Come and join us at the Common Ground Garden Party to celebrate the summer growing season!
The Challenges and Opportunities of Climate Change in Working toward a Secure and Sustainable Future
Published May 14, 2011 Main 0 CommentsA conference brought forward by SOAS masters students:
What are the risks posed by climate change, and how should governments and industries respond? What are the roles of public and private stakeholders in adaptation planning and risk management in the UK? At the 1st annual CISD Energy and Climate Change Conference, leading experts from government, industry and NGOs will offer their perspectives to identify key challenges and opportunities.
WED 18th MAY, 1.30-5pm, Brunei Lecture Theatre, SOAS
More details here.
“Nuclear Power has no place in the fight against Climate Change: it is simply a diversion which leads us away from the real answer, renewable energy”.
Come and debate with us on Thursday 12th May, 7.00pm in SOAS (Vernon Square, room v111)
With Stephen Tindale, ex Executive Director of Greenpeace but a recent convert to the case for nuclear, and Darren Johnson, Green Party chair of the London Assembly Environment Committee.
Does the Fukushima disaster prove that nuclear power presents a risk greater than we can afford? Or does the burgeoning climate crisis represent a far greater risk that we should pull out all the available stops to avoid – including nuclear? Can renewables fill the gap if we scrap both fossil fuels and nuclear? Is it politically feasible to reach a zero carbon world without nuclear?
Hear the arguments and bring your own!
Earthships are cutting edge ‘green’ buildings, constructed using waste car tyres and other recycled materials. They use the planets natural systems to provide all utilities using the sun’s energy and rain to provide heat, power and water. They are buildings that heat and cool themselves, harvest their own water and use plants to treat their sewage.
Earthships have evolved over the last thirty years from the pioneering work of Michael Reynolds, Earthship Biotecture and the residents of the 3 Earthship communities in Taos, New Mexico (cf documentary film Garbage Warrior).
The concept has been used to build houses in Haiti as well as many eco villages around the world. Have a look on http://www.earthship.org/!
There are approximately 7,000 languages spoken today but more than half of them are under threat from larger languages.
If you fancy a break from exam revisions, come to the Endangered Languages Week 2011 (9-14th May) which presents a variety of talks, displays, discussions, films, lectures and workshops.
Programme available here.
You want to publicise an environment-related event, workshop, post some news, poetry, video or simply express your opinions? Send it to environment@soas.ac.uk and we will post it!
The UK Zapatista Network and Native Spirit Festival present…
Published April 28, 2011 Main 0 CommentsZapatista film screening: ¡Viva México! 120 min, Mexico, 2010
+ talk with Director Nicolas Défossé
Also: Photo Exhibition by the Collective La Otra Mirada
SATURDAY 30TH APRIL
6pm
SOAS in the Lukas Lecture Theatre (aka G2)
http://www.nativespiritfoundation.org/?p=1498
A few numbers from 2005:
Energy
– Electricity & heat (24.9%)
– Industry (14.7%)
– Transportation (14.3%)
– Other fuel combustion (8.6%)
– Fugitive emissions (4%)
Agriculture (13.8%)
Land use change (12.2%)
Industrial processes (4.3%)
Waste (3.2%)
More details here!
Transition Heathrow is a grassroots action group which has emerged from the climate change and plane stupid campaigns against the building of a third Heathrow runway. They have since then built a sustainable community, ‘Grow Heathrow’, which celebrated its first birthday last February.
Here is the short film they have made about it. Greatly shot, greatly edited, this video will also teach you how they live and how they manage to survive so long.