Sustainable Development Leadership Lecture Series
The Sustainable Development Leadership Lectures are designed influence, shape and develop Sustainable Development thinking in Scotland and usually attract an audience of around 70 delegates, drawn from business, academia and the public sector.
Initially developed and coordinated by the Sustainable Development Research Centre in Forres, the lecture series is now hosted by the St Andrews Sustainability Institute at the University of St Andrews.
Professor Tim Kasser, Tuesday 13 December 2011, 7.30pm
Medical and Biological Sciences Building Lecture Theatre
Jan Bebbington, in partnership with WWF Scotland, will be welcoming Professor Tim Kasser to the University of St Andrews for a Sustainable Development Leadership Lecture.
Tim Kasser is professor and chair of Psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters on materialism, values, and goals. His books include The High Price of Materialism (2002), Psychology and Consumer Culture (2004, co-edited with Allen D. Kanner), and Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity (2009, co-authored with Tom Crompton).
Professor Kasser’s primary research interests concern people's values and goals, and how they relate to quality of life. Over the last decade he has focused on studying 'materialistic values,' i.e., being wealthy, having many possessions, being attractive, and being popular. With colleagues, he has found that when people believe materialistic values are important, they report less happiness and more distress, have poorer interpersonal relationships, contribute less to the community, and engage in more ecologically damaging behaviours. Professor Kasser’s recent research has been investigating how values relate to well-being in various nations around the world, as well as what leads some people to become especially focused on different types of values.
Please follow the link to see a video-animate narrated by Prof Kasser on the high price of materialism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGab38pKscw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Dr Jane Goodall's lecture, given at the University of St Andrews on Wednesday 2 May 2011.
Dr Chris Tuppen, Chief Sustainability Officer, BT Group
10th Sustainable Development Leadership Lecture - Thursday 19th November 2009
"President Obama found it was easy to say 'yes we can', and not so easy to do. But he won the election on the promise of positive change, not on saving the world from disaster. So when it comes to climate change are we too focussed on a 'glass half empty' view of the future? Mixing history with future gazing, this presentation will build from yesterday's Age of Innocence, to today's Age of Stupid, to tomorrow's Age of Smart."
Chris Tuppen is responsible for all aspects of BT¿s sustainability strategy and issues. He frequently engages with customers, investors, regulators and other strategic stakeholders, and is the focal point for BT's work as a sustainability partner to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He has served on the boards of CSR Europe and of the US charity, Business for Social Responsibility. He co-chaired the Global Reporting Initiative's measurement working group and chaired the Global e- Sustainability Initiative and the European Telecommunication Network Operators Association's environmental working group. Currently, Chris is a member of the Executive Board of the Prince of Wales' Accounting for Sustainability Forum, the Council of AccountAbility, an international membership organisation committed to enhancing social and ethical accountability. In January 2008, Chris was named by The Guardian newspaper as one of the 50 people who could save the planet from environmental disaster.
A pdf of Chris Tuppen's presentation is available here Tuppen Presentation (PDF, 3,142 KB)
Previous speakers in the series include:
- Tim Rollinson
- Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE,
- Tim O'Riordan,
- Jonathon Porrit,
- Michael Meacher MP,
- Professor Jorgen Randers,
- Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan,
- Prof Anne Glover,
- Prof Jacqueline McGlade