“T3 Earth Forum” is an open forum on cognitive transformation, behavioral transformation, social transformation, and the Earth-human system. Under the limits of the global environment due to expanding human activities and the chain of events that may exceed those limits, how can humanity make a sustainable society? Furthermore, at the core of this question lies the fundamental query: How humans live? This forum will explore interconnections between changes of global environment and cognitive transformation, behavioral transformation, and social transformation in human and society. We will discuss the relationship between the beliefs and values that individuals hold internally, the actions and habits that manifest externally, and the norms, institutions, and systems that emerge when these are shared within society, all in relation to the Earth's environment, through dialogue with experts from various fields.
Next Forum
The 13th T3 Earth Forum (T Cube Earth Forum)
Upcoming
Program
- 4:00–4:40pm Prof. Anik Bhaduri (Director, Sustainable Water Future Programme, Future Earth)
- Title “Transforming Water Security Decisions: How Green–Grey Investment Pathways Shape Cognition, Behaviour, and Governance in Socio-Ecological Systems”
- Abstract Water security challenges are intensifying under climate change, land-use pressure, and rising human exposure, revealing the limits of traditional, infrastructure-centric solutions. This presentation argues that water security outcomes depend not only on what we invest in, but critically on how green and grey investments are sequenced over time and space. Using a dynamic socio-ecological systems (SES) perspective, the talk shows how investment pathways shape cognition, behaviour, and governance by influencing how risks are perceived, learned from, and acted upon. Evidence from the Upper São Francisco (Velhas) Basin demonstrates that front-loaded upstream green investments can reduce downstream risks, lower long-term reliance on grey infrastructure, and improve system-wide learning. The analysis reframes water systems as non-equilibrium, learning systems requiring adaptive, path-dependent decision-making rather than static project selection.
- 4:40–5:30pm Q&A and Discussion
✽ Flyer: Download
Completed Forum
The 12th T3 Earth Forum
Completed
Program
- 10:00–10:40am Prof. Naoko Ellis (Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia) Prof. Derek Gladwin (Associate Professor, Language & Literacy Education, University of British Columbia)
- Title “Relational Approaches to Energy Transition and the Practice of Energy Literacy”
- Abstract The energy transition represents not merely a technical shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources, but also a profound sociocultural transformation that reconfigures values, identities, and collective worldviews. This talk advances a relational approach to energy transition through the framework of energy literacy, conceived as the integration of knowing, being, and doing in the pursuit of sustainable futures. Drawing on examples from the United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada, this talk examines how sustainability emerges through relational and affective practices that reconfigure how energy is conceptualized and experienced, while also informing how it may be enacted across interconnected ecological and cultural systems.
- 10:40–12:00pm Q&A and Discussion
✽ Flyer: Download
The 11th T3 Earth Forum
Completed
Program
- 1:30–2:15pm Dr. Oscar Hartman Davies (Centre of Excellence for Anthropocene History, KTH Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment)
- Title “Anthropocene History and the governance of flows between ecological science, management, and activism”
- Description This presentation introduces ongoing research at the Centre for Anthropocene History at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. The presentation consists of two parts. First, it introduces the Centre and discusses key concerns of this emerging interdisciplinary field. In the second, it shares ongoing work exploring the Anthropocene through the lens of governance of flows and mobilities, including entanglements between wastewater infrastructures and river health in Britain, landscape connectivity models for conservation and land use planning, and the use of animals as “ecosystem sentinels” for sensing large-scale environmental changes.
- 2:15–2:45pm Q&A and Discussion
✽ Flyer: Download
The 10th T3 Earth Forum
Completed
Program
- 3:00–3:45pm Prof. HENS Kristien (Professor, University of Antwerp, Department of philosophy)
- Title “Attuning to the Abyss: Art–Science Collaborations for Non-Extractive Knowledge of the Deep Sea”
- 3:45–4:00pm Q&A
- Abstract As deep-sea mining accelerates, so too does the urgency to rethink how we know the ocean’s depths. This talk explores how art–philosophy–science collaboration can shift how scientists, ethicists, and policymakers approach the deep sea, and how cultivating multispecies attentiveness through art can catalyze cognitive and ethical transformations toward sustainable Earth-human futures.
- 4:00–4:45pm Prof. HUNKELER Daniel (Professor, University of Neuchâtel, Centre for Hydrogeology and Geothermics)
- Title “From Science to Practice: Overcoming Barriers in Sustainable Groundwater Management”
- 4:45–5:00pm Q&A
- Abstract Groundwater is increasingly vital for water supply and ecosystems amid climate change and biodiversity loss. This presentation explores ways to overcome barriers to sustainable groundwater management, including public awareness, education, and art-based communication, emphasizing multi-actor collaboration and integrating this often invisible resource into inter- and transdisciplinary dialogues.
- 5:00–5:15pm Q&A
The 9th T3 Earth Forum
Completed
Title
“Making 21st-c. Political Economy a Social-Ecological System through Leverage Points Perspectives & Systems Thinking”
Biography
Before moving to UCLA in 2004 to be the Director (2004-2016) of the UCLA Asia Institute, Bin Wong served as Director of the Center for Asian Studies at UC Irvine where he was Chancellor’s Professor of History and Economics. He has also been a visiting professor and researcher at institutions in mainland China, France, Japan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. As Director of the UCLA Asia Institute, he fostered collaborations with a strong Asian component across campus, nationally, and internationally. Among his books, China Transformed: Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience (Cornell University Press, 1997) is best known. Since his retirement from UCLA in 2023 he has been teaching in a graduate program on political economy at the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science.