Sustainability under the spotlight at symposium
Published On Wed 17 Feb 2016 by Grant Hill
Work carried out at the University of Dundee and the James Hutton Institute aiming to tackle environmental challenges will be explored at a conference next week.
The University’s Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience (CECHR) will hold its annual symposium at the West Park Conference Centre on Wednesday, 24th February. CECHR is a partnership between the University and the Hutton Institute, providing a hub for interdisciplinary research addressing how societies can increase resilience to environmental change and promote sustainable futures.
Dundee and Hutton researchers and collaborators will host a series of talks and discussions showcasing work, particularly relating to advances in research, design, environmental science and transformative science.
After a series of keynote speeches, staff from the Hutton Institute, the University’s academic Schools and support services will host five-minute speed talks highlighting the work they have undertaken, the ideas underpinning it and their results.
Event organiser Professor Ioan Fazey, Chair of Social Dimensions of Environmental Change, said, “This year’s symposium will see us examine the advances in research, methodologies, collaboration and impact that have been made and features contributions from no less than seven of the University’s nine Schools and researchers from the James Hutton Institute.
“This interdisciplinary approach is a key component of CECHR’s work as it shows how researchers, teachers and practitioners from seemingly disparate subjects can make a difference to the sustainability agenda.”
Food, water, energy and health futures are key themes where CECHR aims to deliver world-class research and postgraduate teaching. The symposium will explore current and completed work, examples of collaborations among CECHR members and novel approaches to working. In showcasing these ideas to a wide audience it also aims to stimulate further discussion about the values and principles that together enable research to make a difference and to promote future collaborations.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The University of Dundee:
Rated No.1 in Scotland for Student Experience, Times Higher Education 2010 - 2015
Scottish University of the Year, Times / Sunday Times Good University Guide 2016
The University of Dundee has a core mission to transform lives locally and globally by:
• promoting the sustainable use of global resources,
• shaping the future through innovative design, and
• improving social, cultural and physical well-being.
The James Hutton Institute is a world-leading, multi-site scientific organisation encompassing a distinctive range of integrated strengths in land, crop, waters, environmental and socio-economic science. From its sites in Scotland, it undertakes research for the Scottish and UK governments, the EU and other organisations worldwide. The Institute has a staff of nearly 550 and 125 Ph.D. students and takes its name from the 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment scientist, James Hutton, who is widely regarded as the founder of geology and who was also an experimental farmer and agronomist. www.hutton.ac.uk
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