Coming to grips with development that lasts has been an elusive search for humankind. While the discourse in social science has traipsed along the trajectory that saw newer ways of defining development, as sustainable development and now adaptive governance, it makes me ponder as a social scientist whether we are at all committed to ameliorating vulnerability in all its forms.
The forthcoming 2009 Amsterdam Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change attempts to address a tall order, straddling across the boundaries of normative and empirical concerns. However, will it be just another attempt at nuancing jargon to enable us to feel that we are still in control of things, or will it provide enriching insights into forging sustainable solutions? This is what I will avidly look forward to exploring in the days ahead.
I believe that human ingenuity has the ability to carve a way out of any delirium. And it is avenues such as the Amsterdam Conference that provide a great platform to enable interdisciplinary communication between academics and practitioners from all over the world, to think of ways by which humans could be part of the solutions and not the problems that face the earth today.