Pardee Director Speaks at Aspen Meeting

Prof. Adil Najam, Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, was one of the invited experts asked to present to the first batch of Catto Fellows at the Aspen Institute’s Wye Reservation campus. The meeting focussed on ideas for reform of the global environmental governance system.

Prof. Najam, who has written extensively on this subject and consulted to various U.N. agencies on this topic, presented his views on what the key challenges to global environmental governance are and what types of innovative solutions can be applied that are both ‘doable’ and ‘worth doing.’

The Catto Fellowship Program is an offshoot of the Aspen Institute’s renowned Henry Crown Fellowship Program, the Rodel Fellowship Program, and the Aspen Institute’s other international leadership initiatives, all of which comprise the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN). Traditionally, all Aspen Institute leadership initiatives seek to grasp and resolve the indispensable values underlying leadership and, in the case of the Catto Fellowship, the common values critical for a healthy and sustainable environment. Based on this reflection, the Fellows are challenged to develop new insights about themselves, the role of leadership, and the need for effective collaborative action to ensure the well-being of the environment. The focus on collaboration across sectors will make energy and the environment a cornerstone of the leadership experience, which Fellows will then apply in their profession for the betterment of the world.