Darwin Now is British Council's global initiative which explores the impact of Charles Darwin's remarkable legacy in the 21st century.

In honour of British naturalist Charles Darwin, a public forum was held in June 2009 at Montreal’s McGill University supported by the British Council, the British High Commission and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Guest speakers included Peter Bridgewater, chair of the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee and McGill’s Anthony Ricciardi, an associate professor at the McGill School of Environment.

Peter Bridgewater spoke about the current state of biodiversity loss and the need to improve our ability to evaluate and manage changes in biodiversity. Prof. Ricciardi’s recent publication in Trends in Ecology and Evolution presented a controversial argument against assisted colonisation as a viable conservation strategy.

The reception featured panels and Darwin brochures created by the British Council in celebration of Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin of the Species.

On November 3, 2009, Dr. Ryan Gregory, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph gave a lively talk at rare entitled ‘Evolutionary Imagery from Darwin to Today”. His presentation explored Darwin’s “Tree of Life” and “evolutionary lineups” and how they are perceived. Although Darwin lacked the genetic information available to scientists today, his theories have proved to be amazingly accurate, Professor Gregory said.

On November 19, 2009, Carleton University professor Christopher Burn spoke eloquently at Ottawa Rideau Club about the British scientist’s immense influence on how we see our biological world. With insightful vignettes and other references, he put Darwin and his discoveries within the economic, social and philosophical context of his times.

The discussion touched on the history of ideas and the emergence of a handful of women scientists. It prompted lively questions about the influence of creationism in the United States and the importance of Scotland in terms of scientific freethinking. A Rideau Club member said it was “one of the best lecture guest speakers” he had heard at the club.

In February 2010, the Redpath Museum at Montreal’s McGill University celebrated Valentine’s Day with a presentation entitled “Darwin and Love”. Dr. David Green, the museum’s director, gave a lively talk about sexual selection and courtship to an audience of about 90 people. More than 2,000 people viewed the British Council’s Darwin Now exhibit that was displayed in the museum’s entrance hall and the Darwin Now booklets “were much appreciated and disappeared into happy hands” according to Ingrid Birker, the Redpath Museum’s science outreach curator. The informative and handsomely illustrated books were so popular that the museum requested more.