Commissioned by the National Development Council, the center organized a series of events "Risk communication network of climate change adaptation," with the first conference held on 7 March 2016. The attending guests included Academia Sinica Institute of Economic researcher Daigee Shaw, National Development Council Deputy Director Chen-Tai Mao, National Development Council senior specialist Hsu-Cheng Hsu, and Professor Kuei-Tien Chou, Director of Risk Society and Policy Research Center, College of Social Science NTU.

　　Professor Kuei-Tien Chou pointed out that, unlike the early stage of industrialization, the old interpretation to modernity is no longer able to accurately describe human civilization in today's world of advanced technology. Today we are entering a “risk society,” where natural environment is highly intervened and natural disaster is hardly predictable. In such a risk society, we strongly need to plan for interdisciplinary, cross-border governance policies. Thus, although currently there is no consensus regarding the cause of climate change, there is general agreement around the world that efforts should be made on carbon reduction in order to protect environment, for which we should seize an opportunity.

　　Such a concept covers the common human characteristic that people do not tear until seeing coffin, people do not reflect on themselves until the disasters occur. For example, the environmental movement emerges after our environment has long been destroyed; nuclear safety is brought to attention because of the shocking nuclear disaster in the history. In a risk society that we all live in, the natural disasters people encounter, once governed poorly, would lead to risk personalization, making the basic sense of security a luxury.

　　Professor Chou then suggested that the adaptation to climate change still has to face the ethical uncertainty, and it will also make class issues prominent. Because economic or social disadvantages would further result in environmentally disadvantages. It is clear that the science has transformed from normal science to post-normal science. In this case, it becomes an important issue to encourage interdisciplinary cooperation, to raise public awareness, and foster government being partners with society. While it is important for the government to invest a lot of resources on scientific assessments, it is not enough. The task of persuading, strengthening communication between people and the government is equally important. The most important issue for Taiwan in the face of climate change adaptation will be constructing diverse communication channels between the government and people, giving up the past authoritarian environment developing by experts.

　　Researcher Daigee Shaw then added that fossil energy has a feature that it emits many pollutants after its production. We should also take into account of these costs, not just the production cost when producing energy. This is why the rest of the world charges much higher oil and electricity price than Taiwan does. The issue of population control, which is a lot the governments dare not to talk, is really a problem we need to confront. The Earth is only that big with such few resources.

　　Then the participants discussed how to do more in order to safeguard our environment, and whether or not economic development inevitably conflicts with environmental protection. In this regard, Professor Chou responded that most people have the mentality of free riders regarding public goods. Thus, the awakening of civic consciousness is very important. Taiwan's economic development in the past was a system of sacrifice, resulting in lack of trust between the government and the people.

　　What can the academics do? First, make more efforts on research. Second, translate the research of risk society into public readable and understandable languages. Third, participate in all kinds of activities. Finally, regarding elegy on public goods, researcher Daigee Shaw further added that, it’s worthwhile referring to research by ElinorOstrom. The "Climate change adaptation series: cross-border risk management and communication" ended well with good interactions between participants and speakers.