past events


2008 events

Wednesday, April 30: Time to build on the green belt?

As demand for new affordable housing increases, Gordon Brown’s promise of three million new h­omes by 2020 seems sensible. But can ‘eco-towns’ and redeveloped brown field sites really meet the housing shortage? Or do green imperatives and an emphasis on ‘sustainable’ housing inhibit development? Instead of zealously protecting it, perhaps we should see the countryside as a solution to the housing crisis. So, should we unbuckle the green belt and let the developers build? Or is 'concreting over the countryside' too high a price to pay?
speakers:

  • Tristram Hunt, academic, columnist and broadcaster

  • Penny Lewis, editor of Prospect

  • Michael Owens, head of development policy at the London Development Agency

  • Paul Miner, planning campaigner for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)



    • Wednesday, June 25: Nuclear power: what's the alternative?

    As we seek to overcome our reliance on fossil fuels what are the alternatives? Offshore turbines and wind farms are often cited as options but can they really meet more than a fraction of the UK’s energy needs? If not, is nuclear power a viable alternative? Public anxiety about nuclear plants’ safety, their susceptibility to terrorist attacks, and the problem of safely disposing of radioactive waste persists. But to what extent are these concerns justified? Is the real issue the public’s misperception of both the risks and potential of nuclear energy? Ultimately, does nuclear energy, be it the promise of fusion or the reality of fission, finally mean we can stop guilt-tripping about energy consumption?

    A write-up of this debate is now on our blog here


    Monday 10 March: INNOVATION READING CIRCLE: the new economy

    Clarke Mulder Purdie hosted this reading circle, which was on the new economy revisited. The event discussed an agenda-setting book by former Harvard Business Review executive editor Nicholas Carr entitled The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google (W. W. Norton, 2008). We subsequently blogged on the event, which you can read here.

    The Innovation Reading Circle provides an informal forum for rich, high-level and well-informed public discussion of key ideas around innovation. You may be interested to review the notes from the last event on the innovation in the real world event page, discussing The Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun.

    2007 events

    INNOVATION READING CIRCLE 08: Societal Decline

    Monday 10 September 2007

    The objective of the Innovation Reading Circle is to help develop theory around innovation (considering technology, design, society and organisation) by facilitating rich, high-level and well-informed public discussion around key and related texts and discourses. The Reading Circle will encourage reasoned debate with no ideas considered out of bounds.

    The theme of this event was Societal decline. The title discussed was Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond. The significance of this title is around the questions: Do societies have a tendency towards self-inflicted decline? Where might modern capitalist societies stand in relation to this process? And does innovation tend to create more problems than it solves?

    For more information, please visit the Innovation Reading Circle site.


    THE FUTURE OF MEDIA

    Wednesday 17 October, 2007

    From mobile phone snappers to Internet bloggers, ours has been hailed as the age of the ‘citizen journalist’. Time magazine selected ‘You’ as the person of 2006, celebrating all those who build and contribute to social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace.
    What are the real causes and impact of the proliferation of user-generated content, ‘alternative news’ and the voices of the many? Is the citizen journalist a symbol of the rise of the democratised media, or a decline of journalistic standards?

    Speakers included:

  • Becky Hogge, New Statesman

  • Priya Prakash, Innovation executive, BBC Innovation

  • Brendan O'Neill, spiked

  • Richard Ayers, portal director and editor of www.tiscali.co.uk


    • WEB 2.0: SILVER BULLET OR FOOL'S GOLD?

    Thursday 26 July, 2007
    8.30am - 10.30am

    Download the report in full here

    This event is now available as a podcast:

    Download selected highlights from the seminar (30 mins)

    Listen to the individual speakers:
  • Graham Hayday, former editor of Silicon.com and new media expert, Clarke Mulder Purdie

  • Jon Bernstein, multimedia editor, Channel 4 News

  • Adam Boulton, political editor, Sky News




    • What is web 2.0? Something new or just a natural evolution of the web? Listen to Adam Boulton, political editor of Sky News, Jon Bernstein, multimedia editor of Channel 4 News, and Graham Hayday, new media expert, Clarke Mulder Purdie air their views and insights on what has become known as web 2.0. Second Life, Facebook, blogging and social media all come under the spotlight as the three experts ponder what these new platforms mean for traditional media, brands and audiences.

    The Screening Room
    The Soho Hotel
    4 Richmond Mews
    London
    W1D 3DH

    LIVING IN A SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY

    Wednesday 20 June

    Britain now has more CCTV cameras than any other country, a national identity card in the pipeline and myriad other measures of regulation and surveillance. The official Information Commissioner claims that we are ‘sleepwalking into a surveillance society’, while the authorities insist that their aim is to protect the public and that those who have nothing to hide should have nothing to worry about.
    What implications does living in a ‘surveillance society’ have for our public and private lives?

    Speakers included:

  • Dolan Cummings, Researcher and Editorial Director, Institute of Ideas. Author of pamphlet Surveillance and the City and spiked article 'Why do we submit to the surveillance society?'

  • Kirstie Hall, Senior Lecturer in organisation studies, Open University and part of the Surveillance Studies Network


    • The Commonwealth Club
    25 Northumberland Avenue
    London
    WC2N 5AP

    LUNCH WITH PETER WHITEHEAD, FT; AND PETER GARDNER, 3i

    Tuesday 27 February

    Peter Whitehead, as editor of FT Digital Business, looked at emerging trends across the technology sector in 2007. He also looked at what his focus will be from a media perspective in the coming months.
    Peter Gardner, as partner of the 3i Venture team, focused more on the wireless and mobile sector, and outlined 3i's top future technology tips.

    The Wine Cellar
    The Bleeding Heart
    Bleeding Heart Yard
    Off Grenville Street
    London
    EC1N 8SJ

    BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

    Wednesday 14 March

    How many new houses does Britain really need, where should they be built and what should they look like?
    Demand for homes is higher than ever, yet new house building in the UK is at its lowest level since the Second World War. Soaring house prices drive buyers further away from cities, with environmental concerns keeping construction away from ‘greenfield’ sites.
    What balance should the architects and developers of the 21st century strike between meeting planning demands to make housing environmentally and socially sustainable, and meeting popular demands for more and better housing?

    Speakers included:

  • Karl Sharro, Architect and author of forthcoming 'Whatever happened to visionary architecture?'

  • James Woodhuysen, Professor of Forecasting and Innovation at De Montfort University, Leicester


    • Royal Institute of British Architects
    Wren Room
    66 Portland Place
    London
    W1B 1AD

    2006 hothouse events

    BUSINESS ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER?

    Tuesday 21 March 2006

    Business seems beset by threats and risks that are difficult to anticipate, whether it's acts of terrorism, natural disasters or disease pandemics. The Confederation of British Industry has declared that safeguarding staff and assets should be every company's top priority in 2006. Firms are keen to draw up contingency plans, with one of the world's largest banking groups preparing for the possible depletion of half of its staff through avian flu. Are such measures sensible? Or is adversity above a certain magnitude inherently unpredictable, and therefore impossible to prepare for in any useful way?


    Speakers included:

  • Daniel Ben-Ami - Financial journalist, author of 'Cowardly Capitalism: The Myth of the Global Financial Casino

  • Henrik Kiertzner - Head of Corporate Resilience, ARUP


    • SAVE THE PLANET, DON'T SEE THE WORLD?

    Tuesday 23 May 2006

    Budget airlines now offer affordable travel to a variety of exotic destinations, but when it comes to cheap flights, environmentalists seem determined to be cheapskates. From the green fringes all the way to the mainstream, commentators agree that our holidaymaking must be reined in, in order to reduce the adverse effect of carbon dioxide emissions upon the climate. Having expanded our horizons, must we now reduce them again? Will we all be allocated a carbon quota in future, as some predict? Or is the prognosis less dire, and are possibilities for travel more of a social good, than we allow?

    Speakers included:

  • John Adams - Professor of geography, University College London

  • Peter Smith - Lecturer in travel and tourism, St Mary's College


    • WHY WI-FI?

    Wednesday 12 July 2006

    Wi-fi has become a major concern in business and policy. The technology has inspired new business models, municipal wi-fi networks have been established in several major cities, and wi-fi has even been described by San Francisco's mayor as a 'basic human right'. Some are concerned that the full potential of wi-fi is not being exploited, while others are concerned that the technology's growing popularity is leading to networks being less secure. But the technology is here to stay, and 'next-generation' wi-fi is already on the way. Why are we so keen on wi-fi, and where will it take us?

    Speakers included:

  • Victor Keegan - Technology correspondent, Guardian

  • Nico Macdonald - Technology writer and consultant, Spy


    • WHAT MAKES AN OLYMPIC CITY?

    Tuesday 12 September 2006

    London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games has given Londeners a rare cause for celebration - or has it? The Games have been championed as a catalyst for social regeneration and tourism, but there has been scant funding for actual competitors. From the point of view of city planning, the Games seem only to have highlighted the inadequacies of London's facilities and infrastructure. As fares and charges become ever more expensive and convoluted, Londoners seem to be penalised for using any form of motorised or electrified transport. Can the prevailing disgruntlement be turned around by 2012? How might other Olympic cities inspire us?

    Speakers included:

  • Austin Williams - Director, Future Cities Project


    • BRANDS: WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR?

    Wednesday 15 November 2006

    Business leaders and critics of capitalist growth have at least one thing in common - they are preoccupied with brands, whether they seek to build brands or to bury them. Creating a particular set of feelings and expectations around products and services has become a goal unto itself, rather than an adjust to a business's core competency. Political parties are also increasingly interested in brands, with politicians' approach to managing their public image having more to do with brand maintenance than with vision. Is branding a distraction from delivering quality products, services and policies?

    Speakers included:

  • James Woudhuysen - Professor of forecasting and innovation at De Montfort University

  • David Taylor - Orange

  • Paul Edwards - Chief strategy officer, Publicis


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