Gund is pleased to host Carolyn Raffensperger, Executive Director of Science, Environmental and Health Network (SEHN), on April 10th from 12-1 in the Gund Conference Room (617 Main St).

She will present a talk “Guardianship for Future Generations Becoming Great Ancestors”. During her talk Carolyn will discuss that our government has two functions – to defend and protect rights. It is the government’s responsibility to be the steward and trustee of the commonwealth and public health. She states that future generations have rights and responsibilities too. The public trust doctrine, with government serving as trustee on behalf of the citizenry, is part of the common law in most of the fifty U.S. states. The doctrine stands for the principle that government holds the resources of the earth in trust for the benefit of everyone within its jurisdiction. This is conceived as an affirmative responsibility of government to manage these resources for the long-term benefit of the public. She proposes the creation of new institutions as part of a vision for the future that brings us back to life and health, and extends beyond our own generation.

Carolyn Raffensperger is an environmental lawyer and the executive director of SEHN, as well as a leading expert on the Precautionary Principle.