change requires a huge amount of data regarding the quality of air, water and soil in many places on Earth. No scientist is capable of gathering all that data alone. Also, professional equipment would be required. Thankfully, we have independent inventors and open source technologies. Measuring devices and verifiable data sets could be used when making key decisions regarding the fight against climate crisis, or when educating the inhabitants of the researched regions.

At this stand, we will find examples of such devices, created by independent inventors – a Safecast geiger counter (https://safecast.org/) and a smog detector.

Paweł Ngei

Programmer, hacker, activist, and educator. For the last decade, he has been dealing with citizen science and open source technologies. He began from working on independent brain-computer interfaces and sharing neurological data. Member of Global Innovation Gathering, a network of activists, inventors, and educators from the Global South. Cooperated with inventors and researchers from Europe, Middle East, both Americas, and Africa. Lately, he has gathered data for the Safecast project, which was created after the Fukushima catastrophe, in order to provide maps of ionising radiation all over the world. He is a solarpunk – he believes that by changing our culture, economy, and technology, we can survive the climate catastrophe.

We wish to talk about the ways in which the countries of the Global South are managing the effects of climate change. Even though it is a worldwide issue, most of the contamination and CO2 emissions come from the developed countries, but it is the Global South countries which are experiencing their results much more heavily. The climate change influences economy, nutrition and food safety, culture, and the customs of whole communities. Some regions are especially threatened by the increase of temperatures and pay a disproportionately bigger price for the global warming, and yet – at the international forum, the voices of the Global South don't really count.

Star Ngei

An international activist and educator in the field of open source technologies, privacy, and digital economy. Specialising in mesh networks and Distributed Ledger Technologies, and their influence on societies and economies. For 5 years, Ngei has taken part in Global Innovation Gathering, a network of activists, inventors, and educators from the Global South, working towards a responsible and balanced development of technology. She hosts workshops on technological solutions in the Global South countries, and their possible applications in Europe.

Modern philosophers deliberately abandon the utopian vision of clean, paradise-like, green planet, promoted by traditional ecological imaginations. They often reference the controversial figure of Cthulhu – the Great Old One, a tentacled, monstrous god, from the literary universe of H. P. Lovecraft. The sinister figure of Cthulhu is a source of inspiration e.g. for Donna Haraway, a biologist and philosopher, who sees him as a life-giving realisation of symbiotic interspecies connections. The dark character from the prose of Lovecraft is also an important reference point for thinkers who work in the field of speculative realism – Graham Harman (weird realism) and Timothy Morton (hyperobjects).

Dr. Andrzej Marzec

Philosopher, film critic, editor of “Czas Kultury” magazine, curator of a film course “Short circuits” in Pawilon, Poznań. His research is focused around speculative realism, object-oriented ontology, dark ecology, and contemporary alternative cinema. Author of “Hauntology – the philosophical theories and artistic practices of postmodernity” (2015) and “After Nature – philosophy and aesthetics of Anthropocene” (2021), which was nominated for the Identitas Award.

Effective Altruism Foundation

Which organisations work most effectively in the area of combating climate change and reducing its negative effects? What makes some of them more effective than others? How can we join their efforts? These, and other similar questions will be answered during this panel. We will pay special attention to the costs, the power of scientific proofs, and the possibility for further scaling of the solutions. We will also try to examine the frequently overlooked aspects of charitable activism in the areas where change is as urgent, as it is measurable.

During After Hours, the Polish team of the international Effective Altruism movement will be represented by the new presidents of the Effective Altruism Foundation – Maja Laura Jaryczewska i Jakub Królak. The movement is shaped by people whose wish is to do as much good as possible. In Poland, Effective Altruism Foundation works to popularise scientific knowledge and philosophical reflections regarding charity (see Derek Parfit, Peter Singer). They raise money for the most effective charity organisations, recommended by the GiveWell evaluators. In 2021, the Foundation joined a programme organised by Charity Entrepreneurship, which aims to build research competences in the area of charitable activity.

Maja Laura Jaryczewska

Jakub Królak

Around 2 billion cups of coffee are drunk every day, which generates huge amounts of waste. In Poland, the amount of produced coffee grounds is estimated to be around 120 000 tons per year. Landfills are getting bigger and bigger, just like the emissions of greenhouse gasses. During After Hours, we will have a conversation about technologies which allow to conduct a closed loop economy. EcoBean technology allows us to transform coffee grounds into bioproducts.

Marcin Koziorowski

The CEO of EcoBean, a startup created to build a closed loop economy, and to implement new business models on the HORECA market, based on collecting and transforming coffee grounds from cafes, hotels, petrol stations, and offices. The main goal which Marcin Koziorowski has set for his team is to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of places which serve coffee. For 10 years, he has been effectively connecting the world of science with the world of business. He manages, mentors, and supports a few startups from the field of material, chemical, and pro-ecological technologies. Koziorowski also trains and lectures in the field of project management, technology commercialisation, new product development.

Solarpunk is a new genre, growing in popularity in literature, art, fashion, and activism, which is one of the few positive, filled with hope, aspirational visions of the future, in the context of the relationship between civilisation and nature. Without utopian wishful thinking, just specific values, and empirically proven reasons for optimism. Solarpunk shows a world where we are much more aware of the environmental costs of the development of civilisation. In this approach, humanity doesn't rule over nature, but rather civilisation and nature have become a harmonious entirety, and are making each other stronger, together. Be fruitful, multiply, and befriend the earth, rather than subdue it. Kim Stanley Robinson, laureate of Hugo and Nebula prizes, writes his novels in the spirit of Solarpunk, but – as he says himself – he is not tied with the movement, and his work is more of a continuation of the utopian tradition in its critical form, tailored for the realities we are actually facing.

Michał Klata

Graduate of Sociology and English Studies. He will present solutions to the climate crisis that have been proposed by Kim Stanley Robinson and the Solarpunk movement. Attendees of the meeting will have a chance to talk to the researcher, and find out what cognitive alienation is about, and how, according to Robinson, a city of the future could look like. It will also be a great networking opportunity!

At the Nevomo stand, we will talk about the possibilities of using hyperloop inspired transport technology. With the already existing railway infrastructure, the Nevomo technology will immediately allow us to transport people and goods with an average speed twice as high as in conventional rail. Eventually, the trains will be able to reach a target speed of 550 km/h.

Maciej Lenartowicz

Engineer and constructor. Co-Founder & Head of Infrastructure in Nevomo, where he is responsible for infrastructural projects. A specialist in designing and building bridges, tunnels and viaducts on roads. For 12 years now, he has been involved with Mosty Łódź Spółka Akcyjna, where he assists in technological projects and constructions, e.g. in Scandinavia. On top of that, he gives popular science lectures and teaches workshops, e.g. on hyperloop technologies, among others – at Children's University. Together with the Nevomo project team, he has received the Innovation Award in the Build Earth Live contest in the United Arab Emirates.

The struggle against climate crisis is a truly complex undertaking, logistically. Highly advanced technology can give us the necessary tools. At this stand, we will take a closer look at the Zefir system – an IT toolkit for local government bodies. We will talk about the possibilities of using this system to handle the coming energy transition, by identifying regional problems, searching for the best solutions, while considering both the economy and ecology in order to plan the most effective actions.

Dr.-Ing. Karol Wawrzyniak

Graduate of computer engineering at Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, and Finance and Accounting at Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. He has defended a thesis with distinction, which had been prepared as part of a Polish-German study ICM UW/IWR Heidelberg the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling of UW and Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing Heidelberg University). Graduate of the TOP500 programme in the category of creating innovation, implementing innovation, and commercialisation of innovatiove solutions in Stanford University

Tomasz Chmiel

Graduate of Internal Security post-graduate programme at the University of Warsaw, specialising in energy security. Between 2018-2021, he worked for public administration offices, in departments responsible for energy policies, e.g. Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Development, or Ministry of State Assets. His responsibilities included execution and promotion of operations in the field of local, distributed and prosumer oriented energy. Within IDEA/NCBJ, he is responsible for preparing dedicated analyses of the energy market domain, and for ongoing monitoring of legal provisions and legislative initiatives, regarding the energy sector.