The Global Threat to Food Security

1. Comment by Provocateur — October 28, 2009 @ 10.28 am I would imagine if we could keep a steady global population rather than a growing population then the need for drastic food production shifts would be somewhat negated. So…Education
   Incentivisation
   Increased access to contraception
   Decreasing poverty levels (therefore reducing the need for bigger families)

   Would be a better way of tackling these problems. In my humble opinion.

2. Comment by Erinma — October 28, 2009 @ 11.10 am This discussion seems to tap directly into the ageing debate that’s going on…Can you talk more about incentivisation – i think that is key to making change easier -
3. Comment by Provocateur — October 28, 2009 @ 11.38 am In the UK it could be examples such as:No child benefit for additional children but increased child benefit for 1 child
   No tax credits for additional children
   Increased tax benefits for adopting/fostering unwanted children

   Its obviously a bigger political question in the rest of the world, but I am sure there could be better brains than mine that could come up with workable incentives to allow people to reduce the number of their own dependencies…

4. Comment by Liz — October 28, 2009 @ 12.02 pm Patrick Holden from the Soil Association did a brilliant talk at the Do Lectures in September on food security. It’ll be online in a couple of weeks.
   http://www.dolectures.co.uk
5. Comment by Debbie — October 29, 2009 @ 12.45 pm There seems to be little discussion about the amount of food that is wasted and how, if we addressed this, the picture of food security would not be so serious. I’m refering to waste that occurs (largely) due to the just in time systems that supermarkets have developed to reduce their costs at the expense of producers. I’d be very interested to know if there has been any research which has measured this. Whether its perfectly edible fruit that doesn’t pass the supermarket ‘beauty parade’ or potatoes that are deemed to be less than perfect which are then sprayed with dye to prevent the farmer from selling them anywhere else, so they end up as animal feed rather than being used for human use, its a food supply ’system’that is badly dysfunctional and needs fixing. Add to that the wastage in the home due to misconceptions about best before and sell buy dates, BOGOF etc. and you begin to see how much food that is produced is not being consumed. Lets sort it out.
   For more on this read Feleicity Lawrence’s book Not on the Label – and as a result, hopefully, never step inside a supermarket again.
6. Comment by Erinma — October 30, 2009 @ 4.03 pm From the twitter feed: thought this is important point for the illustratorsKateSBailey: Thanks #cmxd. Mango debate perfectly sums up the issues – local vs global? consumer choice vs societal needs?

The Ageing Timebomb

1. Comment by Neil Pendleton, University of Manchester — October 27, 2009 @ 8.11 pm The points raised by Professor Polman are interesting and provke thought.Not least that we can see an immediate assumption that the 30% over 65 years will be one of needing care and resources. Perhaps we need to reflect on this.We are seeing an unprecedented increase in life span. What no one is yet certain of is whether this translate into a longer period of dependency post-retirement or if there will be an extension in healthy, active years lived. We are seeing proposals to delay retirement age and extend working life.

   We also have to consider ageing as a world-wide phenomenon, with global health and well-being considerations.

   This is change in focus of research in ageing to examining the groups defined as ‘frail’ or ’successful’ older adults.

   The future requires us to think of changing societal visions of ageing. All ages need to move to a non-chronological and more abilities or performance based model of age. Thus older adults could be providing support for their peers or younger age groups. Many do so in providing their offspring support for child care.

   Perhaps we will see a time when individuals of all ages support the provision of support of all adults with limitations, independant of any broadly defined category.

2. Comment by Sam Gray — October 27, 2009 @ 8.38 pm I’m not sure about this concept. Does this mean that my generation is going to work until they are 90?
3. Comment by Neil Pendleton, University of Manchester — October 27, 2009 @ 9.03 pm A thought provoking statement.One point it indicates is the idea of using chronological age as a surrogate for limitations and resource use. This is a common association and we need to reflect on a number of points.We have to consider extension in lifespan as a global change. Thus this is a question for the global community. This will have impacts on adults of any country in the world.

   Another feature of ageing is that the increase in lifespan has increased more in the last few decades than ever before. One question no one has an answer to is whether this will translate into an increase in healthy, independent years lived or we will simple see a longer period disability.

   Ageing research has identified that older adults are a diverse group and cannot be easily put into one group. We can see a spectrum from the frail to the extremely able. Thus one interesting notion is to find what makes some older adults defy the stereotypical picture of aged.

   Some would offer another view, which would classify humans as they age in terms of their ‘biological’ rather than ‘chronological’ age. Thus use abilities rather than assumed limitations as a more useful approach.

   Perhaps the better view of the future would be to consider all adults in terms of their abilities rather than age. Thus we can consider people of any age supporting those with needs of any age.

   Many older adults currently provide such support for younger ones, such as grandparents caring for their children’s children.

4. Comment by Erinma — October 27, 2009 @ 11.20 pm Does this spectrum from the frail to the extremely able exist from cradle to grave i.e. are there some people that just are generally healthier and more able because of the life they’ve lived and/ or the luck of the draw in terms of their genetics? Are there any lifetime studies? twin studies? etc? – Is thinking about ‘ageing’ therefore, a red herring?
5. Comment by Liz — October 28, 2009 @ 9.32 am Lots of work has been done around this by the Valuing Older People team in Manchester City council. They have just launched their latest aging strategy for the city which is a thought provoking read of how to deal with some of these challenges within an urban environment. I find it fascinating the way that the answers to this are the same as the answers to the challenges that we face as a result of climate change – looking towards communities where relationships with others are the most important thing.
6. Comment by Neil Pendleton, University of Manchester — October 28, 2009 @ 9.47 am In response to some comments.Will we have to work until age 90 years? Well one could say we should have the opportunity to do so if the individual wants to.Does the frail or able extend from cradle to grave? No one is entirely sure, but as the proportion of frail adults increases with age then that would suggest not. No one has been able to define those who will become frail in the future yet prospectively, but the concept is still under scientific debate and the research at an early stage.

   Work on valuing older people. This response has a lot of merits. There is little doubt that communities and relationships of the type suggested are essential to maintaining well-being in older adults. This in turn should not only lead to better life as we age, but be less consuming of resources.

7. Comment by Nigel Barlow — October 28, 2009 @ 10.10 am The main problem that we have to address is how the few ie those of working age support the many ie those of retirement age.History has taught us that countries with diminishing working age populations will suffer economically.(Of cause you could change the economic model but that is another discussion).Yes Neil,we should value the older populatiion as they will increasingly contribute to our society but that will not solve the problem
8. Comment by Erinma — October 28, 2009 @ 11.06 am Are there any societies/ countries that are addressing these issues and dilemmas well? And what other implications are there with an ageing population e.g. women outliving men…?
9. Comment by Sarah — October 28, 2009 @ 11.22 am What can we learn from other clutures about valuing the wisdom of the older population. How can we harness that potential , ie the time they have to devote to their communities, to education. to the younger generation.What incentives would the government need to think about to encourage those of retirement age to remain in employment, or to take up new challenges ?

Unprecedented Opportunities in the Digital Economy

1. Comment by Nigel Barlow — October 27, 2009 @ 5.18 pm Wise words indeed as you say.It is amazing how technology has yet to free us depsite the dreams of our childhood when we all thought we would be holidaying on the moon.We don’t have the paperless office,we still commute to work and we are tied to our jobs 24hrs a day all due to technology.

   The problem is that we have been unable to understand the effects of technology because it moves too fast to allow that analysis.

   Don’t get me wrong.Technology’s potential is great,just look how the internet has enabled knowledge to be acquired from almost any source,opening up learning opportunities worldwide and creating a communication system that can almost instantly alert us to news anywhere in the world

2. Comment by Erinma — October 27, 2009 @ 10.25 pm Facebook and skype have been pretty pivotal in being able to connect me with my family who are spread across the world – copenhagen, athens, lagos, edinburgh – but i love it that my mum can comment on what i am upto everyday and interact in some small way in my everyday life and with skype we can see one another – it doesn’t replace the face to face entirely – but it helps knowing people are a ‘click’ away. And as for work – its increasingly easier to have those ‘watercooler’ moments on facebook (being online at the same time) than face to face – again – its crossing the boundaries of space and time…
3. Comment by Liz — October 28, 2009 @ 9.51 am Technology is only as clever or creative as the people who use it… I pick and mix the technologies that I choose on the basis of how much benefit they have to me and how much time they free up for me to do the things I want to be doing in the real world.
4. Comment by Nigel Barlow — October 28, 2009 @ 10.14 am Erinma,I totally agree with all the positives of social networking.But there is a massive negative especially along the younger population and that is the lack of any face to face contact to the extent that picking up the phone say in the office situation is becoming more and more scarce.This is one of the problems that technology has given us and I believe that its contribution is going to be ,in this issue,a major negative factor.

   Liz,you are spot on with the mix and matching.

Tackling Climate Change

1. Comment by Liz — October 28, 2009 @ 9.48 am This is a subject that really annoys me – sustainable air travel! Since when has the right to cheap and easy air travel been an essential human right that should be protected beyond all else? I think it is actually a significant problem causing a real hurdle for progress in climate politics because every politician knows it is a sure vote killer to suggest that people need to think about flying less, if at all.“So will we get a step change in technology to carbon free flight or will we take our holidays in Blackpool rather than Benidorm?”A statement that kind of misses the point as far as I can see in the context of all the changes that we need to make to make the world more abundant, equitable and sustainable. Not to say that research shouldn’t be made into this area but in no way should it be a priority for resources when there seem to be much more important issues around the agenda of climate change than this one. For example, we face significant questions over an ever growing population and food security that are much more critical to the challenge of climate change and the future of our species. We also have to get away from the idea of continual growth in business and finance that is in conflict to the direction that we need to follow to secure a viable future. Why not measure national success in terms of citizen happiness instead of financial wealth? Surely a much more relevant aspiration for the post industrial era we are moving into…?

   And just for the record…I’m committed and positive about our future and to support this belief in a better future I haven’t been on a plane for more than 5 years – I don’t see how I can really live sustainably if I do. Instead I travel slowly and can safely say that I would much prefer a relaxed trip to Blackpool than a flight to Benidorm any day.

2. Comment by Ruza — November 6, 2009 @ 1.46 pm I tend to disagree with Lisa on this. One cannot expect that the lifestlye of the whole world will be changed as easily as stopping air travel by one individual. Some countries have little or no alternative to air travel due to geographical locations, wars, or political “bad-will”. Should they simply stop using air-imported goods, like grain, and exporting what they can, like gold? One does not substitue for the other…
   So I do think that alternative energy soruces for air travel, as well as for any other non-sustaintable activity are essential.
3. Comment by Shows in Blackpool — April 13, 2010 @ 9.49 pm While the UK doesn’t have a great climate we really do need to cut down on air travel holidays. So what’s the solution? Well stop building runways, the more runways we have the more possible flights we can accommodate. So the price for take off slots is currently low, decrease take off slots and they become more expensive. So we end up with a situation were flight prices go up. This will reduce air travel and at the same time help the British economy! As people will holiday in the UK. So the Gov gets more Vat and British businesses make more money and then pay more tax.
4. Comment by Luis Howard — May 1, 2010 @ 5.11 am Climate Change is really scary, now we have super typhoons and a lot of flooding going on some countries….’

The Implications of Synthetic Biology

1. Comment by Alec — October 27, 2009 @ 9.33 pm I have heard that some of this technology would be able to self replicate. If this is the case how do we stop the world being overcome by a grey sludge
2. Comment by Erinma — October 27, 2009 @ 10.54 pm Hope to hear more about the challenging problems that could be solved – and how close some of this technology is to solving those challenges
3. Comment by Liz — October 28, 2009 @ 9.27 am Is this anyway linked to Biomimicry? A very interesting area of work. If it’s not maybe it should be.
   http://www.biomimicry.net/
4. Comment by Martyn Amos — October 28, 2009 @ 3.33 pm Thanks for the comments so far.Firstly, Alex, cells and bacteria already self-replicate, and I see no sign of grey sludge. The bacteria we’re using won’t have “super powers”, as it were – they will still be constrained by fairly rigourous physical limitations. They’ll just be doing stuff that they didn’t evolve to do, but which we can engineer in to them.Liz – biomimicry is relevant, and my group at MMU works quite heavily in this area (google “novel computation group” + mmu). However, that’s using nature as INSPIRATION; what we’re doing with SB is DIRECTLY USING nature as a computational substrate.
5. Comment by Erinma — October 28, 2009 @ 10.44 pm computational substrate – what’s that in layman’s terms?
6. Comment by julian — October 28, 2009 @ 10.59 pm I have read that the reason why the Earth is habitable in the first place and one of the reasons that there is so much iron in the ground is that there was a microbial process that sequestrated toxic gases in the atmosphere in the first few billion years of the Earth’s existence and these microbes don’t exist anymore except perhaps around the ‘hot smokers’ in the ocean floors. So I can see the argument for creating a biological solution to eradicate certain pollutants. But these primordial bacteria existed in a time where there was no complex life forms. What checks are in place before something is released into the wild?
7. Comment by Sam — October 29, 2009 @ 7.35 am Great points Julian, talking of checks and balances I’m interested in the whole Prometheus / Frankenstein thang…how long will it be before I can produce my own army of superhuman beings?
8. Comment by Martyn Amos — October 31, 2009 @ 4.32 pm Erinma: “computational substrate” = “stuff out of which computers are built”.