Dec 18 2006
Climate change is on the agenda as never before. The Stern Report highlighted the potentially huge economic costs of global warming. In February 2007 the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is expected to provide further confirming evidence of the urgent need for action.
In the same month, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Trust launches ‘International Dialogues: Architecture and Climate Change’ in partnership with One Planet Living® – a series of lectures and debates on the links between global warming and the ecology of places and spaces around the world. One Planet Living® is a joint initiative of BioRegional Development Group and WWF based on 10 guiding principles of sustainability.
The lecture series has been developed with climate change communication experts Futerra, who aim to bring awareness of the impacts and opportunities of climate change for architects. This programme forms a significant contribution to the aims and objectives embedded in the RIBA climate change policy proposal.
The lecture series will be launched on Tuesday 6 February 2007 by Wangari Maathai, Africa’s leading environmentalist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2004 and Founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya.
Other speakers in the spring programme include Sir David King, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, and Mike Davis, award winning historian and urban theorist. The RIBA Trust Annual Lecture 2007 will be delivered by social anthropologist and cultural ecologist Professor Herbert Girardet, Director of Programmes at the World Future Council.
Charles Knevitt, Director of the RIBA Trust, said:
“The programme of talks brings together some of the most visionary and inspirational international thinkers, practitioners and organisations from a range of disciplines such as, environmentalism, architecture, science, engineering and urbanism to discuss current research and practice.”
“The fact that such a large number of premier speakers have agreed to participate demonstrates that the RIBA and the architectural profession are regarded as key partners in developing an intelligent response to climate change. That buildings contribute to around 50% of CO2 emissions has significant interest for people like Sir David King and Professor Wangari Maathai, and there is a recognition that the RIBA can bring something to the table.”
Pooran Desai, Technical Director of One Planet Living®, said:
“We are delighted to be working with the RIBA Trust on this important initiative. Architects play a pivotal role in determining where and how we live, work and play and so are vital in creating places where we can all adopt one planet lifestyles.”
Solitaire Townsend, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Futerra, said:
“We hope these talks really open the eyes of the architecture profession to climate change. Architects have great potential through their work to reduce our contribution to climate change, and to help design living and working spaces for a warming world.”
“What will the future look like in 60 years? We know that it’s going to be very different from what we experience today, so it’s essential that today’s architects understand this. By bringing together such a diverse range of experts, we want to open the minds of architects to what’s possible. We want to inspire them to produce work that not only helps us mitigate climate change, but helps us adapt to the climate changes we’re already locked into.”