
It was good to be back in Sweden to moderate at the Future of Life Science Symposium again. Carefully curated by the Stockholm Science City Foundation, the annual gathering brings together leading international experts to discuss advances in life science, technology and healthcare.
The unique setting of the 17th Century Engelsberg Ironworks, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is conducive to thoughtful and inspiring conversations.
This year’s topic “Creeping Crisis” initially seemed at odds with the tranquil surroundings but it became clear that science has the solutions to tackle the most profound of problems.
If you are wondering what a creeping crisis is – opening speaker Professor Magnus Ekengren Department of Political Science and Law, Swedish Defence University gave this definition:
“A creeping crisis is a threat to widely shared societal values or life-sustaining systems that evolves over time and space, is foreshadowed by precursor events, subject to varying degrees of political and/or societal attention, and impartially or insufficiently addressed by authorities.”
His co-authored “Understand the Creeping Crisis” in which he and his team analyse previous events/disasters which could have been averted if there had been sufficient political attention.
The symposium focussed on growing threats of anti-microbial resistance and Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. We heard about scientific breakthroughs which give grounds for optimism but there remain monumental societal, political and funding mountains to climb if we are to combat these crises.
I asked Dr Ekengren if there had ever been a creeping crisis that had been solved. He cited the landmark Montreal Protocol which was agreed in 1989 to stop depletion of the ozone layer. The only UN treaty signed by every country on the planet has saved millions of people from cancer and protected the Earth’s climate system.
Science has the solutions to tackle creeping crisis but they are ineffective without political will.