Harvard Club of Hawaii

Harvard Club Brownbagger

Ocean, Ohia, and Ohana and Going Beyond GDP in Hawaii

Bring your guests and join us on Wednesday, April 12th for a radically new way of looking at the well-being of society. Our speaker is Regina Ostergaard-Klem, Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Hawaii Pacific University, where she teaches ecological economics and environmental policy and is director of the Global Leadership and Sustainable Development graduate program.

While Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the most common measure of the health of an economy, an increase in GDP has come to mean more than just a healthier economy; now it automatically implies an increase in the well-being of society too. Yet traditional GDP accounting falls short of capturing many impacts (both positive or negative) of economic activity on society. Dr. Ostergaard-Klem's research explores the application to Hawaii of an alternative measure, The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), that offers a framework to move “beyond GDP” and adjust for hidden costs such as increased pollution or longer commute times.

Dr. Ostergaard-Klem holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University, and an MS in Environmental Engineering and a PhD in Systems Analysis and Economics for Public Decision Making from The Johns Hopkins University. After completing her PhD, she was a Science and Diplomacy Fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC. Prior to moving to Hawaii, she was an environmental policy advisor at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), working on urban environmental and energy programs globally.

Date: Wednesday, April 12th, 2017
Time: Noon - 1:30 pm

Place: The Ohana Room at Architects Hawaii, Ltd, through the courtesy of Harvard Club member David Miller. It's on the 29th floor of the Makai Tower of Pacific Guardian Center, 733 Bishop Street.

Cost: FREE
Lunch: Bring your own sandwich, bento, beverage, etc.

RSVP by email to arkie@arkoehl.com