There is increasing recognition over the last decade that conservation, while conserving biodiversity of global value, can have local costs. Understanding these costs is essential as a first step to delivering conservation projects that do not make some of the poorest people on the planet poorer. Using examples from Madagascar and Bolivia, we explore the challenges of quantifying the impact of conservation on local wellbeing.
Julia Jones is Professor in conservation science at the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Bangor University. Julia is interested in how people interact with natural resources and how incentives can be best designed to maintain ecosystem services; for example the growing field of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and how schemes such as REDD+ can effectively deliver global environmental benefits while also having a positive impact on local livelihoods. She also has a strong interest in the design of robust conservation monitoring using different types of data, and in analysing the evidence underpinning environmental policies and decisions.

Telegraph writer Helen Yemm brings her column Thorny Problems to life by answering your gardening conundrums and dispensing invaluable advice in the picturesque setting of the Botanic Garden.

Bookseller and chef turned food writer for The Telegraph, Xanthe Clay shares her tips for successful food writing whilst demonstrating a recipe from The Contented Cook.

Join Great British Bake Off winner, Frances Quinn, as she demonstrates how to decorate gorgeous Confetti Cupcakes with beautiful Marzipan Bees while talking about her design background and Quinntessential Baking cookbook. Save up your questions during the demonstration and join in with a Q&A in which Frances will chat about all things baking and perhaps spill some Bake Off secrets along the way!

Award-winning chef and restaurateur specialising in Italian, vegetarian and seafood cuisine discusses some of his favourite Italian dishes.

Elain Harwood will look at David Roberts’s work in Cambridge and Oxford, and will place it in the context of the growth of higher education in the 1950s and 1960s, and the development of a modern style for university buildings.

Elain Harwood is Historic England’s specialist on post-war architecture and an acknowledged expert on and champion for Modernist architecture.

This event is part of the series A Festival of Anniversaries.

Join us as we cook up a feast for Edward Jenner and explore the culture of eating and drinking in Georgian England. In this talk, food historians Marc Meltonville, Elena Griffith-Hoyle and Sarah Warren will examine the links between food and politics, society and the economy in the eighteenth century. There will also be a chance to sample a Georgian delicacy.

Please join us at 7pm on Thursday of 7th Week (November 24th) for a presentation by Daniel Castro Garcia and Thomas Saxby on their recent publication ‘Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–2016’.

—————————————————–

“The photographs are a protest against those who so
readily attack refugees and migrants entering Europe
without taking into consideration the dangers faced
during the journey.” (Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–16 by John Radcliffe Studio www.johnradcliffestudio.com)

For more information please read the press release below:

‘Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–2016’, is a photography book that documents the lives of people at various stages of their migration to Europe. The book is divided into three sections, focusing on migration to Italy from North Africa, migration to Greece and through the Balkans from the middle east, and the migrant camp in Calais known as ‘The Jungle’. Alongside the photography, written texts serve both as a context, and a means to share the stories of the people we met during the project.
The book was created in response to the imagery used in
the media to discuss the issue of migration, which we felt was
sensationalist, alarmist and was not giving people the time and
consideration they deserved. We wanted to approach the subject from a calmer perspective, using medium format portrait photography as a means of meeting the people at the centre of the crisis face to face – and of learning something about their lives.

John Radcliffe Studio is the creative partnership of Thomas Saxby and Daniel Castro Garcia. We specialise in photography, film and graphic design and have spent the last year documenting the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe.

—————————————————–

The Moser Theatre is fully accessible, with access to gender netural toilets, and the event will be **FREE** to attend. Oxford for Dunkirk will be collecting donations before and after the event in aid of La Liniere Refugee Camp, Dunkirk, France: please see our page for more details! (www.facebook.com/oxfordfordunkirk)

Jenny Josephs & Why eating insects might soon become the new normal

By 2050 the global population will reach 9 billion and this will put ever increasing pressure on food and environmental resources. It will be a challenge to ensure global food security without further damaging the environment with intensified farming practices.

One UN backed solution is to focus on alternative sources of protein, such as insects for food and animal feed. About 2 billion of us already include insects in our diets, though it is still a growing trend in the west.

Insects are described as having a variety of different flavours, from mushroomy to pistachio or pork crackling. They are comparable to beef in protein and contain beneficial nutrients like iron and calcium. Their environmental impact is also minimal, requiring far less water and feed than cattle, and releasing fewer emissions.

During this talk, Jenny will explain how insects might replace some of the meat in our diets and also give some tips on how to cook them. You will be invited to sample some tasty bug snacks after the talk!

Bio: After completing a PhD in Visual Cognition at the University of Southampton, Jenny changed course and started The Bug Shack – a business promoting and selling edible insects. Jenny is a regular speaker at Skeptics events and science festivals and she recently returned from a trip to research attitudes towards eating and farming insects in Thailand and Laos.

—

7.30PM start at St. Aldates Tavern, and entry is free, although we do suggest a donation of around £3 to cover speaker expenses. We tend to get busy, so arrive early to make sure you get a seat. Come along and say hello! All welcome. http://oxford.skepticsinthepub.org/Event.aspx/8101/Why-eating-insects-might-soon-become-the-new-normal

Join the Facebook event and invite your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/1317127301666085/

Nearly 30 per cent of the world’s population is overweight and ‘diabesity’ is an increasing problem: diabetes, brought on by obesity, which in turn causes damage to the brain, heart, nerve and kidneys. So what can we do to prevent it or is it too late? Join ‘fat controller’ Ashley Grossman, professor of endocrinology, as he discusses potential ground-breaking medical techniques to lose weight effortlessly and what it may mean for the future of the human race. Ashley will be chatting to science broadcaster (and his daughter) Emily Grossman

Mary Keen, Paradise and Plenty – the How and Wow of Lord Rothschild’s private garden on the Waddesdon Estate

Mary Keen is a writer, lecturer and renowned garden designer and will talk about the garden, its dedicated gardeners, past and present, and her book, which celebrates the tradition of excellence at Eythrope.

Jonathan Metzger (KTH, Sweden) will talk about the necessity of exclusion in environmental planning.

Abstract: A more-than-human sensibility is founded upon an awareness of the fundamentally entangled fates of humans and non-humans, from the individual body to the planetary scale. The purpose of this presentation is to probe some of the implications of such insights on planning theory and methodology, and to explore potential ways of studying the degree to which such insights actually influence existing planning practices.

In the first part of the presentation I briefly review some currently fashionable ‘radical’ planning theories from the angle of how they may contribute to enacting a more-than-human sensibility within planning processes. I suggest that their oft-repeated ambition of producing benefits ‘for all’ are deceitfully misguiding, since such claims effectively serve the function of covering up the ever-present biopolitical dimension of planning practice and the radical exclusions that necessarily must take place.

In the second part of the presentation I sketch the outlines of a research program investigating how urban planning and design professionals relate to the more-than-human biopolitical dimension of planning. I argue that it is necessary to focus not only on the degree of displayed reflectiveness regarding this type of issues, but also if/how this comes to affect their concrete professional practice.

Lord Browne of Madingley is presently Chairman of L1 Energy, the Chairman of Trustees of both the Tate and the QEII Prize for Engineering, and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

Lincoln Leads
In Material Culture

In conversation with
Robert Kerr • Former executive at Burberry •
Dr Joshua Thomas • Fellow in Archaeology •
Sarah Bochicchio • MSt in Modern History – Elizabeth I’s wardrobe

Discussing
‘The Power of the Image’?

Inviting the SCR, MCR, JCR and Alumni to join the conversation

Guest Speaker: Professor Charles Spence

We all think that we can taste what is on the plate or in the glass, but a growing body of research suggests otherwise. Chefs and restaurateurs are increasingly focusing on ‘off-the-plate’ dining, and the insights gained there are now being applied to enhance the food and drink we experience in the air, in hospitals, and in the home.

A number of developments such as the Arab Spring and on-going famines in Somalia and South Sudan have led to renewed interest among both scholars and policymakers in the role of food insecurity and food-price related grievances as catalysts of conflict. In this lecture Prof Gunnar Sørbø, Senior Researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), will address such linkages, using case material mainly from Sudan and Somalia, with a particular focus on food insecurity as a risk multiplier and the implications for choice of interventions.

Join renowned chef Tom Kerridge and nutrition scientist, Susan Jebb, to discuss connections between emotions, food and weight. Tom explores how a diet of meat, eggs, fish, nuts and dairy can help us lose weight. Tom and Susan will discuss how the type of food on our plates affects our health and the tips and tricks that can help us to lose weight – and keep it off.

Tom Kerridge is a Michelin-starred chef appearing on Great British Menu, MasterChef and Saturday Kitchen. Between 2013 and 2016, Tom lost 11 stone (70 kg.) By developing and following a diet designed to boost dopamine levels, the reward hormone responsible for making us happy, Tom was able to maximize his enjoyment of food and so satisfy his appetite while eating less.
Susan Jebb is Professor of Diet and Population Health at the University of Oxford and a former government advisor on obesity and food policy. Her research puts different types of diets and behavioural techniques to the test. She was featured in the BBC Horizon series What’s the Right Diet for You?

A one-off screening of recent documentary release Citizen Jane: Battle for the City. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring four local experts talking about how the themes in the documentary relate to issues for our own city — both past and present.

The panel is made up of four women who will discuss the issues raised in the film from four different perspectives — urban planning, architecture, local history and art.

Dr Sue Brownill, an urban policy expert at Oxford Brookes University, will chair the discussion and will be joined by: Dr Annie Skinner, local historian and author of ‘Cowley Road: a History’; Dr Igea Troiani, Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Oxford Brookes; and Rachel Barbaresi, an artist with interest the social aspects of urban space whose work is currently on show at Modern Art Oxford’s Future Knowledge exhibition.

Numerous free talks, walking tours and workshops over two days in central Oxford. Visit the webpage to find out more and book into sessions.

Join us for what promises to be an amazing evening filled with passion and opportunity to have fun!

The evening will feature a panel discussion on the experiences of the generation that became known as the Windrush generation.
The experiences from post-Windrush generations in the United Kingdom will be discussed by Professor Patricia Daley, Nigel Carter, Junie James and Hannah Lowe.

This will be followed by an evening of celebration of culture including African dance, Asian drums, poetry from Siana Bangura and spoken word including creative work from Brookes students.

Food and refreshments freely available.

Book here or contact Pam Fortescue pfortescue@brookes.ac.uk to register your interest.

TOAST is a great story as well as a great beer – join us at Oxford Hub for a lunch time drink and some social enterprise conversation with Rob Wilson, entrepreneur and Chief Toaster.
Rob will be telling us more about his quest to end food waste, one beer at a time, telling us more about the TOAST rev-ALE-ution and sharing his advice for budding social entrepreneurs in Oxford.
Feel free to bring your own lunch for this talk at the Oxford Hub living room in Turl Street.
Price of ticket includes a TOAST ale to enjoy with lunch or take home!

Between the rush to keep up with the latest miracle ingredient, anxiety about E-numbers, and demonization of gluten/dairy/sugar, many of us are left in a virtual panic in the supermarket aisle. Tabloid headlines, ‘free-from’ labels and judgemental Instagram hashtags hardly help matters – so what should we be buying?

Join James Wong, scientist, TV presenter and author of How to Eat Better as he strips away the fad diets, superfood fixations and Instagram hashtags to give you a straight-talking scientist’s guide to making everyday foods measurably healthier (and tastier) simply by changing the way you select, store and cook them.

No diets, no obscure ingredients, no damn spiralizer, just real food made better, based on the latest scientific evidence from around the world. James will show us how to make any food a ‘superfood’, every time you cook.

Waterstones will be selling copies of his book, How to Eat Better and James will be signing.

Science Oxford presents in partnership with University of Oxford Botanic Garden. Proceeds from the event will be donated to UNICEF.
Suitable for ages 14+

Join us on Friday 1st December as our speaker panel explores the world of the much loved beverage, beer. We will be joined by a line-up of highly acclaimed experts in the Beer Industry who will be discussing their specialty and what to them defines a good beer.

Pete Brown is the author of ‘Miracle Brew’ and four other bestselling beer titles around the observation and history of beer. He was once named joint-37th most influential person in the British pub industry. ‘Miracle Brew’ explores how Beer is traditionally made from four natural ingredients: malted barley, hops, yeast and water, and each of these has an incredible story to tell.

Melissa Cole is an award winning Beer and Food writer, her book ‘The Little Book of Craft Beer’ combines good-quality brews and delicious food. It celebrates over 100 of the world’s most innovative and tastiest beers and helps point you in the right direction to find the perfect brew for you.

Ruth Mitchell is a Certified Cicerone, qualified Beer Sommelier and Multiples Account Manager for West Berkshire Brewery.

Roger Protz has written many bestselling books, with his latest publication ‘IPA’ focusing on the rebirth of IPA or India Pale Ale as one of the most popular styles in today’s craft beer revolution. Roger is also the editor of the yearly CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

This event is supported by West Berkshire Brewery who will be on hand to offer a taste of their delicious brews, giving the opportunity to sample their beer (which is included in your ticket!). West Berkshire Brewery is known for their award-winning range of traditional cask ales and bottled beers having won more than 40 awards since they struck their first brew in 1995. They champion traditional brewing techniques and showcase British hops to produce high quality, distinctive and award-winning real ales.

For all enquiries please email events.oxford@blackwell.co.uk

The global food system is facing momentous global changes: rapid urbanisation and rising middle income populations; changing diets; climate change; political uncertainties and anti-globalisation sentiments; and advances in technology in and out of agriculture, among other large-scale trends. At the same time, multiple burdens of malnutrition persist, with 815 million people suffering from hunger, 2 billion living with micronutrient deficiencies, 155 million children under five stunted, and 1.9 billion people overweight or obese. For food systems to help achieve the end of hunger and malnutrition while addressing other social, economic, and environmental goals, innovation will be key.

Dr Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), will discuss the role of innovations in policy, institutions, and technology to reshape food systems to achieve multiple development goals in the context of rapid global change.

The Oxford Israel Forum, Oxford PPE Society and Oxford International Relations Society are delighted to host Dan Meridor, former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. Mr Meridor will be discussing the current political situation in Israel and the wider Middle East, including the peace process, recent developments in diplomacy and the future of the region.

Dan Meridor has served the Israeli Government in various distinguished positions, including as Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy and as Deputy Prime Minister. In power during the Obama administration and a collapsed peace process attempt under Kerry, Meridor has been at the centre of the Israeli Government through pivotal times. He is now the President of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A and drinks reception. All three are free to attend, simply click ‘going’ on our Facebook event to register: https://www.facebook.com/events/143239079681080/

This event is kindly facilitated by the Pinsker Centre.

In conjunction with Oxford International Women’s Festival , Oxford Community-led Housing* research project and Transition by Design is organising a session on “Taking Control of our Housing: Women Leading the Charge”, to celebrate the efforts of a number of women pioneering community-led housing in various forms in Oxfordshire. In line with the festival’s broader theme of “Winning the Vote: Women’s Suffrage 100 Years On”, the session aims to raise awareness around community-led housing and an opportunity to gain fresh interest and broaden the movement.

Join us in the much needed discussion to highlight that affordable, safe and secure housing is a basic human right. The session will champion the idea that women can and are taking action to tackle the housing crisis in Oxford, and to generate discussion that homes and housing shape our identity as women and as human beings. We’re also very keen to find out more about the challenges you’re facing with the housing market. And to top it up, let’s celebrate the efforts of women in community-led housing.

Event format:

Interactive panel discussion

Panel speakers from Kindling Housing Coop, Edge Housing, Dragonfly Housing Coop, Oxford Fairer Housing Network, Oxford Housing Crisis Group and many more!

For more info or queries, please contact katie@transitionbydesign.org

*Oxford Community-Led Housing research project is a new partnership project by Oxford Community Foundation, Community First Oxfordshire and Oxford Community Land Trust. We have been commissioned by Oxford City Council to conduct a research project on how community-led housing could be delivered sustainably in Oxford. Community Led Housing (CLH) is about local people playing a leading and lasting role in solving local housing problems, creating genuinely affordable homes and strong communities in ways that are difficult to achieve through mainstream housing.

In conjunction with the 16th Annual Oxford Human Rights Festival, Oxford Community-led Housing* research project is organising a session on “Identity and [Affordable] Housing”, with a focus on self-build housing. The session will screen the BBC documentary ‘The House that Mum and Dad Built’ (1982), that captures the stories of families involved in the first Walter Segal self-build project, Segal Close. The project, a collaboration between local authority, self-builders and local community, highlights a strong theme that promotes self-empowerment through building one’s own home, and alleviating poverty through the process.

The film screening will be followed by a diverse and interactive panel discussion session with experienced speakers including Professor Nabeel Hamdi, one of the pioneers in participatory planning and author of “Small Change”, Lesley Dewhurst, CEO of Restore Oxford and former Cheif Executive of Oxford Homeless Pathways, and others.

Join us in the much needed discussion to highlight that affordable, self and secure housing is a basic human right. The session will also highlight the role of community-led housing in alleviating poverty, promoting self-empowerment, and hopefully together, we can gain a deeper understanding of how alternative options to Oxford’s unaffordable rents, poor housing conditions and lack of control in one’s living condition can make significant changes.

*Oxford Community-Led Housing research project is a new partnership project by Oxford Community Foundation, Community First Oxfordshire and Oxford Community Land Trust. We have been commissioned by Oxford City Council to conduct a research project on how community-led housing could be delivered sustainably in Oxford. Community Led Housing (CLH) is about local people playing a leading and lasting role in solving local housing problems, creating genuinely affordable homes and strong communities in ways that are difficult to achieve through mainstream housing.​​​​

Beautiful Japanese Teas
Open your mind and palate as we introduce you to classic examples of the finest Japanese teas.

We will be sharing a hand-picked selection of stunning teas sourced directly from Japan’s tea gardens. The teas will include classic examples of green, shaded, black and roasted teas – with some unique surprises to complement the classics.

We will also be sharing ceremonial grade Matcha and you will learn how to prepare, serve and store Matcha to bring out its distinct and delicious flavour.

Traditional Tea Gathering
Teas will be prepared and served in traditional Japanese teaware – houhin, kyusu and chawan.

The right choice of teaware optimises the flavour and aroma of high quality teas, so you will be enjoying them at their best. We will give you brewing tips, and advice on how to source and buy Japanese teas.

It promises to be a fun, sensory adventure through modern Chinese tea culture that will entertain, educate and inspire.

No experience required. Just bring curiosity and a love of tea.

To celebrate the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, Master of St Cross Carole Souter and Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán, President of Patrimonio Nacional, will be talking about the challenges faced by the preservation of heritage, both in Spain and in England.

Patrimonio Nacional is the Spanish entity that manages 19 palaces – among them the Royal Palace of Madrid – and royal foundation monasteries, as well as 135,000 works of art and 21,000 hectares of parks, mountains and gardens. One of the greatest challenges entrusted to its president has been the new Museum of Royal Collections, considered the most important State museum project in recent decades in Spain.

Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán has been president of the Patrimonio Nacional Board since 2015. Before that, he was Deputy General Director of Culture of UNESCO and has held different public positions in the field of Spanish cultural heritage.

Carole Souter is the current Master of St Cross College, and has also held important positions in the field of cultural heritage, as Chief Executive of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and is currently a Trustee of Historic Royal Palaces and Chair of the Board of Visitors of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.