ESCP students invited Lauri Lahikainen to the RCC's Lunchtime Colloquium

On November 26, Lauri Lahikainen spoke about his research project Cities, Climate Change, and Collective Responsibility (CCCCR). Our student speakers, Anna Lisa Beck and Verena Hagengruber invited him to the RCC’s Lunchtime Colloquium on behalf of the Environmental Studies Certificate Program. Lauri especially spoke about "Environmental Philosophy for Cities: The Case of Climate Change and Responsibility" and the topic attracted 55 actively participating viewers. A lot of interesting questions were asked by our students, RCC staff members, and fellows.

We would like to thank Lauri for his presentation again and a big thank you to Anna and Verena for the great organization and moderation of the talk!

Please find a description of Lauri’s project CCCCR below and more information on his website.

When nation-states keep on failing to meet their duties of climate change mitigation and individual action is not enough, many have turned to cities as the best hope for the planet. But can cities be responsible for climate change? What kinds of things are cities anyway? Are they the kinds of entities that can be responsible for climate change -- or anything at all? Do city-dwellers have a duty to mitigate climate change just in virtue of where they live? How does living in a city affect our capacities and possibilities of living responsible lives?

In previous philosophical research on climate change and responsibility, the focus has often been either on individuals or states, sometimes on corporations. CCCCR begins from the assumption that cities can be hubs of climate responsibility both at the collective and the individual level. The project draws on research on climate ethics, collective responsibility, philosophy of the city, and interdisciplinary urban studies. It employs both philosophical analysis and expert interviews of researchers and municipal professionals.