Foto: Clément Morin, Jacob Bengtsson och Alexander Mahmoud
What are ways to generate interest in what science can tell us as humans? For example, can the performing arts and culture serve as a way to create engagement? What are the differences between how researchers have conveyed their findings about COVID-19 compared to climate change issues, and what can explain these differences? The conversation entitled What makes us listen to science? addresses these questions and draws conclusions on how to give today’s children and young people greater faith in the future through knowledge, education and perseverance.
The starting point of the conversation was environmental and climate researcher Johan Rockström’s Performance Lecture: Our brief moment on earth, at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten) in Stockholm. Invited to participate in the conversation were Sir Richard J. Roberts, who received the Nobel Prize for his discovery of “split genes”, and Anna Sjöström Douagi of Nobel Prize Museum.
Professor Johan Rockström is a globally renowned researcher and frequent participant in debates about environmental and climate issues. He has twice been named the most environmentally influential person in Sweden and is a member of several scientific academies. The former head of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, he is now director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Rockström has written several books and has guest-hosted both the “Summer” and “Winter” talk programmes on Sweden’s P1 radio network.
Sir Richard J. Roberts was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of how a gene can give rise to several different types of proteins. Roberts has also worked actively to clarify what genetically modified plants are, and how they can help ensure proper human nutrition. He is also strongly committed to human rights and gathers Nobel Laureates in various initiatives to highlight vital issues and leverage the power of the laureates to persuade people to listen.
Anna Sjöström Douagi is Vice President for Sciences and Programmes at Nobel Prize Museum. She works to develop the museum’s programme activities and initiated the Performance Lecture series in collaboration with Dramaten. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. and is working on a major digital meeting that will take place in April 2021 − TheNobel Prize Summit: Our Planet, Our Future − which will bring together Nobel Laureates, scientists, decision makers and young leaders to elucidate what needs to be done in order for humanity to survive on earth.
The conversation What makes us listen to science? is a collaboration between Dramaten& (the Royal DramaticTheatre’s side programming unit) and Nobel Prize Museum. It was supposed to take place on the main stage of Dramaten after the Performance Lecture: Our brief moment on earth and was intended as a manifesto for science, climate and the future, featuring invited researchers and scientists. Due to the pandemic, it instead ended up as a recorded conversation that is now being published on Dramaten Play and the Nobel Prize Museum website. On these websites you can also find a recording of the Performance Lecture: Our brief moment on earth as well as abbreviated versions of the five other dramatised science lectures that Dramaten has produced in collaboration with Nobel Prize Museum − all free of charge.
For further information, please contact
press@nobelprize.org
Nobel Prize Museum
The Nobel Prize shows that ideas can change the world. The courage, creativity and perseverance of the Nobel Laureates inspire us and give us hope for the future. Films, in-depth tours, and artefacts tell the stories of the Laureates and their contributions ‘for the greatest benefit to humankind’. Based on the Nobel Prize’s unique combination of fields – natural sciences, literature and peace – we examine the greatest challenges of our time and show how we can respond to them through science, humanism and collaboration. With our exhibitions, school programmes, lectures and conversations, we at the Nobel Prize Museum strive to engage the public in making a better world. Today we are located at Stortorget in Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town district. We are planning to create a new home for our public outreach activities at Slussen in downtown Stockholm.