10 November 2011
Activist and business leaders to debate sustainability
Photo opportunity: 3pm on Monday, 14th November at Dalhousie Building. Patrick Harvie MSP and leading business figures will be available for picture after the debate.
Patrick Harvie MSP, co-convener of the Scottish Green Party, will debate the meaning of sustainability with leading business figures when he appears at a University of Dundee conference next week.
Students from the Universities of Dundee, Abertay, and St Andrews as well as Dundee College will have the chance to learn more about sustainability, discover new job opportunities and explore matters of environmental importance at the Dundee Student Sustainability Showcase & Conference (DS3C). Entitled, 'Sustaining Life', the event takes place at the Dalhousie Building on Monday, November 14th.
This year’s conference is the third annual DS3C event. It has been jointly organised by the Enterprise Gym, a pioneering University project that encourages students to develop the skills, confidence and self-reliance for entrepreneurialism, and Dundee University Students Association.
Dr Keith Skene of the University's BioSphere Research Institute will examine scientific aspects of sustainability in his presentation ‘Sustainable Design: Why the Pharaohs had it right’ and Geoffrey Wood, a Dundee PhD candidate at Dundee, will discuss the challenges to ‘Growing a sustainable energy system in the UK’.
Mr Harvie will then deliver the keynote speech focusing on the political use and misuse of the language of sustainability, before entering into a debate on the question ‘Is sustainability a cover for business as usual?’ with several top entrepreneurs.
The businesspeople taking part are Tony Banks (Balhousie Care Homes), Chris van der Kuyl (Brightsolid), Amanda Boyle (Bloom VC), Tim Allan (Unicorn property) and Alan Rae (Copyright Scotland). Exhibitions will be taking place during the day, and networking opportunities will be available for attendees.
DS3C is the opening event in the University’s Green Week 2012, which will see a series of workshops and awareness-raising sessions taking place from 14-18th November. Transport, energy, waste and shopping are the themes of this year’s programme.
The conference will also see the winners of the Sustainable Business Ideas Competition receive their prizes. Three prizes of £250 each will be presented to the students who come up with the best business ideas relating to energy, transport and general sustainability.
Organiser Neil Bowie, Enterprise Educator at the E-Gym, said, 'This conference is one of the highlights in our annual programme of events, and we are delighted this year to be welcoming Patrick Harvie, along with some leading names from the Scottish business community.'
'I think it’s fair to say that their definition of sustainability differs to Patrick’s so it will be very interesting to see them debate this hugely important topic.'
Patrick Harvie said he was looking forward to the event, and the opportunity to encourage students to think about the meaning of sustainability.
'It is clear that mainstream politics is merely paying lip service to sustainability,' he said. 'The language of sustainability and environment so often is misused to justify deeply unsustainable policies.
'The concept of ‘sustainable economic growth’, used so much by the current administration, needs to be challenged as much as the concept that an economy that is underpinned by fossil fuels can be called low-carbon.'
More information is available by visiting www.ds3c.co.uk. Places can be booked via this website and enquiries made by calling 01382 386568.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
