Environmental Forum Series

 

Our Environmental Forum Series, provides a platform for environmental debate on topical issues of the day with each forum having a theme and inspiring speakers covering the issue/s in detail. We hold the forums periodically throughout the year, mainly in the Spring and Autumn outside of the fair and events season. Newsletters on future Environmental Forums You can sign up to our e-mails about our events and activities by using the form at Contact Us page and ticking the relevant box. We also have a Facebook group - Richmond Environment Network - which also contains details of these events and our social events - Green Drinks.

Forthcoming Forum's

Thames Water Talk on the planned Tideway Improvements - 23rd February

Working with Thames Water's Tideway Tunnel Team, this forum will publicise information about this much needed tunnel under the Thames, taking waste from the Hammersmith area to east London. Member's of the Thames Water team will also be on hand to give an overview of the project, why it starts at Hammersmith and also give an opportunity to ask questions at this pre consultation stage of the project.

Doors open 6:45 for a 7pm start at the London Wetlands Centre.

Map link here (will open in a separate window so you may need to enable pop ups or hold CTRL and click the link).

If you would like to ask further questions Contact Us.

 

Some of our previous Environmental Forums

15th May 2008 - Wild Law

In partnership with the Gaia Foundation our May Environmental Forum was a talk on Wild Law given by Ian Mason & Carine Nadal at the Grove Gardens Chapel, Richmond, a fitting venue for such a talk.

A wild law is a law made by people to regulate human behaviour that privileges maintaining the integrity and functioning of the whole Earth community in the long term, over the interests of any species (including humans) at a particular time. The talk will cover the concept developed by Cormac Cullinan and outlined in his book Wild Law of how we can change our entire approach to governance so that we can continue life on a livable planet. The survival of our species and health of the Earth family depends on our ability to transform governance systems so that humans become part of the ecological matrix of biological and cultural diversity.

Speakers Ian Mason is a practising barrister, Director of the Earth Justice Legal Resource Centre, and is also Head of Law and Economics at the School of Economic Science in London. Carine Nadal joined Gaia as a legal research officer in March 2008 following a research internship on a River Thames project. She is keen to promote the transformation of law to better respect and protect the Earth and its inhabitants. After graduating with an LLB, Carine completed a Masters in environmental law with a thesis on the Aarhus Convention and environmental justice. She also gained research experience with the Environmental Law Foundation (U.K), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (Switzerland) and IUCN (Germany), and co-organised the first public interest environmental law conference in the UK.

For a further explanation of Wild Law please see this link to the Guardian's website.

 

April 2008 Forum - Environmental Hustings for South West London London Assembly Member Elections

Our April Forum was put on in partnership with the Richmond & Twickenham Friends of the Earth to hold an environmental hustings on the 23rd April 2008 for the candidates standing for election as London Assembly Member for the South West London constituency (Kingston, Richmond & Hounslow boroughs) in the Assembly Member/GLA elections that take place in May 2008. A write up of the event can be found on the Online Communities.

 

18th March 2008 Forum - Flood Risk Management. This forum was put on in partnership with the Thames Landscape Strategy and in conjunction with the Twickenham Society and the York House Society. The forum covered finding from the Thames Estuary 2100 study, sustainable urban drainage, emergency planning in response to flooding and actions that individuals can make and restoration of flood plains. Jason Debney of the Thames Landscape Strategy was the key speaker accompanied by Prof Paul Leonard, Joe Halanen, the Borough's Assistant Borough Contingency Manager and Chaired by Cllr Elengorn Cabinet Member for Environment and who represents the borough on the Thames Regional Flood Defence Committee.

 

On the 13th November 2007 we held Climate Change: The Solutions. This major public event was run in partnership with the Richmond & Kingston Group of the World Development Movement and looked at ways forward, at what needs to be done, not just at the personal level, but also locally and in the wider world. We had a number of high profile speakers; Aubrey Meyer author of Contraction and Convergence,  Shaun Chamberlin - Development Director, The Lean Economy Connection talking about Tradable Energy Quotas and Mary Holdstock talking about what has happened in Woking as one of the foremost sustainble thinking local authorities. Benedict Southworth - Director of World Development Movement chaired the meeting.