A popular lecture series is returning for its third instalment, and the focus this time is on climate change.
Lakehead University's Third Age Learning initiative, a partnership between the school’s Office of Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning and the Third Age Network, will present There is No Plan(et) B: Climate Change and our Evolving Legacy. The five-part series will start May 22.
Linda Rodenburg, a professor who runs Lakehead’s Office of Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning, works with an advisory committee to determine the topics and speakers for the series.
“That group understands how important it is to have climate change front and centre,” she said. “They really wanted to focus on the fact that we need to be taking action now and the ways we can do that effectively.”
It sounds like a tall order, but the group has lined up five experts to provide some answers.
The series will start with Ellen Field, who teaches with Lakehead’s faculty of education and is a post-doctoral fellow with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, investigating climate change education in Canada.
The topic of her May 22 lecture is Climate Disruption: Looking Through our (Narrowing) Window of Opportunity.
On May 29, Brad Dibble will speak about Comprehending the Climate Crisis: Rising to the ‘Defining Challenge of our Generation.' Dibble was appointed by the federal minister of the environment as one of 25 members to the Sustainable Development Advisory Council.
On June 5, the series will welcome Bob Willard, “an exceptional speaker who is very interested in how businesses and individuals can respond to climate change economically,” Rodenburg explained.
His topic will be Sustainability is ‘Good Business’: The Three Real Reasons Businesses Want to Fix Climate Change. Willard was one of the inaugural inductees into the International Society of Sustainability Professionals Hall of Fame.
The June 12 talk is a timely one. Dianne Saxe, president of Saxe Facts, will speak about the state of climate policy in Ontario. Saxe was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario from 2015 to 2019, when the provincial government closed that office.
“Hot on the heels of her watchdog organization being collapsed, she’s speaking to us about how we in the province need to make sure that people in Ontario are taking our government to task,” Rodenburg said.
Closing out the series on June 19 will be Maude Barlow. Author of dozens of reports and 18 books, Barlow’s topic will be Water Abuse: Is Watershed Protection the Solution to Climate Chaos?
“Her work in this area is second to none,” Rodenburg said. “She’s a really important person for us to look to as we respond to what she identifies as a water crisis.”
The first lecture series drew 127 people. The second saw 200 people sign up. Already, 200 have signed up for the upcoming series.
“I wasn’t sure how this would be received in Orillia, but this has exceeded my expectations,” Rodenburg said. “People are looking at issues from a different perspective. That demonstrates the true capacity in this community for lifelong learning.”
It costs $64 for all five lectures, which take place at St. Paul's Centre in Orillia, starting at 9:30 a.m. Each one begins with a 45-minute lecture, followed by a 15-minute coffee break and then a 45-minute question-and-answer session. Everyone who signs up will receive a reusable coffee mug.
To sign up, click here.
