Are we headed irreversibly towards catastrophe or do we have what it takes to fundamentally remake our world in time, sustainably, regeneratively and equitably? If so, who are the people and organisations that drive the transition to a sustainably regenerative negative carbon economy and a better life for all? To shed some light on these questions we have created Reboot2030, a podcast and
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Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Akufuna Muyunda. In Zambia, climate change sparks severe repercussions: crop failures afflict six million families; dwindling rainfall deepens water scarcity, impacting rural life; diseases like malaria surge, straining health systems; smallholder farmers suffer livelihood losses, prompting diversification efforts; and rampant deforestation worsens environmental degradation, heightening climate risks. These interconnected challenges demand immediate action, highlighting the urgent need for global cooperation in addressing climate change's disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities in Africa and beyond. Our guest today to talk about the impact of climate change in Zambia is Akufuna Muyunda. He is an award-winning climate leader and social entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in environmental advocacy. He is also the founder of Young Volunteers for Environment Zambia and serves as volunteer Director of Green Investments at the Farmers Development Cooperative Union. More information about Akufuna Muyunda and his work is available via our contributors' page. To never miss a Reboot Dialogue, subscribe to our newsletter.
Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Susanna Cafaro Europe over the past ten years has seen a tectonic shift to the right, both at the level of member states, and at the European level. But what exactly does that mean? How will this shift affect European policy, relations between member states and indeed the European Union itself, or rather European ‘supranational’ democracy – both in the short- and in the long term? In this podcast we explore these questions and ask how can Europe defend itself against a sustained attack from far-right populists and anti-European nationalists? Joining us for this discussion is Susanna Cafaro, a leading European federalist and professor of European Union law at the University of Salento (Italy). More information about Susanna Cafaro is available via our contributors’ page. Also of interest to viewers/listeners might be the Supranational Democracy Dialogue Susanna hosts every year. More information about this gathering/conference is available here.
Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Roberto Castaldi Europe is now facing multiple serious threats, internally via right-wing populists and nationalists, and externally, because of the ongoing war in Ukraine and other geopolitical conflicts and risks around the world. Global warming and migration act as fuel and further exaggerate these divisions along nationalist/populist versus liberal/federalist lines, with the populist camp increasingly gaining the upper hand not only within European member states, but at a European level as well. In this podcast we ask: should we be concerned? How significant are these developments, and how will they play out if current trends persist? We will also be looking at the EU’s plans for eastward expansion with regards to Ukraine and Moldovia and talk about the challenges the EU faces in rapidly establishing an integrated European defence force. Roberto Castaldi is a European federalist. He holds a PhD in international relations in the area of European integration and is an Associate Professor of Political Philosophy at eCampus University in Italy. He is also the CEO of the International Centre for European and Global Governance, co-edits Perspectives on Federalism and is the General Editor of EURACTIV Italy. More information about Roberto Castaldi is available via our contributors’ page.
Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Chris Hamer Chris Hamer has long been active as a democracy activist on the global stage and is one of the co-founders and the current President of the Coalition for a World Security Community of Democratic Nations. In this dialogue he is making the case for a multi-national Alliance of Democracies at a time of global crisis to mitigate against the real and growing risk of a third world war. Chris is also a honorary Associate Professor in the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales, the President of Scientists for Global Responsibility (formerly Scientists Against Nuclear Arms), and the founder of the World Citizens Association of Australia. More information about Chris Hammer is available via democracyschool.com/reboot-contributors.
Nico Andreas Heller in conversation with Yoshua Bengio. What if artificial intelligence (AI) continues to progress towards and beyond our abilities, in areas where it could become dangerous, and what if our regulations won’t be 100% foolproof, opening the door to seriously harmful misuse by bad actors, historically never seen concentrations of power and existential threats to our collective future? Even if these were a low-probability events, given the high stakes, should we not have a plan B? With a view to minimising those risks, Yoshua Bengio proposes the creation of a multilateral network of non-profit and non-governmental labs, collaborating on the defence of democracy, human rights and against eventual rogue autonomous AI. His proposal hinges on avoiding a single point of failure and excessive concentrations of power (economic, political and military), and establishing strong democratically mandated international governance mechanisms. In this Reboot Dialogue we talk, both about the various ways in which AIs potentially pose an existential threat to democracy and human rights, and what it would take, what kind of governance architecture we would need to put into place, to protect us against AI-driven catastrophic risks. Yoshua Bengio is professor of computer science at the Université de Montréal, founder and scientific director of Mila–Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, and senior fellow and codirector of the Learning in Machines and Brains program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He won the 2018 A.M. Turing Award (with Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun). More information about Yoshua Bengio is available via democracyschool.com/reboot-contributors. His paper on AI and catastrophic risk is now out at journalofdemocracy.org/ai-and-catastrophic-risk. Note to listeners: Unfortunately, this dialogue was disrupted (cut short), as we lost our internet connection temporarily during the live stream - hence the edit/cuts. Since Yoshua had scheduled a follow-on interview with The Guardian newspaper, we had to finish earlier then planned and hence were not able to cover everything we wanted to. We apologise for this disruption and the abrupt ending, and promise to continue this conversation next year (2024) with a follow-up dialogue, focusing on Yoshua’s proposal for a globally distributed AI governance architecture.