Science in Society Speaker Series kicks off with ideas for new avenues for sustainable living

Okanagan College Media Release

Community ecologist and environmental designer David Tracey opens the sixth annual Science in Society Speaker Series on Monday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. with a public talk entitled “Feeding a Hungry Planet with Engaged Ecology.”

Tracey’s talk addresses the question “How do we feed nine billion people without cooking the Earth?” Tracey explores how a growing number of people are creating their own solutions for sustainable living that are grounded in the Earth itself. By engaging with local environments, they are diversifying food sources, redesigning cities and rediscovering what it means to be human and a true citizen of a green planet.

“There’s no simple answer to a problem as big as the world,” asserts Tracey. “But we do know it won’t be found through our current response based on political inertia, social alienation and personal depression.”

Tracey’s talk is presented in conjunction with special sponsors that include the Food Action Society of the North Okanagan and the Sustainable Environment Network Society.

Science in Society Speaker Series talks are held in the main lecture theatre at Okanagan College’s Vernon campus. Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door. Advance tickets are available from the Okanagan Science Centre, call (250) 545-3644 or visit www.okscience.ca.

Tracey’s articles on politics and the environment have appeared in publications around the world including the International Herald Tribune, the Economist and the South China Morning Post. He is the author of Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto and Urban Agriculture: Ideas and Designs for a New Food Revolution. His latest book is The Earth Manifesto: Saving Nature with Engaged Ecology.  Tracey is the Executive Director of Tree City, a Vancouver non-profit group working on a Greenest City 2020 project to “help people and trees grow together.”

The Science in Society Speaker Series (a joint project of the Okanagan Science Centre and Okanagan College) is sponsored by the Pacific Inn and Suites, Cooper’s Foods, Starbucks Coffee, and the Vernon Morning Star. To subscribe to or obtain more information about the series go to the Science in Society Speaker Series’ website: http://okanagansisss.wordpress.com/