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SUMMARY:SMARTLIFE: GOVERNMENT\, INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION ADAPTING TO CLIMATE
  CHANGE - David Arkell\, Director\, SmartLIFE and Head of Innovation &amp\
 ; Partnerships\, Cambridgeshire County Council
DTSTART:20090210T170000Z
DTEND:20090210T180000Z
UID:TALK15783@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:12189
DESCRIPTION:David Arkell is the originator and project director of SmartLI
 FE - an international initiative building capacity for sustainable homes. 
  As Head of Innovation & Partnerships at Cambridgeshire County Council he 
 works across EU and local partnerships to attract funding\, develop ideas 
 and deliver solutions to shared challenges.  He is a chartered planner\, e
 ngineer and marketer with a wide-ranging career in the public sector.  Wit
 h a passion for lifelong learning\, he has post-graduate degrees in planni
 ng and engineering\, marketing\, management\, and business. \n\nDavid will
  draw on the SmartLIFE project as a current example of stronger and urgent
  local government leadership in the face of climate change.  SmartLIFE ill
 ustrates how government\, in a “triple helix” with education and indus
 try\, can engage the consumer in the process of adapting to climate change
  through tangible and convincing actions that maintains choice but changes
  behaviours.  But perhaps more crucially\, rationally conceived objectives
  and activities can move us emotionally.  If we connect our desires and qu
 ality of life aspirations with ethical\, affordable and ecological solutio
 ns then there is more hope of innovation before\, rather than renovation a
 fter the ‘flood’.\n\nCambridgeshire County Council leads the SmartLIFE
  partnership with Sweden and Germany\, delivering at every level of govern
 ment.  The spirit of committed partners working with a desire to affect ch
 ange delivers outcomes very quickly.  In four years\, Cambridgeshire has b
 uilt an eco-exemplar business and training centre and 106 SmartLIFE homes\
 , and established training courses and qualifications (3\,500 SmartLIFE gr
 aduates to date)\, outreach educational programmes\, conferences and semin
 ars\, and publications.  \n\nThe terms adaptation and mitigation (of clima
 te change) imply to some a reactive mindset. SmartLIFE is proactive and ad
 opts the Precautionary Principle - recognising the need to build homes in 
 our growth areas but understanding that this would damage our health and e
 nvironment unless the imperative was taken to bring on innovative and sust
 ainable methods of construction.  The aims and outcomes are clear.  But th
 e talk will emphasise the complex change process and inventiveness of huma
 n beings needed for success. Sharing enough detail here is vital if we are
  to truly learn\, improve and scale-up our impact.  \n\nDavid will also dr
 aw on emotional and reflective research to support the notion that our lim
 ited behaviours and often predatory instincts\, as illustrated by the econ
 omic recession\, can be balanced by awakening our creative instincts.  We 
 cannot\, we must not\, wait for others to respond to climate change impact
 s but shift our thinking and actions now so that partnerships of governmen
 t\, education and industry can mobilise change and mainstream sustainabili
 ty. \n
LOCATION:St Edmund’s College\, Garden Room
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