Forthcoming Events in our 2022-23 Programme
Tuesday December 6th 2022 at the Chapel Allerton Methodist Church, Town Street, LS7 4NB (entrance is opposite the Methodist Centre) @7.30pm: Dr Rachael Unsworth, Remaking Leeds in the 21st century. What does ‘green growth’ really mean? And to what extent is it happening in Leeds?
Summary
Evidence mounted during the 20th century that human beings were putting unbearable pressure on the Earth’s ability to support us. The United Nations ‘Earth Summit’ in 1992 set out ways in which we could address the related problems of over-intensive resource use – with its consequent environmental damage – and uneven economic opportunities. We could shift towards sustainability by integrating economy, environment and society, with lower resource throughput, ecological protection and repair, and greater social justice ... by the year 2020.
Leeds was designated ‘Environment City’ around the time of that hopeful meeting in Rio. How far has the city travelled towards sustainability? What are its strengths and its main opportunities? Where are the weaknesses, barriers and brakes? We now have plentiful evidence of threats. Can enough of the right kind of change happen fast enough to ensure that we fully play our part in remaking the economy and society in a way that will ensure long-term thriving here and in the wider world?
Biography
Rachael Unsworth is an urban geographer fascinated by the long-term evolution of cities, including prospects for the future. After a geography degree and PhD from the University of Cambridge, she became Head of Research for a firm of surveyors in London. It was during this time that she started to be actively concerned about human impact on the environment and to pick up on the efforts to make a difference.
Back in Yorkshire from the mid-1990s, she was a part-time lecturer at the University of Leeds until 2013, specialising in urban development and the geography of natural resources. From around 2000 she became involved in research, policy and practice in the city of Leeds: planning, urban design, development and regeneration, housing and environment. Publications include ‘21st century Leeds: geographies of a regional city’ (published 2004) and ‘Leeds: Cradle of Innovation’ (published 2018), which featured a few examples of moves towards a greener future.
Since 2019 Rachael has been running* Leeds City Walking Tours, taking groups of locals, visitors and professionals on a range of tours and also offering online presentations.
Tuesday January 10th 2023 at the Chapel Allerton Methodist Church, Town Street, LS7 4NB (entrance is opposite the Methodist Centre) @7.30pm: Professor Paul Rogers, ‘The Ukraine War'
Tuesday February 7th 2023 at the Chapel Allerton Methodist Church, Town Street, LS7 4NB (entrance is opposite the Methodist Centre) @7.30pm: Professor Richard Beardsworth , Professor of International Politics, University of Leeds , ‘Cop26 and the next Cop meeting in Egypt' .
Wednesday March 8th 2023 at the Chapel Allerton Methodist Church, Town Street, LS7 4NB (entrance is opposite the Methodist Centre) @7.30pm: Prof David Hall , University of Greenwich , ‘Energy and Water in the UK ' .
Tuesday April 11th 2023 at the Chapel Allerton Methodist Church, Town Street, LS7 4NB (entrance is opposite the Methodist Centre) @7.30pm: Bill Phelps , ‘Cooperative street-building - a co- housing project in Chapeltown, Leeds '.
Tuesday May 2nd 2023 at the Chapel Allerton Methodist Church, Town Street, LS7 4NB (entrance is opposite the Methodist Centre) @7.30pm: Dr Muhammad Ali Nassar , Leeds University Business School, ‘Brexit and the UK's complicated relationship with the European Union: past, present and future' .
