Planetary Solutions Project: Q and A with Provost Scott Strobel

What is the Planetary Solutions Project, and how might it affect the work of Yale’s researchers, faculty, and students?

Scott Strobel: The Planetary Solutions Project (PSP) is a university-wide initiative to solve global environmental problems caused by human activities, especially climate change, loss of biological diversity, and impacts on human societies. These challenges are not easily solved. These are multi-scale, super-wicked problems that transcend national boundaries and academic disciplines. Turning the tide requires solutions that match the complexity and scale of the threats. No single discipline can fully address these challenges on its own.

The Planetary Solutions Project aims to raise our awareness of work being done across Yale and to spark new approaches. It aspires to connect people whose ideas, when combined, might unlock novel solutions. And it looks to build a compelling, accessible narrative to explain this work and its importance, both inside the university and out. All this will allow us to attract new partners, build more financial support, and amplify the impact of the groundbreaking solutions developed at Yale.

As a research institution with a liberal arts approach, Yale has the ability not only to discover, test, and deliver on new strategies and technologies to combat ecological crises, but also to convene leadership, promote implementation, and persuade governments and the public to buy in to these solutions.

How will you determine if research or other efforts are part of the Planetary Solutions Project?

Strobel: The key threats the Planetary Solutions Project addresses are vast and deeply entangled. We also know breakthroughs may come from non-obvious disciplines and approaches. But, generally speaking, the following four questions will help discern relevant projects:

• First, can it help us understand relevant phenomena?
• Second, could it develop or test a potentially useful idea?
• Third, will it enable more effective communication?
• Fourth, does it increase the likelihood of successful implementation?

How might the PSP affect the work being done at Yale in the next year, and in the next five years?

Strobel: This project is still in its formative stages, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to forecast specific outcomes within specific timeframes. But, not only are the problems we are solving complex, they are urgent. We simply don’t have time to drag our feet. Our hope is that the Project will enable work at Yale to be better connected, more innovative, yield greater impact, and accelerate the pathway toward implementing practical, global solutions.