Tim Lant and Ed Kavazanjian speak at the Arizona Science Center on April 15, 2011.  The lecture entitled,  ”Disasters in Arizona, Are We Ready?”  featured Lant and Kavazanjian discussing disasters and ways Arizonans can prepare for them.

The full article can be found at: http://downtowndevil.com/2011/04/18/7841/arizona-science-center-disasters/

With enough screens and access to the Internet, anyone can have their own Decision Theater

Decision Theater’s Complex Systems Framework  (CSF) allows Decision Theater to be anytime. . . anyplace. . . in Arizona, in the United States or around the globe.    Our new platform, CSF, allows  for Decision Theater’s demonstrations and projects to be viewed and utilized around the world – all that is necessary is enough screens and access to the Internet.

Complex Systems Framework Teaser from Decision Theater on Vimeo.

On Tuesday, November 23, 2010, George Basile, PhD, was featured on KAET, Channel 8′s Horizon program.  Basile addressed the need to diversify Arizona’s economy – through the lens of sustainability – by working with the environment rather than against it as Arizona works to create and attract jobs, technology, and industry, etc.    

Arizona’s Green Economy from Decision Theater on Vimeo.

The Decision Theater at ASU has co-founded the Global Decision Theater Alliance (GDTA) with Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) and Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in China.  The Alliance builds on the experience and expertise of members to increase resource efficiency and sustainability through the integration of the best science, research and decision systems.  With Decision Theaters in China, ASU can partner to create powerful immersive decision making environments for China’s leaders and stakeholders.

Chinese university models facility after Decision Theater from ASU Research on Vimeo.

ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and its Public Health Law and Policy Program has received a $1.3 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to establish the Western regional office for the newly launched national Public Health Law Network, which provides legal and policy solutions to professionals grappling with complex public health challenges, such as food safety, health reform and emergency preparedness.

Dr. James G. Hodge Jr, Decision Theater affiliated faculty member, is the co-director of the Western region Public Health Law Network office.  The center at ASU will build on the work in emergency legal preparedness in which Hodge and the College of Law’s PHLPP have been leaders. For example, during the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) epidemic, Hodge’s program accumulated specific data (http://bit.ly/bqnprG - powerpoint document) about the outbreak and reported it in real time to public health law and policy-makers. The project reported specifically on the legal environment concerning declarations of emergencies at the federal and state levels, as well as specific legal issues related to response efforts.

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Is Arizona prepared to take the lead in the shift to renewable energy, using its greatest natural resource – the sun? A major research effort led by Arizona State University and initially funded through a grant from Science Foundation Arizona is trying to answer that question by analyzing how best to use solar and other sustainable energy throughout the state.

A top official from the U.S. Department of Energy, Undersecretary Kristina Johnson, recently visited the project, and other VIPs are coming soon. The hope is that the Az SMART project will provide an example for other states to follow in President Obama’s plan to reduce emissions, reduce foreign oil dependence and create jobs in a clean technology economy. The project includes tools to benefit homeowners, businesses and the leaders who need to make informed decisions about which power-generation methods to use and where to locate new facilities, such as solar fields.

ASU’s Decision Theater, within the Global Institute of Sustainability, is being utilized to test out various scenarios, using floor-to-ceiling video screens and other 360-degree mechanisms designed to immerse the participants in decision-making exercises. The Decision Theater has spearheaded the complex solar siting and integration aspects of Az SMART.

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Speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting Feb. 20, 2010, Dr. George Basile compared humanity’s rapid consumption and waste of natural resources to running a massive science experiment without safeguards or monitoring.

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