Jun.
Events
1st
Field Techniques for Surveying Vegetation, Online
1st- 4th
Insite2009, Watford
5th- 8th
International Sustainable Development Research Conference, Uterecht
9th
Bushmeat & Fisheries within the Livelihood Context - What are the Implications for Conservation?, London
9th
Unravelling Climate Change Models,
Oxford
10th
Climate Change & the Water Sector, London
10th
Economics of Climate Change,
Oxford
11th
Managing the Risk of a Changing Climate, Oxford
12th
Oxford Energy Futures, Oxford
15th
Sustainable Cities, London
15th
Education for Sustainable Development & Global Citizenship Symposium, Newport
16th
Biodiversity & Ecosystems In A Changing World, London
16th- 17th
Wildfire 2009, Hampshire
17th- 19th
Greening Education, Karlsruhe, Germany
20th
Education for the Great Reskilling, Gloucester
22nd
The GEES Subject Centre Assessment for Learning Conference, Manchester
23rd
The Green Gown Awards, London
23rd- 25th
Energy & Sustainability 2009, Bologna, Italy
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For further
details on
these and
other events,
see the
events page
of the IES
website. |
May 2009
IES News
Strategic Plan
On Monday 23rd March 2009, the IES held a visioning day attending by Council members, staff and IES members. The notes from this meeting can be found in the articles below. The results of this meeting will form the basis of the new IES strategic plan. The IES Council would like to invite comments from members on these findings before drafting the strategic plan.
Launch of the 2009 John Rose Award
The IES is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for the 2009 John Rose Award.  The John Rose Award is open to postgraduate students who have completed (or in the writing-up stages of) an outstanding piece of work, which has the potential to motivate people and facilitate environmental improvement. The Award is a £1000 grant to enable the winner to promote their research to the public, inspiring positive environmental change and helping postgraduate students promote themselves and their work within the environmental sector.
Language of Sustainability Resources Online
Resources from the recent IES conference on the Language of Sustainability, including papers and slides, have been added to the IES website.
Website Poll
At the aforementioned conference, there was an interesting discussion on whether the term 'sustainability' has become meaningless. This was also the questioned posed on this month's website poll. 65% of the 128 votes cast felt it hadn't. The office is currently putting together a journal themed around the Olympics and this has inspired this month's question "London is the latest host city to label its Olympics as 'green', but is the concept of a green Olympics an oxymoron'?" To vote, visit the IES homepage.
ES Links
Nominations: Millennium Technology Prize 2010
The Millennium Technology Prize is a biannual award of one million Euros given to a groundbreaking innovation that promotes people’s quality of life, contributes toward the realization of humane values and encourages sustainable development. Candidates for the 2010 Millennium Technology Prize are sought across the world and in all fields of technology. Nominations are welcomed from universities, academies, research institutes and industrial organisations.
NO2 Ship Emissions Measured from Space
Seven years of satellite data recorded by the European Space Agency has been compiled a map of European shipping routes. The map highlights the fact that many marine engines are not energy efficient and produce NO2 and SO2 emissions causing acid rain and other environmental problems.
Electronic Waste
Greenpeace has updated its study of the environmental records of the World’s leading electronics companies. Dell has not rated well on the list since they were slow on the uptake to remove toxic substances from its products. However, they have announcing a ban on the export of used equipment to developing countries (unless it is in full working order and for genuine use). Greenpeace argues that this ban should be copied by the other electronics companies in order to reduce the huge piles of e-waste building up in Africa, India and China where it is dismantled, then burned or treated with toxic chemicals under the name of ‘recycling’ by children as young as 8. Greenpeace estimate that 80% of e-waste sent for recycling from the USA ends up in this situation.
Quote of the month
"The fact that I flew here for 1 1/2 hours to sit on a panel them I'm flying straight back to the US is an example of our commitment to environmental sustainability." - Indra Nooyi, the chief executive officer of PepsiCo, at the recent World Business Summit on Climate Change.
Articles
IES Visioning Day: Meeting Notes
Mark Everard
On Monday 23rd March 2009, the IES held a visioning day between 10:45 and 16:00 at the Grosvenor offices of the Duke of Westminster. This day was dedicated to looking ahead to what purpose the IES needs to serve in the next phase of its evolution, recognising that the ‘environmental sciences’ have a key and indeed essential role to play in shaping a more sustainable society. (Note that one of the conclusions of the ‘2020 visioning’ day was that the environmental bodies collectively had to date not risen proportionately to this challenge.) read more... (opens as a pdf)
Mark Townsend, David Glick - 50 Ways to F**k the Planet
Reviewed by Charlotte Cook
 Initially I was confused and irritated by the opening pages of this book but one chapter in, I was nodding enthusiastically and snorting in amusement whilst other (clearly understimulated) commuters slumped frowning in their seats en route to Paddington.
The title really should have given enough warning as to the cynical nature of this book. However, comments such as “These days, self-sacrifice is only for those intellectually bankrupt enough to believe they can actually make a difference”, served as a slap in the face for a recycling, low-energy-light-bulb-using, nature-lover such as myself. The introduction is harsh and abrasive but is probably intended to be overkill, with the use of crass metaphors; “Earth is in the terminal cancer ward with tubes rammed up its nose” and American colloquialisms; “Reality bites, sweetheart”. read more...
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