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On 4 September 2010, Christchurch, New Zealand was struck by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake causing extensive structural damage but not loss of live. On 22 February the city was hit by a shallow, violent aftershock, at magnitude 6.3, the quake killed over 180 people and ‘munted’ or destroyed thousands of homes. Since then over 8000 aftershocks of varying intensity have hit the city. In the six month period to July 2011, the community coped on average, with a magnitude 5 earthquake every 10 days. Working from a tent for 12 weeks on campus and living with ongoing suspension of local democracy in a cordoned central city, prompts this professional and personal reflection on the concept of resilience.

20% of the world's CO2 emissions from energy and processes arise in the production of just five materials: steel, cement, plastic, paper and aluminium. Demand for these materials is likely to double in the next 40 years, but the industries that make them are already very efficient, so if we look ahead with one eye open - pursuing energy and process efficiencies only - we can't make a significant reduction in their impact.  However if, in addition, we look ahead with both eyes open - looking for opportunities to pursue material efficiency, to deliver the same services with less new material - we can make a much greater reduction in our impacts.  This talk, based on the £1.5m EPSRC funded WellMet2050 project, will explore the realities of future material efficiency, particularly for steel and aluminium goods.

There is a large body of literature regarding the choice and optimization of different processes for converting feedstock to bioethanol and bio-commodities; moreover, there has been some reasonable technological development in bioconversion methods over the past decade. 

The DEFRA-funded research programme SLRG (2010-2013), directed by Prof. Tim Jackson of CES, has just completed its first full year, and initial results are coming in from fieldwork. In this seminar Ian Christie, a Fellow of CES and coordinator of the SLRG, presents an overview of the programme and discusses emerging findings and the policy and research context for the work

This seminar will examine how efficiency can be addressed in the context of materials choice and when considering that materials are almost always used together.  The overlap and tension between materials and product efficiency will be discussed as will the question of how we would recognise a materials efficiency economy if one existed.  Examples from packaging and the auto industry will be used to illustrate these topics.

The use of wild animal species as a source of meat is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, with “bushmeat” being used directly for food and sold.  

This project aims at demonstrating the process development of solar energy projects in Greece. 

A presentation will be given on the Industrial Symbiosis at Kalundborg, Denmark, - the classic example of an industrial ecological network.  The history of the spontaneous evolution of the symbiosis is presented, from the very start up to the present situation.

There is an urgent need to decarbonise global energy systems to tackle the twin challenges of mitigating climate change and improving energy security.

An insightful, engaging and interactive session on delivering sustainability in practice.

Following on from carbon footprinting, water footprinting is currently the next “big issue” in environmental footprint of products and in consumers’ choices. However, currently there are a number of published methodologies to calculate a water footprint but no one internationally agreed method.  Methods can be broadly divided into those based on measuring the volume of water used and those assessing the impacts associated with that water use.  Furthermore, they vary in what is considered relevant for assessment. Is rainwater relevant for inclusion? Is evaporated water really lost from the system? Does it matter if water is withdrawn, used and then released back into different water shed? What does “water use” actually mean?

Children growing up today are confronted by four difficult and intersecting challenges: dangerous environmental change, weakening democracies, growing social inequality, and a global economy marked by unprecedented youth unemployment and unsustainable resource extraction. Yet on streets everywhere, there is also a strong, youthful energy for change.

Joss Tantram is director of TERRAFINITI, a sustainable business and systems consultancy based in Guildford.  Terrafiniti’s major current programme of research and business consulting is called TOWARDS 9 BILLION. The core idea is that we should be trying to shape policies and market frameworks that would enable us to welcome the idea of a world of 9 billion people, not fear it, and to conserve and enhance natural capital and ecosystem services.

The CRC requires large organisations to measure their annual carbon dioxide emissions and charges them £12 for every tonne they produce. The original intention was that it should be revenue neutral. A league table of achievements would be created with those at the bottom being financially penalised whilst those at the top would be rewarded. The intention was that this would create financial and reputational incentives for carbon saving.

Most economic models do not include banks. Many experts have widely diverging views on how banks affect the economy.

We must consume to live.  However, the consumption of goods and resources in developed countries is so considerable that it is associated with low psychological wellbeing, and is a contributor to several social and ecological problems.  The psychological motivators that sustain such consumption may relate to attempts to resolve affect or identity difficulties, whereby consumer activities and goods offer emotional or symbolic functions.  These tendencies are especially visible in the compulsive buyer.

UK food retailers have become arguably one of the most important drivers for change in beginning to create more sustainable supply chains.   This is now no longer just a reputational issue but is based on concerns for food security and is clearly a competitive issue.  Rethinking waste as resources and the need to  make step changes on operational energy use has encouraged retailers to move from corporate targets that are doable to those which can only be classified as BHAGs and are beyond current knowledge on how to achieve them.

Yacob spent the past two years at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), focusing on the links between energy, climate and development.  He helped set up the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), which is now up and running and considered an important knowledge centre in the African development landscape

A central message from the sustainable development community is that we in developed nations must
reduce our consumption. We tell consumers, organisations and governments of all levels that we must
reduce our ghg outputs, reduce our air travel, reduce our use of cars, reduce the number of televisions
and other consumer goods we buy. We should eat less, use less water and consume less overall,
indeed, we must have fewer people on this planet.

A number of changes have made the shift from a global linear industrial economy to a regional circular economy (C.E.) increasingly interesting for economic actors in industrialised countries:

Dr. Jerry Kroth from Santa Clara University will present an analysis of two major psychological mechanisms used in the American body politic which effectively distort the seriousness of global warming and any effective response to it. The U.S. is the world's second largest emitter of green house gases, and the scope and extent of media and political propaganda surrounding this issue are legion.

Research for the British Council for Offices examines how to calculate the carbon footprint of offices when constructed, in-use and the transport used by occupiers. The calculations are then related to the economic output of different types of building with implication for the taxation of carbon.

Practice theory, as a means to understanding social change, emphasises how practices, such as cooking, shopping and leisure activities, evolve and change through time.

Recent research and policy studies on the low-carbon future highlight the importance of a more flexible demand of electricity. The integration of new technologies, like heat pumps and electric vehicles, is expected to bring about increases in peak electricity demand which may not be met by intermittent supply.