Meadows, who was introduced as “one of the defining intellectuals of our time” by PIK director Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, is emeritus professor of systems policy and social science research at the University of New Hampshire. He served on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has received a number of honorary doctorates for his contributions to environmental education.
In his lecture at PIK, Meadows talked about the importance of thinking outside the box and questioning the rules of the game in order to achieve change. By playing some simple mindgames accompanied by lots of laughter of his audience, he showed how you can increase the efficiency of communicating about the behavior of the climate system. This way, both experts and lay people can change their routine of thinking and address problems of rising greenhouse-gas emissions and their impacts on the climate.
