1st International Summer School of the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation entitled "Environment: Climate – Climate Change – Impacts"

The impact of climate change, extreme weather events and the use of new databases to study climate change were the main subjects presented by distinguished professors from Greece and abroad to 30 postgraduate students and PhD candidates from 14 countries across the world, in the framework of the 1st International Summer School on the Environment, entitled "Environment: Climate – Climate Change – Impacts", organised by the Department of Meteorology and Climatology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in cooperation with the Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development of the National Observatory of Athens.

The Summer School was held with funding from the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, in the framework of its educational initiatives aimed at promoting knowledge and scientific research in Greece and abroad. It was held from 8 to 15 July 2009 at the Foundation’s premises, the "Pallas Athena" building. This was the first of a series of International Summer Schools in various scientific fields, which the Foundation will co-organise, fund and host within the next few years. The first three-year cycle is dedicated to Environmental sciences.

According to Ms Christina Anagnostopoulou, Lecturer in Climate Dynamics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and President of the Organisation Committee:

“The Summer School gave the opportunity to postgraduate students and PhD candidates to meet distinguished and internationally renowned scientists in the field of Atmospheric Sciences and, in particular, Climatology. Students were able to discuss with them and learn about the latest results of scientific studies on climate change, extreme weather events and their impact on the planet and humans. The subjects of the Summer School complemented each other, so as to enable participants to expand their horizons with respect to their scientific research areas and acquire know-how and substantial knowledge in various topics related to the Science of Climatology.”

“The selection for the 2009 Summer School was made after the Foundation issued an open public call to Universities and Research Centres across the country; as a response to this call, the Foundation received 18 very interesting proposals. The very interesting mix of Greek and international postgraduate students and PhD candidates, the high level of the teaching staff and the structure of the coordinating team’s proposal itself were criteria that played an important role in our selection,”

stated Mr Kostas Gavroglou, Professor at the University of Athens and Member of the Executive Board of the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, who is responsible for the Foundation’s scientific programmes. He also added that

“The Summer School’s results are very promising for the continuation of this initiative, which is carried out by our Foundation and whose main goals are to improve the position of the Greek academic community on a global scale and to diffuse scientific knowledge as effectively as possible.”

The presentations given by the scientists and the projects completed by the participants during the 1st International Summer School will be available from Friday, 17 July στην ιστοσελίδα μας. 

For further information you may see here.