Mahmud Farooque

Could one hypothesis be a mix of declining role of the NGOs (some of the health and education gains could be attributed to population planning programs), increasing takeovers by inept and politicized public sector, and push for digitization of services? In other words, the removal of the “service delivery people factor” that we’re making the door to door interventions so effective in the first place?

One of the things Bangladesh had done right for decades was childhood immunization. Now even this success is rolling back. Sounds more like admin ineptness behind this catastrophe but anti-vax stupidity may also be a factor.

Looks like I picked up climate change about the time you were moving on, but looking at its “people” component. Starting with adaptation in 2010ish when I joined @CSPO_ASU (cspo.org/research/imple…) then community resilience to climate change after Paris Climate accord in 2015 (cspo.org/research/scien…), moving on to solar Geoengineering in 2018 (cspo.org/research/gover…), picking up carbon dioxide removal in 2023 (cspo.org/research/cdr/) and now landing on planetary engineering in 2026 (cspo.org/event/engineer…). As the scale of the problem gets bigger, the scope of the solutions gets smaller for just climate, meaning solving the conflicts between climate systems, social systems, technological systems and political systems becomes more important.

Engineering our Planet: From Designed Interventions to Interdisciplinary Programs and Participatory Platforms (in person with online options) Between 2021 and 2024, Public, private, and philanthropic drivers coordinated an unprecedented, multi-sectoral effort to advance engineering at the planetary scale forward through research and development in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar geoengineering (SG). Like the drive on the technological front, the initiatives at the social front also came to a grinding halt with the change in U.S. administration. In many of these efforts, there was an explicit attempt to engage communities, stakeholders, and the broader public. CSPO was on the front lines, from engaging communities in Vinton, LA, and Vancouver, Canada, to consulting scientists in Barcelona, Spain, and Glasgow, Scotland, to convening policy stakeholders in Washington, DC. This two-part convening will highlight critical results and outcomes of those efforts to stimulate, simulate, and facilitate connections with complementary initiatives to inform current actions and future possibilities. March 26, 2026, 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm Engineering Our Planet, Part I: Lessons from the Engagement Frontier cspo.org/event/engineer… March 27, 2026, 8:30 am – 1:00 pm Engineering Our Planet, Part II: Building Platforms for Geoengineering Research and Governance cspo.org/event/engineer…

@acerbialberto @danwilliamsphil A truly freed science means faster scientific revolution which in turn will mean perpetual disequilibrium. Expert opinion will be divergent, not convergent. The flaw in both thesis is the maximalist assumption. As the driverless car non revolution tells us, the future is level 3.

Two great pieces on AI, going beyond the stale dichotomies. @danwilliamsphil on the possible effects on public opinion:

Arizona State University researchers are empowering communities in efforts to solve the nation’s nuclear waste problem through constructive and speculative approaches to exploring what it means to live near such sites. news.asu.edu/20260218-scien…

Different approaches to improving mathematics education by leading science orgs in France and the United States: CNRS starts by asking the users (people); National Science Foundation (NSF) begins by asking the providers (experts) cnrs.fr/en/node/12251 nsf.gov/funding/opport…

@atrembath @TheBTI @TedNordhaus Congratulations, Alex! That’s the way to do it. Looking forward.

We’re excited to announce that in January, @TheBTI founder @TedNordhaus will become President and I’ll become Executive Director. It’s an honor I couldn’t have imagined when I started working here in 2011. Today it’s the only job I can imagine wanting.

Call for Abstracts: "Participatory technology assessment and the framing challenge“ | TATuP - Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis tatup.de/index.php/tatu…

America @250: Redesigning the Scientific Enterprise ASU center committed to advancing New American University’s model for science funding in US news.asu.edu/b/20251114-asu…

UPCOMING EVENT On 11/06, @JohnsHopkins & @AEI will host Bridging Perspectives in COVID’s Wake: Science, Policy, and Public Trust in Crisis Response ft. @RobertDoar, @farooquema, @RogerPielkeJr, @jwalson & many more.

Between Data and Feelings linkedin.com/pulse/between-…

@atrembath On the representativeness issue, why not embrace deliberative democracy and break out of these zero sum battles between organized interests and within organized interests and build a new coalition with vast majority of the people who are not engaged in the political process?

As I wrote last year, “progressives are increasingly naming abundance as their ideological and factional enemy. That should make the disputed claims between the two camps over representativeness easier to adjudicate.” thebreakthrough.org/journal/no-20-…

The Baffler and TAP writing anti-abundance articles should make you more bullish on the movement.

RETHINKING #TECHNOLOGY #ASSESSMENT: Policy Signal vs. Noise, CSPO Science, Policy Seminar with John Alic, Thursday, March 20th, 9:00-10:00 am, ASU Washington Center eventbrite.com/e/rethinking-t…

The #Climate Conundrum: A #Public #Dialogue on the Role of #Carbon #Dioxide #Removal, Sat, Mar 29, 10:30am - 4:00pm, @sfusurrey. No prior knowledge necessary. Share with your families, friends, & colleagues in the #Vancouver area! Apply at shorturl.at/ILgeu. $200 gift card.

@esa @bluemoondance74 x.com/farooquema/sta…

The impact probability of asteroid 2024 YR4 has dropped from 2.8% to 0.16%. Thanks to new observations, Earth is now at the edge of our shrinking ‘uncertainty window.’ If this trend continues, the risk may soon reach 0%.

Asteroid Alert! What Would You Do? issues.org/news/asteroid-…

@JosephMajkut We talked with the public about it. Here’s our story @ISSUESinST issues.org/nasa-asteroid-…

Climate philanthropy should spend the next couple of years working on asteroid protection. Show that we can avoid big risks.

@caro We have also recommended the model for participatory technology assessment in 2021 issues.org/thinking-like-…

@caro Like the PCAST in 2023: bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/upl…

If DOGE had launched with the start of Obama’s first term it could’ve been just as legally dubious and it still would’ve been heralded by the tech press as a genius skunkworks project with a Fast Company cover that was like “Meet The Whiz Kids Cleaning Up Government”