News Release

Sustainable development is topic of 2001 Hammond lecture series

The second annual Kenneth Hammond Lectures on Environment, Energy and Resources will be held Oct. 25 to Nov. 15 at the University of Guelph, with speakers addressing the theme “Sustainable Development: Mandate or Mantra?”

The lectures run for four consecutive Thursdays at 7 p.m. in War Memorial Hall. The talks feature professors, lawmakers and agricultural experts and are free and open to the public. “The idea was to get some keynote people who could present a broad perspective,” said Michael Moss, associate dean of Guelph’s Faculty of Environmental Sciences, which is sponsoring the event. “We wanted speakers who would examine all different sides of the arguments.” Beginning in January, the CBC Radio program Ideas will broadcast the lectures over a four-week period. The talks will also be published in a book, including critical commentary from U of G faculty.

Speakers, dates and topics are:

• Oct. 25, “Squaring the Circle: On the Very Idea of Sustainable Development,” John Robinson, director of the Sustainable Development Research Institute and professor at the University of British Colombia.


• Nov. 1, “The Politics of Sustainable Development,” Charles Caccia, MP for Davenport.


• Nov. 8, “The Challenge of Abundance,” Gordon Surgeoner, CEO of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies and professor, Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph.


• Nov. 15, “Ecological Footprints, Doublespeak, and the Evolution of the Machiavellian Mind,” David Lavigne, science advisor, International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The lecture series was inaugurated last year and is intended to acknowledge Kenneth Hammond's contributions over the past 40 years. A former member of the university's Board of Governors, Hammond is well-known for his work locally as a founder of Hammond Manufacturing. He is being recognized for his advocacy of environmental and resource issues and for his concern for environmental education, both within the university and the wider community. Hammond was instrumental in establishing the U of G Arboretum and developing one of the university's pioneer distance education courses. He also is known for encouraging people at all levels of government, in industry and academia to understand what the human species is doing to the environment and to take steps to solve the problems we are creating as a species.

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Contact:
Prof. Michael Moss
Faculty of Environmental Sciences
(519) 824-4120, Ext. 4809

For media questions, contact
Communications and Public Affairs
(519) 824-4120, Ext. 3338.

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