22/04/2008

Alastair Fuad-Luke / slowLab

A well placed and great lecture for all involved in design!

Sustainable design facilitator, lecturer & writer Alastair Fuad-Luke will talk about his evolving conversation around ‘slow design’ and his work with Carolyn Strauss of NYC’s slowLab, an organisation taking a curatorial role to reveal diverse creativity around the concept of ‘positive slowness by design'.

Alastair Fuad-Luke is a sustainable design consultant, facilitator, lecturer and writer. He is a contributor to the international debate about design and sustainability, and author of The Eco-Design Handbook. He works with diverse clients in Denmark, France and the UK. Currently he is Project Manager for DEEDS (Design Education & Sustainability, www.deedsproject.org) supported by the EU Leonardo da Vinci programme. He is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Plymouth, University College for the Creative Arts, University College Falmouth, and Royal College of Arts in the UK, and has also lectured in the Europe, USA, New Zealand and Australia.

SlowLab is an emerging organization based in New York City and with activities worldwide. The mission of the organization is to promote 'slowness' or 'slow design' as a positive catalyst of individual, socio-cultural and environmental well-being. Engaging the innate creative capacities of individuals and leveraging the collaborative potential of communities to spur networks of cooperation that incite new thinking and approaches.

As a design ‘activist’, Alastair is the founder of SLow, a web site exploring ‘slow design’ (www.slowdesign.org); Vice President of New York based SlowLab (www.slowlab.org); and a former member of the Advisory Board for the 10th & 11th Towards Sustainable Product Development conference, the Centre for Sustainable Design (www.cfsd.org.uk), UK. He is passionate about society-wide engagement with design as a means to live a more fulfilling, sustainable life, while respecting our bio-diverse planet.


The lecture will take place as usual at the Main Lecture Theatre on our Woodlane Campus at 6pm. For more information go to http://rane.falmouth.ac.uk/lecture_series_frm.html

Artful Ecologies 2

Art, Nature & Environment Conference 2008
9 - 12 July, University College Falmouth, Cornwall, UK

The second Art, Nature & Environment conference organised and hosted by the RANE research cluster at University College Falmouth, will take place over four days in July of this year. The conference aims to bring together some of the leading members of the artistic community and the growing community of artists and researchers already engaging with RANE, to consider and discuss how artists might best address current ecological concerns.

Since the successful inaugural Artful Ecologies conference in 2006, any doubts that our planet's ecology is now in real danger have been left far behind. Many now argue that we are on the verge of a crisis that could very soon turn to catastrophe. The number of different scenarios we now face, largely of our own making, all present harsh realities and paint bleak pictures of our future. These problems include the creation of a climate that will make large regions of the earth uninhabitable and force an unprecedented loss of species to rival the planet’s previous mass extinctions. Within a generation, toxic levels of pollution and the predicted population explosion will begin to place huge demands on limited resources, with potential shortages of food and water making survival for many an impossibility. The magnitude of the task ahead is almost impossible to imagine, harder still to tackle.

Over the course of four days we will be asking whether there is a role for art to play in facing this impending ecological crisis. If, among other things, art is to be seen as a method for making sense of the world; as a means of interpretation and communication; as a way of exploring and proposing alternatives, then is there more for art to do than simply foreground the problems? What can artists do to provide solutions and address practical concerns? With our environment in crisis, what role for art?

For details of booking rates, including student concessions and artist's bursaries, plus how to register for the conference please visit www.rane-research.org/ae2

Please note keynote speakers and the final schedule are still to be confirmed, so please re-visit the website for regular updates to the conference programme.

11/04/2008

Clean Cornwall Week

A brief note to remind you that Clean Cornwall Week starts tomorrow.

There has been a huge amount of interest and we already have over 150 events registered on the web site www.cleancornwall.org

If you are not able to participate in any of the events you could still contribute by picking up just one single piece of litter during the week.

If everyone in Cornwall did this it really would make a big difference.

Many thanks, and don't be shy to pass this message on to others !!

01/04/2008

Leap Media and South West C+ Carbon Positive Awards


Woo hoo, thanks to Jonny from our team who entered us into the South West Carbon Positive awards, we got a call today to say that Leap is a finalist and to turn up at the Met Office for the finals in May.

Details of all finalists will be live on
www.bitc.org.uk/carbonpositiveawards

Drawing straws time for the team then to see which two will represent on low carbon wine drinking;)

Carbon capture has arrived, just don’t let yourself go…


Quench your thirst and save the planet!

ho ho ho
matt

the page is linked to the site, just click on Carbon Capture... title to take you to the site!

http://ev-eon.com/
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Quench your thirst and save the planet!


E.on is delighted to announce the discovery of a new form of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

Burning coal to generate electricity produces Carbon Dioxide (CO2), a green house gas that contributes to climate change. However by capturing the CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere and piping it through natural spring water we at E.on are able to create carbonated drinking water that is bottled and sold in Italian restaurants under the brand name evE.on

Although a simple solution, the implications are huge. With over a hundred years worth of coal deposits left and with massive growth in energy demand CCS will allow E.on to continue to burn coal for decades to come. evE.on's Chief Executive Taton Rebfluw says, "climate change had turned coal into a dirty word, but carbonated drinking water could be the silver bullet we have been looking for" a quick sip of evE.on bottled water and he continues "the water tastes great and drinkers have the added bonus of helping combat climate change – the more water they drink, the more CO2 they store, and the more coal can be used to generate electricity, this really is symbiosis at its very best".

evE.on is available now in restaurants and cafes. Please drink responsibly and refrain from burping or breathing the CO2 back into the atmosphere otherwise you may be responsible for causing climate change.

Find out more or to order online visit, www.ev-eon.com

Happy Fossil Fools Day ....