Reading 2050 Lectures: Nature & People in our Urban Future
Thursday 28th June, 6pm - 7pm, London Road Campus, Room G01 (Building L022)
I am delighted to be invited to deliver a public lecture for The University of Reading's School of the Built Environment.
I will be exploring 'Nature & People in our Urban Future'. With 7/10 of us living in cities by 2050, how will we relate to nature? What can we learn from the Biophilic City of Birmingham? Is technology a barrier or potential conduit to nature?
Biophilia: “…the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms. Innate means hereditary and hence part of ultimate human nature.” E.O. Wilson
Nature Nurture CIC specialise in connecting urban communities with the wild spaces on their doorstep.
We believe that people need nature and nature needs people and that in order to nurture custodians of our precious planet, children need to spend time in nature. We use multiple conduits to achieve this, from Forest School & Earth Education, to giant nature puppets, Family Wild Days, spy missions and more recently, harnessing the power of technology. Last year Nature Nurture collaborated with The Woodland Trust and enabled trees to talk. We brought together a diverse bunch to explore the idea, built the kit and ran a 9 day event beside Tower Bridge as part of London Tree Week. We're currently working with Dr. William Bird's company Intelligent Health Ltd, delivering an urban nature tech connection project in Colchester.
The lectures are part of the Reading 2050 lecture series, which provide a platform to discuss how Reading should evolve into a smarter and more sustainable city by 2050 (www.reading2050.co.uk).
Admission to the lecture is free.
The SBE, Barton Wilmore and Reading UK, established the Reading 2050 group in 2013. The Reading 2050 lecture series is structured around three themes, which underpin the Reading 2050 vision:
*Place and Environment
*People and Lifestyle
*Economy and Employment
In 2017, the School brought together expert speakers to discuss Reading's heritage and history, the future of its transport and energy and the impact of climate change and floods. A discussion on Reading's Art and Culture was facilitated earlier this year, and there are other Reading 2050 events planned for 2018 and 2019.