BES Facebook pageBritish Ecological Society Press Release
Embargoed until 10:01 BST, Tuesday 14 September 2010
Time travel, landscapes of the future and death of the nimby
We already live in one of the most densely populated countries on Earth, but what will the UK look like in the future? A group of leading ecologists and geographers will outline the challenges we face and the decisions we must make about our future at the British Ecological Society's “Landscapes of the Future” event at the British Science Festival on Tuesday 14 September 2010.
The event includes the first ever showing outside Scotland of the Virtual Landscape Theatre – the UK's first mobile 3D visualisation unit and possible solution to nimby-ism.
Speaking at the event Dr Jon Sadler of the University of Birmingham will argue that loss of urban gardens and increasingly intensive land use in urban areas could have a serious impact on our health and society, as well as the environment. Despite the fact that 80% of the UK population lives in towns and cities, most environmental pressure groups exist to protect our rural landscapes. “Intensification of urban land use is undermining the quality of life and well-being of all urban dwellers, a process that is undemocratic and driven by both class and politics,” Dr Sadler says.
Professor David Miller of the Macaulay Land Research Institute – with the help of his revolutionary Virtual Landscape Theatre (VLT) – will show how 3D technology can empower UK citizens to take a more active role in local and regional planning decisions.
The VLT is unique in enabling people to get involved in decision-making in a virtual environment. Using a mobile curved screen projection facility, small groups can walk, drive or fly around a simulation of their local landscape – an experience akin to a virtual reality game or an IMAX theatre.
Drawing on his experience of using the VLT with over 2,000 people in Scotland, Professor Miller will reveal that, contrary to popular belief, we don't need to be a nation of nimbys. “People are willing to change their minds on landscape options if they are given enough information to make informed decisions,” he says – even decisions on controversial developments such as new build nuclear power stations, wind farms and conifer plantations.
Research with the VLT shows that experimenting with different sizes of turbines, and showing them in different weather conditions and at different distances, has a surprising impact on people's attitudes. And by allowing audiences to vote on simulations, the VLT helps unpack why people hold certain views about wind turbines.
“The VLT has enormous potential to make people think about some of the more dramatic future scenarios. There are issues the future population will have to face once the ‘perfect storm’ of conflicting needs becomes more prominent in the future. For example, once power stations retire and we have an energy gap to fill, will people accept new nuclear power stations being built in their area? And how will people feel about a huge expansion in wind turbines around the coast of the UK?”
Frances Hesketh of environmental consultants TEP will show – with innovative examples from his practice – how greening of cities can take place at local level. He will unveil interim results from the six-year i-trees project, which will show whether street trees can help improve local air quality and temperature in urban spaces, talk about Greater Manchester's first Green Infrastructure Strategy, and explain how he is working with Liverpool Council to encourage community groups to dig up their local parks and grow vegetables.
Other speakers at “Landscapes of the Future” are Professor Roy Haines-Young of the University of Nottingham and Mark Felton, Director of Strategy and Environmental Futures at Natural England.
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Notes for editors
1. “Landscapes of the Future” is at the British Science Festival at Aston University, Birmingham at 10:00 – 12:00 on Tuesday 14 September 2010 in room MB518 on the fifth floor of the main building. Full details of all the event speakers are available at www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/BritishScienceFestival/index.htm
2. For further information contact Becky Allen, Press Officer, British Ecological Society, mob: 07949 804317.
3. You are invited to a press reception, including a screening in the Virtual Landscape Theatre, from 7pm on Thursday 16 September 2010 at the Guild, Aston University Campus, Birmingham.
4. “Landscapes of the Future” is organised by the British Ecological Society and the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.
5. The British Ecological Society is a learned society, a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. Established in 1913 by academics to promote and foster the study of ecology in its widest sense, the Society has 4,000 members in the UK and abroad. Further information is available at www.britishecologicalsociety.org.
