This seminar forms part of the British Council’s ZeroCarbonCity initiative, and is timed to pull together some of the threads of the UK’s presidency of both the G8 and the EU during 2005.
City-level leadership is emerging as an essential part of efforts to address climate change through policy and private actions. Recent experience suggests that city governments may be in a unique position to work closely with a wide range of partners to explore sustainability-climate change connections and experiment with innovative collaborative approaches and measures to limit greenhouse gases, while also producing local level benefits for people and urban environments. Cities are also increasingly active in efforts to adapt to climate change, especially where these actions promote other sustainability goals. Adaptations range from creating green spaces to guard against warmer summer climates and heat island effects, to managing coastal zones and creating networks for early warning for floods or other weather-related extreme events. Growing awareness and action at the city level suggests great value in sharing experience and policy lessons among urban centres and partners on climate change.
This seminar focuses on the challenge of communicating climate change to urban populations, exploring what contributions cultural activities can make to improving social understanding of climate change. It investigates the role of the arts, the media and science as part of the communications ‘toolkit’ for creating commitment to take action to reduce the future impacts of climate change on vulnerable urban communities around the world.
The seminar is designed to attract participants from cities around the world. It targets partners such as environmental activists, businesses and arts organisations alongside city officials who are leading efforts to raise awareness of and to develop or implement actions in the fight against human-induced climate change. Participants will be expected to contribute fully to discussions and debates.
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