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Hon Sec: Bob Jones
Upcoming events
To find all up and coming branch events take a look at the GA Networking Calendar.
Everyone is welcome, whether you are involved in school, university or just an interested member of the public.
Single lecture: £3
Annual membership: £5 student, £12 adult, £10 adult GA member
A new category of Corporate School/College Membership at £30 allows unlimited members.
Unless stated otherwise, all GA North Staffordshire Branch lectures are held in Room R001, Science Centre, Staffordshire University, Leek Rd, Stoke on Trent, ST4 2DF. Please note: The postcode is for guidance only and does not lead to the University entrance. (The Science Centre is situated next to Stoke Sixth Form College). Lectures commence at 7:30pm.
North Staffordshire Branch members are also entitled to attend lectures at the Shropshire Branch.
Application form
Event reports
Aspects of Armageddon: Volcanism and the European Environment
Professor John Grattan.
The 1783 Laki Fissure (Iceland) eruption emitted volatiles and damaged and destroyed vegetation from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean. Air pollution was so intense that human health was affected, and the national death rate increased dramatically in both England and France.
In our already polluted and interdependent world, any future event on this scale would have serious consequences for human health and trade.
Globalisation and the environment: out of sight, out of mind
Gill Miller, President GA 2019-20, Senior Lecturer Emerita Chester University
Urban futures: Challenges and responses
This talk by Professor Tim Hall focussed particularly on relationships between cities and climate change as well as the debate about future models of urbanisation. It also explored smart city and eco city models.
Professor Hall’s summary:
“It is clear that the planet faces a number of interrelated and growing environmental and social challenges. Cities are the key arenas within which these challenges are most felt and within which possible solutions can be explored. This talk considers the nature of these challenges and their relationships to urbanization. It focuses particularly on the relationships between cities and climate change before moving on to review debates about future models of urbanization. It explores the promises and limitations of smart-city and eco-city models of future urban settlements. The talk concludes with an attempt to outline some priorities facing urban policy makers, developers, researchers and citizens.”
Download the slides from the talk here.
How not to think about climate change
Laurence presented a clear talk about how we should really look at climate change. He used material from his ( and wife’s) book ‘Framespotting’ (ISBN 978-1782796893) to show how framing affects how we see things. For example we look at climate change through a frame of the consumers (car drivers, heating, electricity use etc). Why not consider the producers? Charge producers for extracting fossil fuels and restrict their production. Framespotting shows how frames restrict our view.
The lecture theatre at Staffordshire University was packed and students were fascinated in by this novel way of thinking.
Photo: left Alison Matthews, middle Dr Laurence Matthews and President of the North Staffordshire Geographical Association Professor Fiona Tweed (right).
Brownfield and Green Belt Issues: a view from the Campaign to Protect Rural England
Another well attended talk. This photo shows Paul Miner talking to the Branch. Below is a PowerPoint from the lecture which can be downloaded, along with two further fact sheets.
Download: Powerpoint (PPT)
Download: Factsheet 1 (PDF)
Download: Factsheet 2 (PDF)
Glacier outburst floods from the Greenland Ice Sheet
Dr Jonathan Carrivick from the University of Leeds (pictured right) delivered the talk about the Greenland Ice Sheet.
