Talks and Presentations

  • Two policy-related seminars on ESD

    At the initiative of the UK National Commission for UNESCO, two ESD policy-related seminars will be organized on 3 July and 27 August 2014.  Their outcomes will serve to support the assessments and perspectives that the UK will present at...

  • New environmentalism and the circular economy

    The other day I watched EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik give a presentation on TEDx.  He was supposed to be talking about “New environmentalism and the circular economy” – but he didn’t.  The talk was full of scary data, mostly around...

  • So, who's afraid of shale gas?

    I listened to Andrew Quarles, Technical Director of Cuadrilla, at the university last night, as he gave an I-SEE talk on his company's exploration for gas from the Bowland shales in Lancashire.  For those wanting technical detail, and clarification around...

  • Challenges of the 21st century: what is happening to the world?

    This was the title of the talk by Professor Sir John Beddington, the government's chief scientific adviser, at Bath's Institute for Public Policy Research [IPPR] last month.  His abstract was: Change in the 21st century is both fast and dramatic.  Yet...

  • A cool look at global warming

    Reserve your seats now.  The Lord Lawson of Blaby is coming to Bath to bad mouth the idea of climate change.  Here is his "cool" Abstract: The long-known scientific fact that there is a greenhouse effect and that carbon dioxide...

  • What’s a badger worth?

    This was the question posed on Tuesday at a University of Bath I-SEE seminar by Gordon McGlone, an ecologist who spent his career working with the Wildlife Trusts and now runs a consultancy ‘Thinking Naturally’.  Gordon was CEO of Gloucestershire...

  • Hefce off-line

    The Hefce consultation meeting is over.  As for, my question ... In 2009, Hefce said this: “It remains our view that the greatest contribution that universities and colleges can make to sustainable development is through the values, skills and knowledge...

  • Hefce on-line

    I have joined Hefce’s London consultation on line, and was impressed by the ease of the technology.  Just a click.  If it runs out of tax-payer cash, HEFCE could sell this expertise. I joined just in time to see the...

  • Higher Education for Sustainable Development – an interview

    A while back, I had an "interview" by questionnaire.  An odd process; whilst it certainly gave me a lot of time to consider and shape my responses, there no time to interact with the interviewer.  I sent a few papers...

  • SDRN conference – see you there?

    The SDRN’s Annual Conference: Sustainable development in the UK in 2020 is to take place on Tuesday, 28th January at the BIS Conference Centre in London. SDRN says: The UK has committed to a range of nationally and internationally-set sustainable...