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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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On September 26, 2009, the School of Public Policy within the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech will take part in a landmark world wide event.
The School will host 100 Atlantans, facilitating their participation in the world’s first real time democratic deliberation of a policy issue - global warming.
The School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech is one of five U.S. venues among 39 countries worldwide who are participating in the World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) a global citizens’ consultation initiated by the Danish Board of Technology.
The Atlanta citizens’ deliberations will take place Saturday, September 26, from 9am – 5pm. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will offer opening remarks. 100 randomly selected Atlantans will deliberate to define their positions on global warming. The results will be tabulated real time, posted live, and displayed through a central web site during the day, along with the results from the other consultations occurring around the globe.
The deliberations are closed to observers, however, you are invited to view the tabulation of results of the deliberations of citizens from Atlanta and around the globe at www.wwviews.org. The current home page will change on Sept. 26 to display the results tabulation. For questions about the Atlanta event, visit the School of Public Policy WWViews website listed below or contact robert.kirkman@gatech.edu .
Background on WWViews
The September 26th World Wide Views deliberations afford citizens from around the world the opportunity to influence issues central to the negotiations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) which will take place in Copenhagen December 7-18, 2009, and thereby, the future of global climate policy. It is expected that ministers from more than 170 countries will participate in the COP15, as well as 8,000 other participants consisting of government officials, representatives of NGO's, business and industry. The goal of the Danish hosts is to reach a binding global climate agreement that will apply to the period after 2012 when Kyoto Protocol expires.
WWViews will facilitate sending the citizen positions on climate policy to the decision-makers at COP15 and countries around the world. It will create awareness about the importance of climate policy globally, nationally, locally, and individually. And it will set a pathbreaking precedent by demonstrating that ordinary people merit and can have a voice within global political processes.
