Missing the Slow Train: How Gradual Change Undermines Public Policy & Collective Action

Please join us for the release of Robert Olson's report, Missing the Slow Train: How Gradual Change Undermines Public Policy & Collective Action, on April 25th.  The report, part of the Forgotten Problems Project, discusses the hurdles we face in responding to slow-moving threats and challenges, ranging from the way our brains' wiring evolved to the cognitive biases and social forces that affect our decision-making capacity.  David Rejeski, director of the Science & Technology Innovation Program at the Wilson Center, will be leading the discussion.

Robert L. Olson is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Alternative Futures.  He was on IAF’s founding board of directors and later served as the Institute’s Director of Research.  Much of his recent work has focused on the environmental future, including projects with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He recently served on the National Advisory Council for Environmental Technology and Policy (NACEPT) and is the primary author of the NACEPT report The Environmental Future: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities for EPA.  He is the author of Exploring The Future, editor of Mending The Earth, and co-editor of Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow.