University leads Surrey’s charge to tackle climate change while building its economy

The events are free to attend. 

The events are part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2021, an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences, which runs throughout November. 

Both of the University’s events look at global and national issues in the specific context of Surrey: 

• Engaging a Sustainable Surrey: The Community and COP26, 4 November, 6-7.45pm, G Live: a collaborative event between the Centre for Britain and Europe and the Centre for Environmental Studies. The audience will hear about cutting-edge research on climate action and the transitions needed for Net-Zero and wider sustainability, discussed in a Surrey-focused context. The discussion will explore what it will take to engage the whole community – citizens, businesses, public bodies and NGOs – in taking decisive action to combat climate change. 

• Charting Community Based Growth in Surrey, 11 November, 6-7.45pm, Stag Hill Campus: launching an in-depth analysis commissioned by Surrey County Council and conducted by the University of Surrey’s Centre for Britain and Europe into how the county can evolve post-Covid and develop in a community-centred way. This event aims to harness the value of the recent report by discussing with the public how to use it and translate it into actual delivery. 

Professor Amelia Hadfield, Dean International, Director of the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey who is organising both events, said: 

“At COP26, world leaders are looking at the big picture, but each area has a role to play in tackling climate change, and this is a chance for the people of Surrey to move their thinking forward and identify how to work together, pull together, to develop the county in a sustainable way. We want communities to lead green growth and create the changes that they want to see, to maximise the wonderful assets of our county in a way which also protects them.”