British Council in partnership with Durham University presents:
If Nature is the Solution, what is the Problem?
featuring Prof. Harriet Bulkeley, Professor of Geography, Durham University.
About the lecture
In the face of the twin challenges of climate change and the loss of nature, there has been a growing interest in the possibilities that nature-based solutions offer for addressing multiple sustainable development goals. In this lecture, Prof. Bulkeley explores how nature-based solutions are increasingly seen as a means through which cities globally can address these challenges.
Drawing on the results of the four-year H2020 NATURVATION, Prof. Bulkeley discusses how far nature-based solutions have come and how far they still have to go before being adopted as a mainstream approach for responding to climate change and enabling sustainable development for cities.
While major advances have been made with these solutions, critical sticking points still include how to evaluate their contributions and how to design interventions that work politically and financially in the urban context. As nature-based solutions are increasingly adopted globally, it is also critical to attend to their potential adverse consequences in terms of social justice – making nature work for everyone requires actively addressing existing urban inequalities and ensuring that those who need nature most stand to benefit.
About the Speaker
Prof. Harriet Bulkeley holds joint appointments as Professor in the Department of Geography, Durham University, and at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University. She has published widely in the fields of environmental governance and the politics of climate change, energy and sustainable cities and has been listed as one of the world’s most highly cited researchers since 2016. Prof. Bulkeley currently co-ordinates the H2020 NATURVATION project examining the role of urban innovation with nature-based solutions for sustainable development. She has been recognised by the Royal Geographical Society for the impact of her work on climate policy, and in 2019, was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences and as a Fellow of the British Academy.
About the University
Durham University is a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research based in historic Durham City in the UK. Ranked as a world top 100 university in the QS World University Rankings 2021 and a top 10 university in national league tables, Durham University conducts boundary-breaking research that improves lives globally. With staff and students from over 130 countries and research covering every continent, Durham is proud to be an outward-looking, globally-minded and inclusive university.