Thinking ahead - the RSA lectures
After a successful decade of sell-out lectures in association with the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), the Carmen launched a second series in 2003.
The first lecture was entitled Maximum Mobility - the Smart Answer. Chaired by Sir Patrick Brown, Chairman of the Independent Transport Commission, it was presented by Professor Stephen Glaister and Dr Washington Ocheing of Imperial College, and Stephen Joseph, Director, Transport 2000. The speakers examined the options for urban and inter-urban mobility offered by electronic technology, and political and other choices and challenges.
The Company's seventh biennial lecture was held in the Great Room at the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, in November 2005. A full house heard four speakers debate "The Inconvenient Society" - the impact of consumerism on the movement of people and goods.
RSA Director Penny Egan welcomed Master, Carmen and Fellows. David Quarmby CBE, Chairman of the Strategic Railway Authority, was in the chair. Kristin Beuret, Director, Social Research Associates was followed by Prof John Whitelegg from the Stockholm Environmental Institute, University of York, Prof George Hazell and Carman John Guttridge.
The panel concluded that the principal effect was climate change through CO2 emissions; community transport planning was one corrective and the haulage industry simply responded to demand. Public transport must improve and car use reduce. Persuasion was crucial and regulation inevitable.
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