ResponsAbility: Presentation and Screening of the documentary “Expedition Linnaeus”

May 10 program:
"Intelligent Choices for Sustainable Development"

An evening to stimulate and provoke higher consciousness and action for sustainable development in the spirit of Carl Linneaus, the Swedish botanist who more than two centuries ago originated the very format by which we give scientific names to all plant life.  Linnaeus, who was passionate about nature, was the world's first ecologist - 100 years before the term was used.   What legacy did he leave and how can his passion about nature and the relationships between the species influence the challenges currently facing the planet?  A provocative discussion and premier showing of of Mattias Klum's new documentary about the passion for exploring the natural world and the quest for sustainable development.

7 pm - 10 pm   sponsored by the Consulate General of Sweden Los Angeles

SPEAKERS:
Thomas Elmqvist, who will speak within this topic on “Sustainable cities in a changing world” is a professor in Natural Resource Management at Stockholm University, Sweden. His research is focused on ecosystem dynamics, land use change, natural disturbances and components of resilience including the role of social institutions. He is coordinating two major interdisciplinary research projects as part of the new Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. The first focus on governance and management in urban landscapes, the other on dynamics in land- and seascapes. He has coordinated a major urban research project in metropolitan Stockholm which was part of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. He is also principal investigator of multidisciplinary projects in Madagascar and in the south Pacific. He has published more than 70 papers books and chapters and recently contributed with papers that have been internationally very influential in research on the role of biodiversity for ecosystem services and the use of network theory in landscape management.
 
Christine Alfsen is a Senior Program Specialist at United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. At the UNESCO Office in New York she covers and reports on Science and sustainable development activities at ECOSOC, Commission for Sustainable development and the General Assembly. In line with UNESCO's role as a knowledge networking agency she contributes to UNESCO’s goal of  contributing to peace and human development in an era of globalization through education, the sciences, culture and communication through   leveraging  the strength and resources of the North American scientific  community and linking with such  intergovernmental programs  as the Man and the Biosphere program (MAB) ,  the International Hydrological Program (HIP) and the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC).  To this end she organizes and coordinates international networks of research and academic institutions in developed and developing countries   around site specific, policy relevant research projects to advance the goals of sustainable development as framed by the MDGs, the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment and other UN internationally agreed goals. The current focus of her work is on the governance of urban landscapes and ecosystems functions in human dominated landscapes.

Jared Mason Diamond is an American evolutionary biologist, physiologist, bio-geographer and nonfiction author. Diamond works as a professor of geography at UCLA. He is best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997). He also received the National Medal of Science in 1999. After attending The Roxbury Latin School, he earned a BA degree from Harvard in 1958 and his PhD in physiology and membrane biophysics from Cambridge University in 1961. During 1962-1966, he returned to Harvard as a Junior Fellow. He became a professor of physiology at UCLA Medical School in 1966. While in his twenties, he also developed a second, parallel career in the ecology and evolution of New Guinea birds, and has since led numerous trips to explore New Guinea and nearby islands. In his fifties, Diamond gradually developed a third career in environmental history, becoming a professor of geography and of environmental health sciences at UCLA, his current position.

Kitty Connolly, is the Botanical Education Manger at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, where she has worked since 1999.  She directs programs ranging from professional development for science teachers to botanical school programs.  A major focus of her work is interpreting the Huntington’s collections through exhibitions.  In addition to co-curating Linnaeus in the Garden, she and Jim Folsom were co-curators of Orchids: A Natural Obsession.  She was the project manager for Plants Are Up To Something in the Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science, which was the 2007 winner of the American Association of Museum’s Grand Prize in Excellence in Exhibitions.  She was project coordinator for the Smithsonian’s first exhibit designed exclusively for online presentation, Revealing Things, and manager for the Huntington’s Breaking Ground:  Current Construction Projects at the Huntington and From Where I’m Standing: kids in East Los Angeles document their world with words and photographs. Kitty will  introduce the film "Expedition Linnaeus"

“Expedition Linnaeus” is a documentary film to commemorate the tercentenary of the birth of the world-renowned natural scientist, the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné).

The film is a journey of discovery to seven continents, into space, down into the depths of the oceans and into the future. At the centre are crucial questions: How should we behave and act today in order to survive tomorrow and how can science and research contribute to a better world?

Inspired by Linnaeus curiosity and the thrill of discovery, the expedition meets some of the world’s leading researchers and experts, who try to give answers to these questions.
The main characters are the expedition’s three young would-be researchers, all in their twenties but with widely different backgrounds. They not only observe and investigate but also question what they discover with a critical mind. During the course of their journey they transform. Deeply influenced by their impressions and experiences, they are not the same people at the end of the expedition as they were at the beginning.

The leader of the expedition is the world-famous nature photographer Mattias Klum. Like Linnaeus, he is almost obsessed by the desire to document nature and how everything is connected. The film is produced by international award winning Swedish journalist and filmmaker Folke Rydén.

The aim of the documentary is to motivate and inspire new generations. We must realise that how we act and behave today is of crucial importance for tomorrow; that our future depends on our doing what Linnaeus did – observe, be curious and safeguard the environment.

The desire to discover and explore lives within each and every one of us. It is this desire and joy that Expedition Linnaeus aims to bring out and spread among us.
See for yourself! Think for yourself!
 
The film has been produced in connection with the tercentenary of Linnaeus´ birth in 2007. It is one of the national projects in the coming celebrations.

The film is backed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, together with research financiers Formas, the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation and the Swedish Research Council.


Location:
Billy Wilder Theater
Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles CA 90024

Time:
May 10 at 7pm

Parking available at the Hammer for $3.
Hammer Screenings are free and seating is first come, first served - no ticktets issued.

For further information please visit Hammer Museum