Please note that the official agenda for the 2010 ESAC Conference has been released. There will be fascinating panel on a wide range of topics, from: ‘Food Policy and Sustainability’ to ‘Gender and Environment’ to ‘Climate Change in Bangladesh’, plus our outstanding Keynote Speakers Camilla Toulmin, Bina Agarwal and Desiree McGraw. The conference schedule is available for download here.
Panels include:
“Good Science and/or a Darn Good Read”
Widely accused of scientific dishonesty, Bjorn Lomborg, is nonetheless the author of an award-winning, best-selling, money-making book. The Skeptical Environmentalist, as Lomborg and his infamous book are known, may represent the extreme, but journalists, authors, TV and radio commentators are regularly faced with the dilemma of not bogging down a good story in scientific facts. For, as Stephen Bocking writes in Alternatives Journal, “While scientists can tell us about the extinction of species and the loss of Arctic sea ice, we need stories to help us make sense of these events.
This panel of three environmental communicators will discuss the tricks of the trade when it comes to good environmental story-telling and news reporting. They will highlight the best of environmental writing and point out the blunders. Nicola Ross, executive editor of Alternatives Journal, will lead the panel in a highly energetic thought-provoking discussion before inviting the audience to join in.
Panel Moderator:
- Nicola Ross, editor-in-chief of Alternatives Journal, will lead a panel of talented environmental writers and some of Canada’s brightest eco-intellects in an energetic discussion of good environmental writing. Come prepared to be entertained and informed. And don’t forget to bring along a few questions about how to get your environmental stories into the news.
Panelists include:
- Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada and author of seven books including How to Save the World in Your Spare Time, is an outspoken advocate for the environment. If anyone knows how to spin a story, it’s Elizabeth.
- Wayne Roberts manages the Toronto Food Policy Council, has written three books and writes a weekly column in NOW Magazine. He is a member of Alternatives’ editorial board and one of Canada’s most original thinkers on food policy. He’s also very funny.
- Monique Beaudin is an environmental writer with the Montreal Gazette. She is also an active blogger who is comfortable sending out tweets.
For more information on the 2010 ESAC Conference: ‘Sustainability in a Changing World’, which is being held at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec from May 31st to June 1st, please click here.