York Festival of Ideas
Living with Floods
Recent floods affecting Yorkshire and the North West have brought into sharp focus the effects of climate change on all of our lives. What is the likely future impact of climate change? How will it affect decisions on how we use our land?
Our Festival Focus Day brings together leading environmental scientists, insurance industry leaders, policy-makers, engineers, farmers and city planners to discuss how we can prevent - and live with - floods in the future.
The Hub café will be open all day serving hot and cold snacks and drinks.
Saturday 11 June
12.00 noon - 1.00pm
The Impact of Climate Change
Our speakers will look to the future and consider the likely impacts of global climate change, not just in terms of the environment, but also its political and social ramifications.
In this opening session, Ruth Davis, a Senior Associate with E3G will deliver the keynote address. The session is chaired by Lisa Emberson, Centre Director, Stockholm Environment Institute York
4.00pm - 5.30pm
Planning for Multifunctional Land Use
Hear how we can maximise our use of land for farming and food production while enhancing its biodiversity and ecosystem services. David Raffaelli, of the University of York’s Environment Department and Director of the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) project, will deliver the opening address. Speakers include:
- Rosalind Forbes Adams, Hagge Wood Trust
- Sue Hartley, University of York (Chair)
- James Hopwood, Future Farmers of Yorkshire
- James Dyke, University of Southampton
- Chris Spray, University of Dundee
2.00pm - 3.30pm
Living with Floods: The Future of Our Land
The risk of flooding is something which is becoming part of many people’s everyday lives. How can we better manage these flood risks? And how can farmers make sustainable changes to combat threats from extreme weather?
Sue Hartley, Director of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute at the University of York and President of the British Ecological Society, will deliver the keynote address. This will be followed by a panel debate. Speakers include:
- Colin Brown, Environment Department, University of York
- David Dangerfield, Director of Operational Services for Flood and Coastal Risk Management, Environment Agency.
- Howard Forster, Northern Gas Networks
- Acting Chief Constable Tim Madgwick, North Yorkshire Police
- David Raffaelli, Environment Department, University of York (Chair)
6.00pm - 7.30pm
Creating Flood-Ready Buildings
What kind of houses should we be building and where? Hear how planners, insurance companies and engineers are working to create more sustainable buildings. Brendan McCafferty of Flood Re will deliver the keynote address. Speakers include:
- Hamish Hall, WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff in the UK
- John Gillibrand, Venture Management – Econaut
- Mary Dhonau, MDA Community Flood Consultants
- Steve Wragg, City of York Council
- John McDermid, University of York (Chair)
From Farm to Fork - International Food Research Programme Set to Launch in Manchester
A group of leading northern universities is set to launch a groundbreaking international food research programme in Manchester. The N8 Research Partnership - which comprises Manchester, Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and York Universities - will launch the N8 AgriFood Programme on 21-22 June at the University of Manchester. This innovative programme will enable academics and researchers to collaborate closely with industry, farmers and the government, and aims to solve the global challenge of ensuring sustainable, resilient and healthy food supplies for everyone.
More than 60 speakers from the likes of Sainsbury’s, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Co-Operative Group, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), HSBC and the National Farmers’ Union will attend the launch event. Over the two days, attendees will explore the need for a sustainable food system to meet current and future needs, particularly in light of population growth and climate change impacts. For more information please visit N8-agrifood-launch-2016
