Who Pays for the Environment? A Symposium on Nature, Architecture, Sustainability and John Ruskin's Guild of St George, Ruskin Research Centre

The Ruskin Library and Research Centre (Lancaster University) and the Guild of St George announce:

A Symposium on Nature, Architecture, Sustainability and John Ruskin's Guild of St George

The Art Workers Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT (Nearest tube Holborn or Russell Sq)

Lauren Kenwright, Administrator- Ruskin Research, Ruskin Library and Research Centre

Our world is in crisis. Our economic system seems to be in free fall. Governments, both absolutist and democratic, are being challenged all over the world. Civil order has significantly broken down everywhere, even in countries like Britain that are famous for civic discipline. But far more serious than any of these things is the clear evidence, now building up, of climate change with multiple threats not only to the survival of civilisation but to that of our planet itself.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) was by no means the only thinker of the nineteenth century to warn of the dangers posed by industrialism. But he spoke with a prophetic eloquence which none could equal of the damage done by our civilisation both to its own creations - cities, social relations and the footprint of history - and to the health-giving beauty and sustainability of the very earth which provides our daily bread. As he developed, first as a critic of art and architecture, then as a social and economic reformer, he began to speak in terms which we can recognise as bearing on our current crises and the life of the twenty-first century.

The Guild of St George is a charity founded by Ruskin to give practical force to his values of 'admiration, love and hope'. It does its work in the arts and crafts and the rural economy. The Ruskin Library and Research Centre at Lancaster University is the centre of Ruskin studies in Great Britain. Anyone concerned with Ruskin's ideas will want to spend some time there, so inevitably, though an academic institution, it cannot avoid the relevance of Ruskin's work to the way we live now.

The aim of this Symposium will be to look as fearlessly as possible at the real problems that confront us with the help of Ruskin's words and ideas. Those problems will be the ones we face today - here in Britain and across the world. In these days of economic crisis, governments are beginning to say that a healthy environment is a luxury we cannot afford. It will be our purpose to state as clearly as possible that if we cannot pay in financial terms to turn our world around, we shall pay in other terms and the cost to our life on earth will be greater than we could ever have imagined - though Ruskin imagined them for us in his writings, published 150 years ago.

Programme

Talks will take place in the Main Hall at the Art Workers Guild.

10.15 a.m. Registration and coffee

10.45 a.m. Mark Frost (University of Portsmouth)

Ruskin and the Environment

11.15 a.m. Keynote Lecture:

Sara Parkin (Director, Foundation for the Future)

Who Pays for the Environment?

12.30 p.m. Michael Ramage (Fellow in Architecture, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge)

Environmental Architecture

1.00 p.m. Lunch

2.00 p.m. John Iles (Director, Guild of St George)

Realising Ruskin: The Guild of St George in the Wyre Forest, Worcestershire>

2.30 p.m. Tony Pinkney (Lancaster University)

What Can We Learn from Recent Green Utopias?

3.15 p.m. Panel, including discussion and contributions from the floor.

Introduced by Howard Hull (Director, Ruskin Foundation and Brantwood Trust), with Stephen Wildman (Director, Ruskin Library and Research Centre), Clive Wilmer (Master of the Guild of St George), the speakers and other guests.

4.15 p.m. End


The Ruskin Research Centre, County Main, Lancaster University, LA1 4YD UK Tel: +44 (0)1524 510818 Fax: +44 (0)1524 594247
Home >
Research Centre Home About the Centre About John Ruskin Research Activities The Ruskin Research Seminar The Mikimoto Memorial Ruskin Lecture Publications Prospective Postgraduate Study Current Students Staff News & Events Links Contact Related Activities and External Events SEARCH using keywords/tags or full text search.	Who Pays for the Environment? A Symposium on Nature, Architecture, Sustainability and John Ruskin's Guild of St George Date: 11 February 2012 Time: 10.15 am-4.15 pm Venue: The Art Workers Guild, London The Ruskin Library and Research Centre (Lancaster University) and the Guild of St George announce: *Who Pays for the Environment?* A Symposium on Nature, Architecture, Sustainability and John Ruskin's Guild of St George at The Art Workers Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT (Nearest tube Holborn or Russell Sq) 10.15 a.m. - 4.15 p.m., Saturday 11 February 2012 Booking Form Programme Poster For further information please contact: Lauren Kenwright, Administrator- Ruskin Research, Ruskin Library and Research Centre County Main B190, Lancaster University LA1 4YD Email: l.kenwright@lancaster.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)1524 510818 Our world is in crisis. Our economic system seems to be in free fall. Governments, both absolutist and democratic, are being challenged all over the world. Civil order has significantly broken down everywhere, even in countries like Britain that are famous for civic discipline. But far more serious than any of these things is the clear evidence, now building up, of climate change with multiple threats not only to the survival of civilisation but to that of our planet itself. John Ruskin (1819-1900) was by no means the only thinker of the nineteenth century to warn of the dangers posed by industrialism. But he spoke with a prophetic eloquence which none could equal of the damage done by our civilisation both to its own creations - cities, social relations and the footprint of history - and to the health-giving beauty and sustainability of the very earth which provides our daily bread. As he developed, first as a critic of art and architecture, then as a social and economic reformer, he began to speak in terms which we can recognise as bearing on our current crises and the life of the twenty-first century. The Guild of St George is a charity founded by Ruskin to give practical force to his values of 'admiration, love and hope'. It does its work in the arts and crafts and the rural economy. The Ruskin Library and Research Centre at Lancaster University is the centre of Ruskin studies in Great Britain. Anyone concerned with Ruskin's ideas will want to spend some time there, so inevitably, though an academic institution, it cannot avoid the relevance of Ruskin's work to the way we live now. The aim of this Symposium will be to look as fearlessly as possible at the real problems that confront us with the help of Ruskin's words and ideas. Those problems will be the ones we face today - here in Britain and across the world. In these days of economic crisis, governments are beginning to say that a healthy environment is a luxury we cannot afford. It will be our purpose to state as clearly as possible that if we cannot pay in financial terms to turn our world around, we shall pay in other terms and the cost to our life on earth will be greater than we could ever have imagined - though Ruskin imagined them for us in his writings, published 150 years ago. Programme Talks will take place in the Main Hall at the Art Workers Guild. 10.15 a.m. Registration and coffee 10.45 a.m. Mark Frost (University of Portsmouth) Ruskin and the Environment 11.15 a.m. Keynote Lecture: Sara Parkin (Director, Foundation for the Future) Who Pays for the Environment? 12.30 p.m. Michael Ramage (Fellow in Architecture, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge) Environmental Architecture 1.00 p.m. Lunch 2.00 p.m. John Iles (Director, Guild of St George) Realising Ruskin: The Guild of St George in the Wyre Forest, Worcestershire> 2.30 p.m. Tony Pinkney (Lancaster University) What Can We Learn from Recent Green Utopias? 3.15 p.m. Panel, including discussion and contributions from the floor. Introduced by Howard Hull (Director, Ruskin Foundation and Brantwood Trust), with Stephen Wildman (Director, Ruskin Library and Research Centre), Clive Wilmer (Master of the Guild of St George), the speakers and other guests. 4.15 p.m. End Contact: Who can attend: Anyone Further information Associated staff: Lauren Kenwright, Tony Pinkney (English and Creative Writing), Andrew Tate, Stephen Wildman Organising departments and research centres: Ruskin Research Centre «Back Ruskin Seminar Held weekly during term time. Find out more»	Events Forthcoming Events Archive All Faculty Events News News News Archive All Faculty News See also: Ruskin Research Seminar Visit the Ruskin Library Website For information about collections, exhibitions, reading room, educational visits and more. Ruskin Library website
\| Research Centre Home \| About \| About John Ruskin \| Research Activities \| The Ruskin Research Seminar \| \| The Mikimoto Memorial Ruskin Lecture \| Publications \| \| Postgraduate Study \| Current Students \| Staff \| News & Events \| Links \| Contact \| Related Activities and External Events

Who Pays for the Environment? A Symposium on Nature, Architecture, Sustainability and John Ruskin's Guild of St George

Further information

Ruskin Seminar

Events

News

See also:

Visit the Ruskin Library Website