 The Language of Sustainability: Shouting but not being heard
This one day conference run by the IES, PP4SD and PARN, held on 27th April, focused on the Language of Sustainability and featured some of the most prominent voices in the sector.
During the morning session a panel of invited guests articulated how their profession views and conveys sustainability. The session then explored each groups’ language of sustainability and whether they were integrated and could be understood by one another. In the afternoon, delegates formed into groups to discuss the development of an ‘Esperanto of Sustainability’ which would break down the barriers between different sectors and be inspiring for all. This was a fantastic opportunity to hear some respected voices debate how we communicate about sustainability, arguably the foremost goal of society.
Speakers
Erik Bichard is the author of ‘Positively Responsible: How Business can Happily Save the Planet’. Erik is Professor of Regeneration and Sustainable Development at the Salford University and Sustainability Advisor to Liverpool City Council and the Co-operative Movement. Further to this Erik prepared a series of Sustainable Vision papers for The Mersey Partnership. Other key publications include ‘Creating a sustainable and healthy work environment – future challenges’ in ‘The Oxford Handbook of Organisational Well Being’.
Joe Ravetz is a Research Fellow at the University of Manchester and Co-Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology. Joe’s landmark study is ‘City-Region 2020- integrated planning for a sustainable environment’, which provides new insights and pathways using a major case study of the long-term future of a large conurbation. Current research interests include “One Planet Economy Network”, a programme for the transformation of the UK economy to ‘one planet’ level of resource use, in production and consumption. Joe also delivers training courses, seminars and lectures, such as the Foresight training course for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
David Fell is a Cambridge graduate of economics who has spent his career as a commercial consultant in economics, labour markets, property and economic development. David is currently the Director and co-founder of Brook Lyndhurst Ltd and was founding Director of the London First Sustainability Unit and former commissioner on the Mayor’s Sustainable Development Commission for London. David is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
Will Ashley-Cantello currently works in Government as a sustainable development policy advisor, having graduated in 2008 with a Masters degree in Leadership for Sustainable Development. Will has taught sustainable development to Year 8 at a boys’ school and had articles published in The Guardian, such as “Young people have the tools for change at their finger-tips”. As a member of the ‘Carbon Cycle Boys’, Will took part in and produced a documentary, “The Carbon-Cycle”, with the aim of shedding a positive light on living a low-carbon lifestyle.
Arran Stibbe is a senior lecturer in linguistics at the University of Gloucestershire. His PhD dissertation outlined an approach to ecoliteracy based on critical awareness of the ways that language constructs society. The approach to ecoliteracy helped in the creation of a new module called Language and Ecology at the University of Gloucestershire. In his academic work Arran is now working on a range of topics, including the analysis of discourses implicated in ecological destruction (such as economic, agricultural and consumerist discourses) and exploration of alternative discourses drawn from world literature. His research has has also expanded to include the integration of Education for Sustainable Development across the curriculum in Higher Education and he has become chair of the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges Education for Sustainability Group.
Mark Everard is the Chair of the Institution of Encironmental Sciences and a Visiting Research Fellow with the Faculty of Applied Sciences at UWE. Originally a wetland and freshwater scientist with a PhD in the cycling of heavy metals through lake ecosystems, Mark has worked on wider aquatic management and sustainable development issues in academia, the private sector, environmental regulation and the NGO sector. During this time, Mark has served on numerous government advisory committees, and is a prolific author of scientific papers, technical and magazine articles as well as books and contributions both to radio and television. Mark is also one of the UK government expert advisers to South Africa on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), building on his scientific, policy and advocacy work in the catchments of all five continents. He also writes books on fish and contributes to the angling press.
To view speakers' slides and documents, click below:
* Business: Eric Bichard (Slides)
* Consultancy: David Fell (Slides)
* Popular: Joe Ravetz (Slides)
* Government: Will Ashley-Cantello (Slides)
* The Linguistic Approach: Arran Stibbe (Word document)
* PARN (Slides)
* The Esperanto of Sustainability Workshop (Word document)
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