Recent and forthcoming events
Climate Change and the Implications for People and Poverty 4 December 2009, London
An interactive training course presenting an opportunity to examine and debate why climate change is a key issue for international development. It is aimed at anyone interested in climate change, its impacts and the ways in which people are already adapting their lifestyles in the less developed world.
Integrating Approaches: Sustainable Livelihoods, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation 3 December 2009, London
As part of an international series, Practical Action is hosting a seminar bringing together academics, practitioners and policy-makers to explore the links between Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches (SLA) and approaches to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.
Educational Resource Launch 19-21 November 2009, Design and Technology Show, Birmingham, UK
Practical Action's Education team will be launching a new classroom CD resource, Getting Started with Sustainability, to support the new GCSE specifications for Design & Technology. Come and visit us at Stand B46 at the Design and Technology Show, NEC, Birmingham.
Global Day of Climate Change Action 24 October 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Practical Action South Asia joined 350 youths for a beach clean up in Colombo, followed by a march to raise awareness on the necessity to reduce CO2 emission in the atmosphere to below 350 parts per million to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
Schumacher Conference 2009 17 October 2009, Bristol, UK
The annual Bristol Schumacher Lectures are Britain's premier environmental gathering. This year's theme is "From the Ashes of the Crash: rebuilding the new economics", and features lectures and workshops on subjects including a new deal for local economies, local money flows and low-carbon economies.
Climate Change and the Implications for People and Poverty 5 October 2009, London
An interactive training course presenting an opportunity to examine and debate why climate change is a key issue for international development. It is aimed at anyone interested in climate change, its impacts and the ways in which people are already adapting their lifestyles in the less developed world. A second course follows on 4 December.
Delivering Business Development Services to Rural Areas 21-25 September 2009, Nairobi, Kenya
Practical Action Eastern Africa organised a five-day regional workshop on Stimulating and Delivering Effective and Sustainable Business Development Services to Rural Areas, with particular emphasis on services for smallholder farmers.
Small is ... festival 5-6 September 2009, Warwickshire, UK
A celebration and exploration of Small is Beautiful, and what it means today, in a weekend summer festival in the grounds of The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development, Practical Action's Warwickshire headquarters.
Sustainability in Design & Technology - KS 3&4 7 and 14 July 2009, Rugby, UK
A one day course for teachers giving practical ideas to help deal with sustainability issues in the new GCSE specifications and KS3 schemes of work.
Small is Beautiful Revisited 1-5 June 2009, Devon, UK
This course at Schumacher College in Totnes aims to encourage a deep appreciation of the ideas expressed in Schumacher’s work and how these concepts can be applied in the 21st century.
Governance in practice 28 May 2009, Oxford, UK
Practical Action, in partnership with Architecture Sans Frontieres-UK, ran a workshop to introduce some of the broader concepts about governance that academics and practitioners across the world are grappling with, both institutionally and on the ground.
Climate change and the implications for people and poverty 21 May 2009, London
This interactive training course from Practical Action Consulting offers participants the opportunity to examine and debate why climate change is a key issue for international development. It is suitable for campaigners, fundraisers, policy-makers, donors, programme officers and local authorities.
Farmer First Revisited book launch 22 April 2009, Houses of Parliament, London
Practical Action Publishing's book Farmer First Revisited was launched at the Houses of Parliament in London with a Dangerous Ideas in Development event organised by the Institute of Development Studies and the APPG on Debt, Aid and Trade. Book | photos
Hunger and Climate Change: some practical answers 7 April 2009, London
In this event, hosted by Practical Action, panellists including Professor Bob Watson, Chief Scientist at DEFRA, Patrick Holden and Dr Saleemul Huq discussed the new policies and technologies for agriculture that will be needed to cope with climate change. Presentations and audio are available online.
Towards Copenhagen: Sri Lanka and International Climate Change Negotiations 25 March 2009, Columbo, Sri Lanka
With a broad range of delegates, this meeting explored the issues and implications of climate change and international negotiations for Sri Lanka.
Development from Disaster: Owner-driven approaches to reconstruction for the 21st century 19-20 March 2009, London
This conference, organised by Practical Action's Access to Infrastructure Services programme, looked at research findings and practical experience of ODR and analysed them in terms of their political, economic, social and cultural contexts. Participants discussed a number of tools that various agencies are already using in ODR such as planning, participation, design, technologies, supplies/logistics, quality control and housing finance.
Strengthening the involvement of provincial councils in energy: a case as the agent of eradicating energy poverty 6 March 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka
A workshop to disseminate the findings of the energy poverty study and to create awareness on the avenues available and improvements required at the National and Provincial level policies to address the issue of energy poverty.
The fact and hidden truth on Sri Lanka’s impending energy crisis 3-5 March 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka
A three-day workshop to focus on: the energy crisis; policies for efficiency, conservation and management; renewable energy options; household level energy management; social and environmental aspects of community renewable energy systems.
Climate change campaign events March 2009, London, Coventry, Bristol, UK
A number of events for climate change campaigners, including a Climate Change Day of Action march in Coventry (19 March), the Change in Progress training day in Bristol (21 March) and the Put People First march in London, ahead of the G20 meeting (28 March).
Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction Process into Development 17 February 2009, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka
The Disaster Management Centre and Practical Action organized a workshop to discuss on “Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Development Process”. Key objectives of the workshop were to assess the importance of disaster risk sensitivity in development planning process; draw the gaps in policies and practices to incorporate disaster risks; and derive a mechanism to develop guidelines / tools to develop Disaster Impact Assessment systems.
National seminar on plug flow type biogas systems 26 January 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Plug flow type biogas systems is an answer to the challenge of disposing organic waste including garbage & animal dung in an environmental friendly manner. Practical Action South Asia is organising a National Seminar on Plug Flow Type bio gas at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo.
2008
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP14 1-12 December 2008, Poznań, Poland
Practical Action attended the fourteenth conference of parties (COP 14) in Poznań. The Poznan Climate Change Conference needed to move from discussion to negotiation mode in order to complete a new international agreement in Copenhagen 2009.
Training course: Climate Change and the Implications for People and Poverty 2 December 2008, London, UK
This interactive training course, run by Practical Action Consulting, offers participants the opportunity to examine and debate why climate change is a key issue for international development. It is for anyone who wants to feel enthused, confident and competent in the area of climate change, including campaigners, fundraisers, policy-makers, donors, programme officers and local authorities.
Biodiesel seminar 27 November, National University of Ucayali, Pucallpa, Peru
A dialogue between regional actors to discuss scientific advances, options and constraints in production and use of biofuels in Ucayali, both in technical, economic, environmental and social issues.
Taking the research agenda forward 24 November 2008, Rugby, UK
The third of a series of seminars, supported by funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, UK, on increasing the recognition of the role of technology in human development, with an emphasis on building on the interdisciplinary frameworks and taking these forward into empirically based research.
World Urban Forum 6-9 November 2008, Nanjing, China
Practical Action has been selected by UN-Habitat to host two events at the fourth session of the World Urban Forum in China: a networking event on the participation of poor urban people in decision-making about planning and infrastructure services in their neighbourhoods and the barriers to this; and a training session on applying participatory governance in the preparation, monitoring and evaluation of the programmes concerned with infrastructure services.
Agriculture at a crossroads: implementing the findings of the International Agricultural Assessment (IAASTD) 30 October 2008, Houses of Parliament, London
Prof Bob Watson, IAASTD Director and DEFRA Chief Scientist, addressed this meeting in the Houses of Parliament, organised by the UK Food Group, with responses from Patrick Mulvany of Practical Action and Jane Cotter of Greenpeace. Read more ...
Agriculture at a crossroads: a summary of the IAASTD findings by Patrick Mulvany, Practical Action
Schumacher Conference 2008 11 October 2008, Bristol, UK
This year, marking the 30th Anniversary of Fritz Schumacher’s death, the theme is Less is More, going right to the heart of today’s debates about climate change, worsening injustice, peak oil, the credit crunch, food security, health inequalities, resource wars etc.
UK Party Political Conferences September 2008
Practical Action was co-organiser of several events at this year’s Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat party conferences.
International Seminar on Wind Energy 24 July 2008, Lima
A seminar to disseminate advances in the use of wind power in Peru and its potential for power generation alone and connected to the network. Spanish site | English translation
Rural Communities roundtable discussions 24-27 June 2008, Orissa, India
Practical Action South Asia co-hosted two expert roundtable discussions in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, on the themes of "Rural Communities’ Access to Drinking Water" and "Impact of Seeds Policy on Farmers’ Rights, Poverty Alleviation and Overall Food Security".
Bangladesh: communities coping with climate change 17 June 2008, London
Key figures from the Bangladeshi community came together to discuss how climate change, floods and food shortages are already having devastating impacts on the country’s poorest communities.
Participation and Local Governance 13 June 2008, IDS, University of Sussex, UK
Lucy Stevens, International Coordinator of Practical Action’s Access to Infrastructure Services programme spoke about Practical Action's experiences of facilitating Community-Local Government relationships for service delivery in towns in Africa and Asia, to explore some of the processes and motivations for change.
Community radio - let's make it happen 13 June 2008, Sri Lanka
Community radio practitioners, broadcasters, academics and NGO representatives participated in a discussion organised by Practical Action South Asia.
Climate Change Bill public meeting 22 April 2008, London
Tuesday 22nd April saw Practical Action supporters heading towards London to attend the public meeting, organised by Friends of the Earth, on the Climate Change Bill. Speaking at this public meeting were: Hilary Benn (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), Peter Ainsworth (Conservative Shadow Environment Secretary), Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary) and Tony Juniper (Director, Friends of the Earth). Practical Action supporter David Flint reports ...
Science for Humanity 4 March 2008, NESTA, London
Science for Humanity is a new not-for-profit organisation seeking to match more of society’s scientific capability to real human needs in the developing world.
Fair Trade Evening: Sustainability and Food Production 27 February 2008, London
Cathryn Gathercole, Practical Action Education Manager, spoke on Fair Trade in the curriculum – where, how, why? at this free event at the University of London's Institute of Education, and facilitating a discussion group to follow.
Achieving Sustainability and Equity in Energy Policy Choices for the Future 30th January, 2008, Sri Lanka
This conference provided a forum for top-level decision-makers, energy sector officials, academics, civil society representatives, private sector, media and representatives of energy consumers to meet present opinions and exchange views on policy choices for the future in achieving sustainability and equity in energy.
