Designing Resilience in a Black Swan World

Dickinson hosts lecture by noted environmental scholar and author David Orr

Dickinson will host a lecture by award-winning environmental educator and author David Orr on Wednesday, March 27, at 7 p.m. in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS), on West Louther Street between College and Cherry streets. The event, titled "Designing Resilience in a Black Swan World," is free and open to the public.

Black-swan events are unpredictable events that can drive change in both human and natural systems, often with long-lived and global impacts. Orr will discuss qualities that make societies resilient and sustainable in the face of environmental black swans and how we can prepare for, absorb and recover from the unpredictable disruptions of climate-related ecological change. He also will discuss how we should design communities, regions and nations to improve resilience and prosperity in the context of such events, with a focus on the Oberlin Project—a sustainable-development initiative in partnership with Oberlin College, the town of Oberlin and others—and the National Sustainable Communities Coalition.

Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and senior advisor to the president at Oberlin College. He is the author of seven books and co-editor of three others and has authored nearly 200 articles, reviews, book chapters and professional publications. He has received several honorary degrees and awards, including a Lyndhurst Prize, a National Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation and recently a Visionary Leadership Award from Second Nature.

Over the past 25 years, Orr has served as a board member or advisor to eight foundations and on the boards of such organizations as the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Currently, he is a trustee of the Bioneers, Alliance for Sustainable Colorado and the WorldWatch Institute.

The event is sponsored by The Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Office of the President and is co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainability Education and the Department of Environmental Studies. Orr's lecture is part of the ongoing Living in a World of Limits sustainability series, featuring renowned environmental experts, advocates and thought-leaders.

In addition to the event, while at Dickinson Orr is touring the College farm, meeting with Dickinson's Baird Fellow candidates, discussing the Oberlin Project with Carlisle community members and visiting a class on sustainability and entrepreneurship.

Published March 27, 2013