21st Century Challenges

Unsustainable Fishing

How can we avoid the collapse of a resource that remains an essential part of food security and vital to the communities and livelihoods of half a billion people across the planet? Join our expert panel to explore this issue and put your own questions to them. 

Videos of this talk will be online soon

Keeping pace with a digital revolution

The internet is rapidly evolving to play a central role in society, transforming social, cultural, economic and political landscapes. 

The benefits are clear, but are societies equipped to keep pace with the consequences of our increasing reliance on this technology?

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Adapting to an urban future

Humans are rapidly becoming an urban species.

Global population has passed 7 billion, 3.5 billion people are urbanised and over 1 billion people now live in slums.

How will urban centres keep pace with predicted continuing growth? What are the visions of tomorrow's cities?

Educating for tomorrow

Living in an increasingly globalised society offers both opportunities and challenges.

How can education best prepare young Britons to fulfil their potential in a rapidly changing world?

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Persistent poverty in Britain

Britain is the world’s fifth richest country, yet poverty in Britain is rising. With paid work failing to reduce poverty for many, how can Britain best tackle this growing issue?  

Can the UK ever be sustainable?

Our way of life is placing an increasing burden on the planet, but how realistic are visions of a sustainable future? How can business, politics and the creative industries help create a sustainable future?  

Natural disasters: how to improve?

How can we improve our response to natural disasters and ensure lessons learnt benefit vulnerable communities worldwide in the long-term?  

Not In My Back Yard

With pressure on the UK’s ageing energy and transport infrastructures mounting, is it time to put projects of national importance ahead of local concerns? Or does this bypass our democratic right to object?  

Importing goods, exporting drought?

The scale of global water consumption needed to produce what we use and consume has a dramatic impact around the world. From the food we eat to the clothes we wear, discover the hidden cost of Britain's consumption?  

Britain’s ageing population

As the baby boom generation approach retirement, Britain's population is ageing.

Discover the changing nature of retirement; the importance of older people in the workforce; the increasing pressures on public services and how Britain is adapting to an ageing society.  

The future shape of Capitalism

Will the recent financial crisis and the downturn in the global economy change the shape of capitalism as we know it today?  

Migration: skills and the job market

Too often controversy surrounding UK migration and what impacts migrants have on our economy and society is based on myth, fear and falsehood.

Explore some of the issues and misconceptions around changing European workforce patterns in the 21st Century. 

London under water

What is the threat of flooding to London’s people and infrastructure? How will current defences cope with enhanced flood risk to the capital over the next 30 years?  

Concreting the countryside

How should we accommodate the housing expansion in London and SE England? Should we be building on greenfield or brownfield land?  

Africa in the 21st Century

Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, and humanitarian Sir Bob Geldof discuss the major challenges facing the countries of Africa in the 21st century.  

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