May 2023 | 6 Systems for Transformation: Environment by Tim Barter, Effie Konstantinou, Jonathan Williams and Esther Gordon-Smith

The next talk in our Sustainability Community of Action Series on Sustainability, Systems Thinking and Solutions looking at the Environment System.

When you think about the environment, what is your mental model?  How would you describe it?  Beautiful?  Calming?  A place to get some fresh air? Bees? Something in need of protection?

Did you know – the Environment System also provides the life support systems for us all?

From food and building materials and fuel, to cleaning the air and our fresh water.  From flood protection and climate regulation, to a source of both disease and their remedies.  From a home to wildlife that we enjoy, to wildlife that we need for things like pollination.  And from a system which provides erosion control, we will also see how its value has been steadily eroded.

Tim Barter from the National Trust will give a talk about land management and land pressures in the UK, and how competing needs are affecting habitats and ecosystems

Effie Konstantinou from UCL will give us an introduction to her work around an interdisciplinary programme of independent research which focuses on the politics of identity and knowledge in organisations, in connection with professionalism and ethics.

Jonathan Williams from the Environment Agency will deliver a talk why it is important to value nature, and how to approach it, including an overview of some new EA guidance

Esther Gordon-Smith, one of the SCoA Volunteers, will be continuing her introduction to systems thinking, this time for the Environment System, looking at what are ecosystems services, and how does this relate to systems thinking?

Mentimeter Results: Click here