April
Events
12th
Green Monday: Sustainable Supply Chains, London
13th
Conservation with Shifting Goalposts: polar conservation & climate change, London
14th
The Changing Law & You, London
14th
Funding Essential Infrastructure Projects 2010-2015, London
15th
Innovation for Inclusive Growth, London
19th- 20th
Mobilising Democracy to Tackle Climate Change, London
20th
The Environment & Energy Awards 2010, Birmingham
21st- 22nd
Delivering Cleaner Air - Air Quality & Climate Change Spring Workshop, Rugby
23rd
ESD & the Interdisciplinary Ideal, London
28th- 29th
Linking biodiversity conservation & poverty reduction: what, why & how?, London
28th- 29th
Water and Environment 2010, London
28th
What's the harm in that? Understanding the Health Risks from Contaminated Land , London
29th
C-Change in GEES: Open Educational Resources (OERs) for climate change and sustainability - practicalities and pedagogy, Manchester
May
Events
5th
EFAEP - 4th European EMS Forum, Brussels, Belgium
10th
Green Monday: Green Innovation & Disruption, London
10th
Sustainability & the Humanities: Shaping Culture & Community for a Changing World, Cardiff
11th
Success & failure in conserving species of extreme rarity: lessons to be learnt?, London
19th
Industrial Uses of Bacteria, London
20th
Forests: challenged by a changing climate, London
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For further
details on
these &
other events,
see the
events page
of the IES
website.
Jobs
Principal Industrial Air Quality Consultant, Beckenham/
South London or
Leeds
Maintenance Engineer - Recycling, Essex
Geotechnical/
Civil Engineer, Midlands
Flood Risk Assessor, Midlands
Environmental Consultant, Scottish Highlands
Ecologist/
Senior Ecologist, UK – North West
Group Environmental Manager, UK- South East
Senior Building Acoustician, London
Business Development Associate, London
Environmental Consultant, East Anglia
-----
For further
details on
these &
other jobs,
see the
jobs page
of the IES
website. |
March 2010
IES News
 Council Meeting
On March 18th the IES Council met for the first of their tri-annual meetings for 2010. During the day Council members discussed the future landscape of environmental sciences from both utopian and dystopian points of view, and envisioned how the IES would operate in 2050. Thought was given to the role of scientists, and international dissemination of related issues and strategies. If society had successfully adapted sustainability thinking, would the IES become obsolete? The purpose of this exercise was to contribute towards the forthcoming IES journal looking at possible scenarios for a low-carbon Britain.
Modernisation of the IES’s byelaws and code of conduct were also discussed, along with the Institution’s application to become a licensed body to award Chartered Scientist. The decision was also made to take on an additional member of staff in the IES office. John Carstensen joined the meeting as a guest to discuss his first year in office as CEO of Society for the Environment (SocEnv) and future ventures. The next meeting is due to take place in June 2010.
Air Quality & Carbon Management Training
The Institute of Air Quality Management and the Institution of Environmental Sciences have accredited a series of seven different one-day courses from the University of the West of England. A certificate will be awarded on completion, along with five hours of continuing professional development (CPD) per one-day course.
 New Honorary Fellow
Professor Brian Chalkley has been awarded Honorary Fellowship of the IES. Brian is currently the Professor of Geography and Higher Education at the University of Plymouth. He has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to the development and promotion of environmental and geographical sciences, and education for sustainable development, in higher education institutions in the UK and internationally. As the Director of the National Higher Education Academy’s Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Subject Centre for almost a decade, he is well known for his support of the professional development of hundreds of academics in the environmental and geographical disciplines, and through outreach into the other subject areas. He has made notable contributions also to the promotion of sustainability in skills for graduate employability, and sustainable development education in schools, and has been the author of many high quality books, articles and web resources.
2010 AGM
The IES held its AGM on 18th March. The following people were elected to council: Dr Heather Barrett-Mold, Mrs Jennifer Blumhof, Dr John Burns, Dr Mark Everard, Mr Phil Holmes, Professor James Irwin, Professor Jim Longhurst, Dr David Muir, Dr Laurie Richards, , Professor Carolyn Roberts, Dr Pete Shaw and Professor Will Pope. The special resolution, allowing the Institution to distribute future AGM minutes electronically, was passed.
Website Poll
Our most recent website poll asked "Has the publication of internal emails from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia damaged the image of environmental scientists?" 86% of the 120 votes cast felt that they have. This month the IES asks visitors to its website "Will culling badgers prevent the spread of bovine TB?" To vote, visit the IES homepage.
ES Links
Political backing for Green Investment Bank
There is now a political consensus on the need for a state-backed Green Investment Bank with a mandate to reduce the cost of capital for private investment into low carbon infrastructure. The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the March 2010 Budget, the creation of a Green Investment Bank with £1bn of public money, matched by another £1bn of private investment by autumn 2011.
Defra Report on Waste & Resource Management
A new report, entitled 'Less is More: Business Opportunities in Waste and Resource Management’, has been produced jointly between Defra and the Department for Business, working with the waste management sector and industry. It outlines opportunities for business across the product supply chain, from design through to waste management.
 Online Plastics Debate
Plastics 2020 Challenge has launched an online recycling debate. It features video contributions from a number of bodies involved in recycling in the UK including Forum for the Future, Veolia and Closed Loop. It is hoped the format will spark open debate and comment on all the issues involved in recycling. A previous online survey determined people aged 55 or over are leading the way when it comes to household recycling.
Lovelock: Humans too stupid to prevent climate change
James Lovelock has claimed that humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades. In a controversial article in the Guardian, he also suggests that it "may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while" to allow the radical action needed to prevent the worse effects.
 Heathrow Third Runway
The government's plans for a third runway at Heathrow have been dealt a huge blow by the High Court which ruled that the Government's decision to give a green light to the proposed third runway had not properly taken into consideration climate change policy and the economic case. This means the Government will have to return to the consultation phase.
Sustainability Frontiers
A new international, not-for-profit, alliance of sustainability and global educators called Sustainability Frontiers has been launched. The organisation seeks to transform the human condition through addressing the current confluence of threats to the environment and to human society globally.
Search To Find Green Entrepreneurs of the Future
The Metro Newspaper has launched a competition, called Venture Candy, aiming to find the UK’s top up-and-coming entrepreneurs and to help their new businesses become established brands. The winners will receive investment, including a £50,000 advertising campaign, mentorship and a PA service that will give them the business foundations they need to grow. The only criterion is that each business idea must fit in to one of the five umbrella themes: Design & Technology, Food & Drink, Fashion & Interiors, Health & Beauty and Green. You’ll have to hurry as applications must be submitted by 6th April.
 Big Garden Birdwatch Results Published
After this year’s freezing cold, snowy winter it was feared there may be dramatic changes in bird populations after worries that the smaller birds were unable to cope with such conditions. This was confirmed by results of this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch run by the RSPB.
Bluefin Tuna Trade Ban Rejected
On Thursday 18th March a proposal to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna was rejected at the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Qatar, where seventy-two out of 129 members voted against the ban and forty three in favour, with fourteen abstentions. "Today’s vote was a setback for the Atlantic bluefin tuna," said Tom Strickland, head of the nation’s CITES delegation.
Articles
Are Universities Fit for Purpose in the 21 Century?
Steve Martin
 Various commentators claim that our universities “don’t know what counts so they count everything”. How surreal this sounds against the crisis of the multi trillion-dollar rescue of the global economy. It is even more surreal when we learn that highly educated traders with degrees from some of our most prestigious universities have facilitated this catastrophe. So do our universities bear some responsibility for this systemic problem? More fundamentally are universities fit for purpose in the twenty first century? read more...
Jeremy Colls and Abhishek Tiwary - Air Pollution
Reviewed by Bernard Fisher
 There are few text books on air pollution so it was nice to see this new, third edition appear. Jeremy Coll’s original book, called Air Pollution: An Introduction, was published in 1997 and had 340 pages and 13 chapters. The new edition has a similar structure with 14 chapters. The new chapter is on the role of vegetation in mitigation of air pollution, which is the only one I would criticise, but more on that later. The extra length represents updates of individual chapters and the volume provides an attractively produced, accessible reference for anyone working in the field of air pollution. read more....
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