Events
Tuesday 7th February – DarwIN Festival: Importance of Evolution and Adaption
A series of five talks to be held at University Centre Shrewsbury. More details below:
2:10pm Adaption: the Choice for Sustainable Futures
Details TBC
Speaker: Dr Namrata Bhattacharya-Mis, University of Chester
Namrata’s research interests lie in the understanding and managing of the consequence of water extremes and the vulnerabilities on the dynamic socio-economic and physical system behaviour. She has worked on research projects focusing on topics including: adaptation of urban infrastructure to enhance climate resilience in Nigeria; exploring the effects of temporal clustering of flood events on natural built and socio-economic systems in order to identify critical vulnerabilities, better allocation of resources for protection and recovery and improve flood resilience.
To register for this event, click here and select the relevant option.
2:35pm Darwin, DNA and Data: Making biodiversity measurable using DNA
Speaker: Mike Morris, NatureMetrics
From bacteria to blue whales all species leave traces of their DNA in their environment. Modern technology allows us to survey all life on earth by collecting and analysing genetic fingerprints giving greater insights into nature than ever before. In this talk we will hear about the technology, the needs for greater biodiversity data and how this information is used by industry, conservation and governments to meet global priorities for nature restoration.
Mike is the Head of Programme for NatureMetrics working on eBioAtlas – a global partnership alongside IUCN and the Red List of Threatened Species, that leverages proven new technology to deliver a comprehensive and harmonised, biodiversity baseline. Mike was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Severn Rivers Trust and has lived in Shropshire for 18 years. He joined NatureMetrics, a world leader in delivering nature data and intelligence, in 2021. NatureMetrics use cutting-edge technology to generate knowledge and insights into biodiversity at scale using environmental DNA.
To register for this event, click here and select the relevant option.
3:00pm Survival of the Fittest?
Organisations that put their people first, will be left standing when the rest have become extinct.
Speaker: Nick Christoforou, Neo
On the surface it seems that governments and business are blinkered to the threats of climate change, social inequality and workforce disengagement. But dig deep enough you’ll find a growing movement of progressive organisations that are creating empowering, human-centred workplaces that are leading the way for people, planet and profit. This session will shine a light on some of the innovative thinking and models that are fuelling the change, including Frederick Laloux’s Reinventing Organizations, self-management system Holacracy and the powerful Liberating Structures tools that foster deeper participation within teams.
Nick is the Founding partner at Neo. He is also a business consultant and coach, currently working with University of Wolverhampton on their business start up programme. He was also previously a consultant for the University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform and the UK government’s business growth programme.
To register for this event, click here and select the relevant option.
3:35pm Home Grown Green: Gamification of Sustainable Living
Speakers: Dr Katharine Welsh & Dr Rebecca Collins, University of Chester
Since Spring 2020, Katharine Welsh and Rebecca Collins have been investigating how the COVID-19 ‘lockdowns’ that halted much of everyday life changed UK households’ consumption activities. Through small changes associated with ‘sustainable lifestyles’ (e.g. reducing food waste), periods of lockdown appeared to catalyse behaviours aligned with ‘inadvertent environmentalism’, where environmental benefits result from actions driven by ‘other-than-environmental’ concerns (e.g. saving money, health; Hitchings et al. 2015). 83% of participants in their preliminary survey (April-May 2020) reported they felt motivated to sustain changes made during lockdown but cited ‘old routine’ as a barrier.
In an attempt to address these barriers, Katharine and Rebecca developed a smartphone app – ‘Home Grown Green’. The app fuses elements of Social Practice Theory (Shove et al. 2012) with ‘nudge’ theory (Thaler & Sunstein 2008) in order to help reinvigorate engagement and motivation with these small lifestyle changes and, through the competitive aspect of the game, make this motivation socially visible. Home Grown Green ‘gamifies’ household consumption practices using stars, badges and leader boards to encourage actions with lower environmental impacts. It also offers suggestions and research-based facts to educate and support the user. In this talk Katharine and Rebecca share some of the preliminary findings from the recent beta testing of the app with twenty of their longitudinal study participants.
To register for this event, click here and select the relevant option.
4:00pm Taste not Waste
Speaker: Alison Thomas, Shrewsbury Food Hub
The Shrewsbury Food Hub is a charity that stops food waste, collecting surplus food from shops, manufacturers and farms and sharing it with community groups to help protect the environment. Last year, they saved 175 tonnes of food from going to waste, which saved the carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to driving around the world 70 times.
They are now launching a campaign to help households reduce their food waste. “Did you know the fridge door is the warmest part of your fridge? To make your milk last longer keep it on a shelf instead”. There are tonnes of tips like this in our Taste Not Waste challenge to help you reduce food waste and save up to £700 a year!
Did you know that 70% of food waste happens at home? Shrewsbury Food Hub have developed a new challenge to help people reduce their food waste. The Taste Not Waste campaign is a series of short, simple clips containing tips on how to make your food last longer. We would love you to sign up to take the challenge and let us know what tips worked best for you and the creativity you found saving food.
To register for this event, click here and select the relevant option.
6th February: Relaunch of Shropshire Chamber 1835 Group
Shropshire Chamber of Commerce relaunch the ever popular 1835 Group, supported by University Centre Shrewsbury. Come and find out how you can be part of the journey and socialise with like-minded business people, gain invaluable insight and strengthen your own skills...
Other events that may be of interest:
- Middle Marches Community Land Trust organise and promote a huge number of events throughout the year. Worth visiting their event hub or subscribing to their mailing list for more information.