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Home » Tipping Points in Nature and Society

Famous faces in Aberdeen

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

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Brian Cox

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Bill Bryson

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John Krebs

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Paul Nurse

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Richard Wiseman

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Susan Greenfield

Tipping Points in Nature and Society

State: 
Approved
Contact Details
I am the event manager: 
I am the event manager
Event Manager Info
1. Event Manager Organisation: 
Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience, Durham University
2. Event Manager First Name: 
Brett
3. Event Manager Surname: 
Cherry
4. Event Manager Address line 1: 
IHRR
5. Event Manager Address line 2: 
Department of Geography
6. Event Manager Address line 3: 
Durham University, South Road
7. Event Manager Postcode: 
DH1 3LE
8. Event Manager Telephone number: 
(0)191 3342257
9. Event Manager Email address: 
brett.cherry@durham.ac.uk
Event type and format
17. Length: 
2 hour
18. What will the format of your event be?: 
Panel discussion/debate - exploring a subject with more than one speaker with lots of audience interaction
19. Please give any details about the format of your event you feel are relevant.: 
The event would include actual examples of tipping points in nature, and society such as an animation of an ‘ecological banking model’ showing the historic collapse and amalgamation of banks in the UK as well as video clips of different examples of tipping points in nature including an avalanche in Greenland triggering a tsunami and an animation of the sand pile model which illustrates the properties of a dynamic system that reaches critical points of change, also known as self-organised criticality in physics. Finally, there would be mini-exhibitions i.e. visual displays and multimedia (audio and video) showing some of the outputs from ‘tipping points research’ especially findings from the Tipping Points project at Durham University. The purpose of exhibiting this work through photo and collage for example is to get people thinking about critical transitions within systems that lead to sudden transformations or tipping points. It is also to help engage the audience with the concept of tipping point in order to get them to scrutinise the term and understand what it may mean within different scientific fields and the world they live in.
20. Location/venue: 
Venue and location to be allocated by the Festival team
21. Venue requirements: 
A lecture theatre with some space for science/art installations described in 19.
22. Audience Level: 
All adults
Event details
12. Event title: 
Tipping Points in Nature and Society
13. Description of the core message of your event and key topics to be covered (c.100 words): 
Critical transitions or ‘tipping points’ are topical in both science and society, from climate change to innovation, geohazards and financial crises. Much attention has been given recently to how physical and social systems change radically without warning. This event will examine ideas and examples of tipping points studied in nature and society by researchers from multiple disciplines in the physical and social sciences, mathematics and economics, to talk about ongoing research into tipping points and implications it may have for society. Topics covered include transitions in climate, global financial crises, health and the spread of information.
14. Does the event have particular local relevance?: 
Yes
15. If so, please indicate what this is: 
Includes research presented on banking crises in Newcastle and some health problem case studies applicable to the area.
16. How does your event relate to this year's theme of 'Making waves'?: 
Waves of change often take place unexpectedly making a lasting impact on society, such as the current changes in the Earth’s climate, or the global financial crisis initiated by the banking crash. In many cases scientists may not be able to forecast ‘tipping points’, but they can better understand how they occur. This event would present how different disciplines in the sciences are working together to learn about the complexity of the world we live in, investigating large-scale global phenomena that will have large implications for understanding future critical transitions in nature and society. It will present together microscopic tipping points, such as individual health problems or the collapse of a bank with the macroscopic, such as past climate change and the spread of ideas and innovation in society. Research that investigates how critical transitions in nature and society take place in the past and present has the potential to make an enormous impact in the future by uniting different sets of knowledge that complement one another in unique and exciting ways.
Press interest
23. Do you consider that the event will attract press interest?: 
Yes
24. If yes, please summarise up to 4 key points you think will be of press interest: 
What the climate of the past tells us about the climate of the future The ecology of banking collapse in Britain Communicating climate science to the public How the spread of innovation and cultural trends are socially learned
25. Do you have any other comments you would like to make or information you would like to include?: 
The focus of this event is to introduce and engage an audience with scientific ideas of tipping points within a variety of contexts. Since the research needed to understand tipping points in nature and society is broad, the event will focus on multidisciplinary approaches to some of the complex scientific challenges presented. This involves collaboration between the physical and social sciences, along with important insights from the humanities about science and its relationship with society. The panel of researchers that will lead the discussion will include physical geographers, social scientists, mathematicians, physicists and biologists. The event would have a ‘cabaret-style’ format meaning some members of the panel would talk about the tipping points they study, and would culminate into an interactive discussion with the audience. Along with the panel, discussion would be primarily coordinated by a facilitator from the Tipping Points project at Durham University. This event could also link into another activity proposed for the Young People’s Programme on modelling the spread of information through social networks.

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