Tim Jackson in London

Hi guys,

Somwhere between finishing my book review, starting the science of climate change assignment, entertaining my brother and attending a Granta Housing Society Board Awayday I found time to whizz down to London on Tuesday and hear Tim Jackson speak.

I have to say he was an inspiring speaker - do go and see him if you get the chance. Not surprisingly he talked about Prosperity Without Growth, a document that in his words merely starts the debate and shows there are no easy answers. During his 45 minute presentation he went through the problems that exist with our current economic model before talking about ecological economics and the steps we need to take to move to a sustainable economy- establish the limits,fix the economics and change the social logic (which requires a shift from individual to collective leadership). I think the first two are (relatively) easy and at least in part are progressing. Changing individuals' mindsets and behaviours is undoubtedly the greater challenge.

The Board meeting the following day was a dose of the real world, exploring how a not-for-profit organisation can deal with the credit crunch. Interestingly Granta have invested in a number of low energy housing developments so I'm going to visit one or two of these in the coming months.

Finally, there's an interesting debate starting on electric cars and whether they will have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas (the argument being no if all we do is build more coal and oil fired power stations to generate the electricty to power the cars. There's also some loophole in EU legislation allowing car companies to buildmore SUVs as they build more electric cars ) - see today's Independent or listen to Radio 5 Live for further info.

'Bye for now
Kev