Forthcoming Events: The 2006 COIN Speaker Series

Venues

• The Holywell Music Rooms are on Holywell Street.
• Ruskin College is on the corner of Walton Street and Worcester Place.The meetings will be held in the Main Hall.
• The Sheldonian Theatre is on Broad Street next to the Bodleian Library.
• The Town Hall is on St Aldates.

Special needs

There is wheelchair access in all venues. Most talks will not be amplified but seats can be reserved at the front for people with hearing impairments if we are contacted in advance.

Reclaiming the Streets - saving the city from the car

THURSDAY 7TH DECEMBER

7-9 pm, Ruskin College. £3/£2.

Cars are not just a leading cause of climate change - they have taken over every part of our towns, cities and countryside. Whilst the government talks of cleaner fuels and new engines, our speakers present a passionate argument and practical proposals for living without cars.

Ted Dewan is a childrens author/illustrator and the man behind 'The Road Witch Trial', a creative road-repurposing campaign in Oxford. It involves having neighbours young and old participate in reclaiming their residential streets with surreal art installations, such as a living room in the street and an 11 foot bunny...

Simon Pratt is the South East Regional Manager of Sustrans. Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity, working on practical projects so people can choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment.

This evening will start with a specially commissioned presentation of Then and Now shots of Oxford, showing how cars have taken over every corner of our city. This event is presented in partnership with Sustrans.

Re:versing the damage

THURSDAY 18TH JANUARY

7-9 pm, venue tbc. £3/£2.

An event giving us the modern and connected live poetry culture that tackles the causes of climate change, its perpetrators, its deniers and its sponsors. With Steve Larkin, international slam champion and founder of the hugely successful Oxford community poetry organisation 'Hammer and Tongue', and other top poets and spoken word artists to be confirmed. This event is presented in partnership with Hammer and Tongue.

Past Speaker Series Events

Carbon Rationing (series pilot)

April 2004

COIN's Speaker series was piloted in April 2004 with a highly successful event on carbon rationing.

What do we need to do to save ourselves?

November 2004

Michael Meacher, former UK Minister for the Environment, presented a talk on the impacts, threats and solutions to climate change.

Perspective: Michael Meacher

Facing Climate Change & Other Great Adventures

Monday May 9th 2005

The first in COIN's 2005 series of monthly speaker events was given by acclaimed Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy, Ph.D., on 9th May 2005, titled "Facing Climate Change & Other Great Adventures".

Joanna Macy, is a world-renowned theorist in finding ways to counter our despair and disempowerment in the face of global environmental problems. Her wide-ranging work addresses psychological and spiritual issues of the nuclear age, the cultivation of ecological awareness, and the fruitful resonance between Buddhist thought and contemporary science.

Details of the event | More information about Joanna Macy

Perspective: Joanna Macy

Scientists Versus Environmentalists: Which is the Bigger Obstacle to Progress on Solving the Problem of Climate Change?

Thursday June 9th, 2005

7-9pm THE VAULTS, rear of the University Church of St Mary's on Oxford High Street. Seating is limited, so early arrival is recommended. Organic food and light refreshments are available from 6.30. Price £2 / £1 concessions on the door.

Mark Lynas is an environmental campaigner and journalist specialising in climate change and author of the acclaimed book High Tide: News from a Warming World.

Dr Myles Allen is head of the Climate Dynamics Group at the Oxford University Department of Physics, and is a leading specialist in climate change modeling.

Both are passionate and highly entertaining speakers and a stimulating debate is guaranteed with full audience involvement.

Can You Afford Your Holiday in the Sun?

Thursday July 7th, 2005

TOWN HALL, St Aldates Street, Oxford. The meetings are held in the Council Chamber. 7pm-9pm. Doors open 6.30. Free entry.

Scientists warn us that jet travel may become the leading cause of climate change, that major holiday destinations will disappear under the waves and that the Costa Del Sol will become as hot as the Sahara. What will this mean for tourism and aviation?

Dr. David Viner is a lecturer at the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia specialising in the interaction between climate and tourism

Dr David Upham is a researcher at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and is co-editor of the book 'Towards Sustainable Aviation'

This event is organised in partnership with the Aviation Environment Federation

Sleepwalking into Disaster: Are We in a State of Denial About Climate Change?

Thursday September 22nd, 2005

7-9pm. Doors open 6.30. The Holywell Music Rooms, Holywell St., Oxford. Price £2/ £1 entry on the door

When most people accept the dangers of climate change why do they keep flying for their holidays and buying ever larger cars? Why is it so hard for us to face up to the realities of the threats? Will new fuels and technologies really save us, or are they just a fantasy and further evidence of our denial?

George Monbiot, an award winning author and broadcaster, writes regularly on climate change for his weekly column in The Guardian. He is a highly acclaimed and inspirational public speaker.

George Marshall is Co-Executive Director of the Climate Outreach Information Network. He is currently preparing a book on denial and climate change.

Perspectives: George Monbiot | George Marshall

Homes for the Greenhouse

Thursday October 27th, 2005

7-9pm THE VAULTS, rear of the University Church of St Mary's on Oxford High Street.Seating is limited, so early arrival is recommended. Organic food and light refreshments are available from 6.30 Price £2 / £1 concessions on the door.

To meet government climate change targets houses will need to use 60% less energy by 2050. How does government policy need to change to achieve this target and what role will individual householders play? Come to the talk and learn about the practical steps you can take straight away.

Gavin Killip from the University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute presents the research of the 40% House Project on the combination of rebuilding and new technologies that will transform Britain's homes. Local pioneers will present the practical steps they took to achieve this target in their own houses.

Will the Politicians Ever Save Us from Climate Change?

Thursday November 24th, 2005

Town Hall, St Aldates Street, Oxford. The meetings are held in the Council Chamber. 7pm-9pm. Doors open 6.30. Free entry.

Two exceptional speakers who have struggled to make the political process work share their perspectives on the importance and the impotence of politicians.

Charles Secrett is the former Executive Director of Friends of the Earth and is the director of Active Citizens Transform, an organisation which mobilises people to actively engage in the political process.

Caroline Lucas is the Green Party MEP representing the South-East of England. She is one of the most powerful speakers on the environment.

I'm Dreaming of a Grey Christmas

Thursday December 15th, 2005

NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE: St Michaels at the Northgate Church, on the corner of Cornmarket and Ship Street. 7pm-9pm. Doors open 6.30pm.

Will climate change bring us a future without snowmen, Jack Frost and icicles... or does it have some even nastier surprises for us? Two leading experts present the long range weather forecast the UK and around the world.

Helen Young is the lead presenter at the BBC Weather Centre and appears regularly on television, radio, and web presenting forecasts and discussing climate issues.

Dr Stephan Harrison is a Geographer in the University of Oxford specialising in glacier melt and climate change.

Climate Crime: will climate change destroy any hope of equality for the world's poorest people?

THURSDAY 18TH MAY, 2006

7-9 pm, Ruskin College, £3/£2

The impacts of our carbon emissions are already being felt by the world's poorest people through storms, drought, disease, and declining food yields. Scientists say far worse is to come, creating millions of environmental refugees. This may be our greatest ever abuse of the poor, yet the solutions needed in a low carbon world also offer new hope for social justice.

Maria Adebowale is an expert in environmental justice and equality and the Director of Capacity Global, a social enterprise specialising in environmental justice, sustainable development, diversity, community participation and human rights.

Andrew Simms is Policy Director and Head of the Climate Change programme at the New Economics Foundation and has pioneered and widely promoted the concept of 'Ecological Debt'. This event is presented in partnership with Oxfam.

Women and climate change: is the female of the species more deadly than the male?

THURSDAY 22ND JUNE

7-9 pm, Ruskin College. £3/£2.

Women have a particular relationship to climate change. It is the women in traditional societies who will carry the greatest burden of any weather and health disasters. Yet in the rich world, it is women who usually have the largest say in domestic decisions which contribute to the problem, especially with regards to travel and home energy. Two outstanding speakers share their own perspectives, fears and demands for action.

Ruth Bond is a trustee of the Women's Institute and a member of the the board of Stop Climate Chaos.

Juliet Davenport is Chief Executive of Good Energy.

This event is presented in partnership with the National Federation of Women's Institutes and Good Energy.

Climate injustice in the Niger Delta: Ten years on from Ken Saro-Wiwa

THURSDAY 6TH JULY

7-9 pm, Holywell Music Rooms. £3/£2.

Ten years after the judicial murder of human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa shocked the world, the communities of the Niger Delta in Nigeria continue to bear the burden of our demand for oil with escalating violence and environmental deterioration. Now the climate change provoked by oil threatens to submerge the delta for ever. COIN presents an evening of readings and poetry inspired by the Niger Delta struggle.

Among the speakers will be:

Ken Wiwa - a jouranlist and author, and a director of the Ken Saro-Wiwa Foundation. He will speak at this event about his father's legacy.

James Marriott - co author of 'The Next Gulf: London, Washington and Oil Conflict in Nigeria'. He is co-director of award winning social and environmental justice group PLATFORM. This event is presented in partnership with PLATFORM.

Sun Screen: films on climate change

THURSDAY 17TH AUGUST

In the heat of the summer, COIN will be presenting an outdoor screening of climate change shorts, documentary and film. 7 pm, location of films to be announced (please check website for details). Free admission.

Carbon offsets - salvation or distraction?

THURSDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER

7-9 pm, Ruskin College. £3/£2.

What do Tony Blair, U2 and Prince Charles have in common? They are all offsetting their own carbon emissions by paying for 'offsets' - projects that aim to reduce emissions somewhere else. Are they investing in a sustainable world or buying public relations - and do these offsets really reduce emissions at all?

Mike Mason is the founder and managing director of Climate Care, one of the fastest growing offset companies.

Larry Lohmann works for the Corner House, a research and solidarity organisation based in Dorset, and is the author of articles on carbon trading in 'Science as Culture', 'Development Today', 'World Rainforest Movement Bulletin', 'Foreign Policy in Focus' and other publications.

Heat - How to Stop the Planet Burning. George Monbiot launches his new book

TURSDAY 19TH OCTOBER

7-9 pm, Sheldonian Theatre. £5/£3.

It now seems certain that we need a 90% cut in our emissions by 2030 to prevent runaway climate change from taking place. In his brand new book, 'HEAT', George Monbiot explains how the cut could be achieved without bringing the civilisation we know to an end.

Analysing the potential of energy efficiency, renewable resources, carbon burial, nuclear power and new transport and building systems, Monbiot finally unveils what works, what doesn't, what costs the least and what needs to be done to make change happen. Addressing key questions that seem to be a constant stumbling block - 'is individual abstinence futile when others are lighting their houses with a million light bulbs every Christmas' and 'how much can be done when the climate change deniers are so vocal?', Monbiot argues that answers are available and hope is not lost.

Come and hear George Monbiot talk about his groundbreaking new book, to be published by Allen Lane in September 2006 and available to buy at this event. This event is presented in partnership with Penguin.

A full audio recording of this event can now be heard at http://climate.oneworldblogs.net/2006/10/21/george-monbiot-calls-on-the-last-generation-to-save-the-planet/

Cutting the Carbs - achieving a low carbon lifestyle

THURSDAY 16TH NOVEMBER

7-9 pm, Town Hall Assembly Rooms. Free.

So, we understand the problem and want to do something - but what can we actually do? What will the future low carbon society look like and what are the steps that we can take in our lives to start it today? COIN welcomes two outstanding speakers for an evening of inspiration, practical tips and shared visions.

Penney Poyzer is the owner of the award-winning 'Eco-Home' and presenter of the BBC series 'No Waste Like Home'.

Leo Hickman is a Guardian journalist and author of 'A Life Stripped Bare: My Year Trying to Live Ethically and a Good Life'. This event is presented in partnership with the Oxford Solar Initiative.