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SUMMARY:Fourth William Pitt Seminar:  "A Blueprint for survival" - Various
  speakers
DTSTART:20091016T143000Z
DTEND:20091016T180000Z
UID:TALK16708@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jane Moorman
DESCRIPTION:*Chair:*   Lord Broers\, former Vice-Chancellor\, University o
 f Cambridge\, plays a prominent role on Science and Technology in the Hous
 e of Lords\n\n*Speakers:*\n\n    * Energy - Professor Dave Mackay\, Univer
 sity of Cambridge\n    * Water - Professor Peter Rogers\, Gordon McKay Pro
 fessor of Environmental Engineering and Professor of City and Regional Pla
 nning at Harvard\n    * Universal Health - Flu/pandemic/contagion – Prof
 essor Derek Smith\, Professor of Infectious Disease Informatics\, Cambridg
 e\n    * Food sustainability - Professor John Beddington\, Government Chie
 f Scientific Adviser\n\n\nThe 2009 seminar\, _A  Blueprint for Survival_\,
  will be a follow-on from the previous two Pitt Seminars\,  _Climate Chang
 e: Approaches to its consequences and challenges_\, in 2007\, and _Narrati
 ves of Risk_\, in 2008. It is hoped that the approach for this seminar wil
 l be positive\, interesting and fresh.  We are aiming to look at what can 
 already be achieved and what further needs to be done to ensure human surv
 ival focussing on the areas of energy\, water\, health\, sustainable food 
 production\, and geopolitics and security. The intention is for this semin
 ar to offer intellectual leadership which will provide viable\, possibly  
 controversial\, answers to these challenges.  \n\nWe aim to present a posi
 tive attitude - hence the choice of the title - and to highlight potential
  solutions using the technologies that are available now\, where these exi
 st\, and\, if not\, to critical assess the potential of new approaches so 
 that resources can be focussed only on genuine solutions.  Some of the iss
 ues we hope address include: Are we looking at the problems in the right w
 ay\, that is\, are problems created because we don't do things in the righ
 t way?  \n\nAs occurred in the 2008 Pitt seminar\, speakers will be asked 
 to provide a narrative\, this time looking at aspects of humanity\, quanti
 fying limits of existence and identifying what will be needed to ensure co
 ntinuation of societies across the globe. It will include some discussion 
 of our ability to provide for the needs of the entire human population if 
 everyone were to exist at subsistence\, pre-industrial or post-industrial 
 levels of quality of life.\n\nFollowing the presentations\, we will open t
 he floor to questions from the audience\, which our panel of speakers will
  hopefully be able to answer.\n\n
LOCATION:Queen's Building\, Emmanuel College.  Dinner in Hall\, Pembroke C
 ollege.
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