Nobel Prize Winner Speaks on the Social and Ecological Value of Forests at Plymouth 19th November

What do Canadians think about the Ecological and Social Value of Forests?

Professor Peter Duinker, Dalhousie University, Canada
19th November, 6:30pm, Devonport Lecture Theatre, Portland Square
Wine and networking to precede and follow the lecture
Nobel Prize Winner Speaks on the Social and Ecological Value of Forests
Professor Peter Duinker of Dalhousie University is Professor in the School for Resource and Environmental studies. He has recently held the posts of Director of the School and Associate Dean Research for the Faculty. Peter has worked with Regional Municipalities in preparing the first ever urban forest master plan, as well as a campus tree plan at Dalhousie, and government, NGO, community an industry actors, in investigating policy and management best practice in sustainability and urban forests. Peter is also engaged in investigating best management practices for maintaining water flows in treed wetlands when new roads are built through them. Peter's research interests focus on the social and ecological aspects of urban forests, along with development of management and policy systems for sustainable urban forests.

ISSR and SLGP are pleased to invite you to this important event, which will generate connections and inform an academic and practitioner audience of best practice in the Canadian context of urban forest management, policy and sustainability strategy. The recent policy debates around governance of forest areas in the UK highlight the need for collaborative working and sharing best practice in this area, so we would be delighted to invite you to join us for an informative talk and some inspiring debate!
To register for this event please click here
 http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/dynamic.asp?page=events&eventID=7241&showEvent=1

PAC 2012- Thanks

On Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th July, the Annual Conference of the Public Administration Committee (PAC) came to Plymouth University. The event was attended by colleagues from across the academic profession, from the UK and abroad, as well as many practitioners in the field. Extending our thanks to PAC and particularly it's Chair Professor Joyce Liddle in being so enthusiastic on the conference coming here, I am happy to report that the event was a great success!! Some really fantastic feedback has been received since the event from delegates, so thank you! Also massive thanks as ever to Sage, Emerald and Routledge for their amazing support.

The key themes of Sustainability, Regionalism and Devolution, Teaching Public Administration and Emergency Services and Praxis were keenly debated at each session, with several collaborations and future work, between both academics and practitioners, looking likely to continue and expand into the future. Indeed, some of these debates could have carried long into the night!

These were inspiring debates and were also driven by the excellent guest speakers at the event- our huge thanks to Paul Marshall, Chief Exec of ABS, for his discussion of the future of Business Schools and how this relates to policy; to Denis Byrne, who brought a wealth of experience from roles in the Irish government and the European level to the Frank Stacey memorial lecture, and to Bill Rammell, former Labour Minister of State and DVC at Plymouth, for his insights into the world of government.

Finally, my own heartfelt thanks, and I know I speak on behalf of all the delegates at PAC this year when I say that none of it could have happened without the tireless efforts of Sally Bishop-Hawes and Jen Brogan in the Events team here, as well as Amber McCarthy and Sara Morris-Arkle for producing such brilliant web pages. Also thanks to the marvellous National Marine Aquarium who hosted not only a delicious dinner but an informative tour!

Thanks to everyone who attended, spoke and contributed to such an enjoyable event!

PAC 2012 18-19/7/12 Plymouth University

Next week sees the Annual Conference of the Public Administration Committee (PAC) come to Plymouth University. PAC 2012 will be held on the 18th-19th July and some of the key themes at the event are regionalism and devolution, sustainability and regeneration, teaching public administration, and emergency services and praxis. The event promises to be informative and valuable for both academics and practitioners, and full details can be found at www.plymouth.ac.uk/pac2012

The Olympics come to Plymouth.....

Not unusually for a warm Saturday night, the Barbican area of Plymouth was busy this weekend. What was more unusual, however, was the arrival of the Olympic torch in the city. Media coverage of this event suggested there were around 55,000 people on the streets of Plymouth on Saurday, both in the town and on the Hoe to see the Olympic flame. My own research has focused on some of the urban renewal aspects of the 2012 Games, and a particluar focus on the role of communities.

Now, to be honest, sometimes governance models cannot capture everything about a moment or story (though it pains me to admit that!) and despite my experience of research looking at the role of communities in urban renewal and partly the 2012 Games (the book will be out next year with Routledge), I was totally bowled over by the amazing turnout and reception the people of Plymouth provided on Saturday evening when the Olympic torch arrived. It was brilliant to see such pride in the city and to share that little moment of history.

Launch of ISSR

This week saw the launch here at Plymouth University of the Institute for Sustainability Solutions Research (ISSR). The launch profiled the inter-disciplinary work ISSR carries out and the fantastic success it has enjoyed so far. Colleagues from across the University engaged with ISSR, such as those from Geography, Architecture, Public Policy, Business, Health and Psychology attended the launch and showcased the excellent impact and solutions based research that is carried out across faculties, institutes and research centres here at Plymouth.

The launch was a huge success and very well attended, with local and national businesses well represented, reflecting the massive strides ISSR has made in a short time. The ISSR was officially opened by Minister of State Gregory Barker, from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and was also featured on the BBC’s Spotlight news programme, featuring an interview with Dr Tim Daley, Deputy Director of ISSR.

A brilliant day then, and many many congratulations to my ISSR colleagues who have worked so hard not just on the launch but each day on engaging with academic colleagues and governance and business organisations with such success and real world changing research. SLGP looks forward to continuing our exciting and productive work and our relationship with ISSR, as we continue to inspire and create new ideas across engagement and research. A huge success and a wonderful day!   

Surfin' PL4..........

One of the questions I often get asked is which of the four themes of SLGP is my specialism; well, I guess sustainability and governance are the ones I always respond with. But there are a few stories which have caught my eye this week in the news which combine all four strands, of Sustainable Leadership, Governance and Policy. Firstly, we are about to see the launch of Enterprise Zones across England. Without discussing the politics of these at length here, the one thing the debate on Enterprise Zones lacks is people sitting on the fence. Those in favour of the Zones point out the benefits to local businesses and consumers, and the ability to harness local ideas.

Though Plymouth is not one of these zones, there is a large amount of local business connected to the sea- and also connected to each of the four strands we research and engage with in SLGP. This week, one of our members, Dr Gregory Borne of the Public Policy team, an expert on sustainability and global governance, had some fantastic media coverage as he looks at sustainability in the surfing industry with US partners.

Travelling back on the train to Plymouth on Sunday from London, I was struck by two things: one, the amount of small businesses in the region focused on sustainability; and second, the amount of conversations people on the train were having about the role of sustainable development in planning. Evidently, people will have individual political views, but this is a much larger debate than tribalist politics. The focus on sustainable development in planning policy currently provides an opportunity to revisit what we mean by sustainable development and sustainability. For some, this is a tired debate, but the more people across different sectors that want to engage in governance and sustainability, perhaps the greater need to revisit our ideas. The roots of the sustainable development agenda are well known, but the criticism that will not go away from debate is the lack of clarity that sometimes surrounds the term. Given the growing role of business in sustainable development and sustainability- not least with some fantastic sustainable food producing enterprises here in the south west- we need to be clear about how we select the right targets and meet them, and how business and HE can help in that goal.

UACES 2012 conference

Professor Kerry Howell and I have just been accepted to present at the UACES 2012 conference in Passau. This is sure to be a wonderful event and a great opportunity for future connections in SLGP. Our paper is titled: ‘The Law of Diminishing Relevance: Can Theory Still Successfully Explain EU Governance amid Rapid Change and Economic Crisis?’ and grew out of a number of discussions Kerry and I had regarding the potential for the existing gap between theory and practice to widen. Looking at topical discussion of political and economic crises in the UK and EU, we explore the need to reconnect with theoretical approaches in addressing ideas of crises in these realms.

Looking forward to meeting new colleagues at the conference to continue this topical and interesting debate.