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Central to this lecture was the premise that there is a strong connection between science and culture: how people think about the world is closely related to how they value and think about other things as well. Glouberman focused on changing perceptions of order and disorder, the environment and identity through the ages. The implications of the interaction between these three ideas and our view of health were explored.

It seems we are in trouble. Two recent reports, the Stern Report on the economic impact of climate change for the UK Treasury and that of International Panel on Climate Change‚ suggest that human activity has serious environmental consequences, such as global warming. The almost insatiable demands on natural resources by giant emerging economies like China and India are new as is that in East Europe. Yet more than two billion people still live in abject poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Their basic needs and demands must be fulfilled. Can all of this be sustained in the context of inexorable GDP growth being the exclusive measure of material fulfilment and happiness? How can we find an ethical economic response when demands are increasing, resources are declining and damage to the fabric of the ecosphere on which we all depend upon for life is becoming obvious? One way forward is suggested by the traditional Indian thought of humans being a part of nature and therefore helping to sustain it. A starting point may to be distinguish between demands and needs. While demands can be infinite and never satisfied, needs are finite and can be met within the sustainable paradigm. The important task of defining these needs raises questions of ethics. How can we address environmental, social and economic questions simultaneously? The challenge is to try and develop a set of ethical values or even a way of thinking that is broadly acceptable, practical and yet encourages us to continue our search for answers to the unknown in the universe both within and without. The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) is one of India's leading economic policy think tanks and Rajiv Kumar, a graduate of Oxford and Lucknow Universities has recently been advising the President of India on Globalisation, based on scenarios for Indian development which he developed with others for the World Economic Forum. In this lecture he will combine his extensive economic experience with his interest in human flourishing to explore these issues and their implications for wellbeing.

This lecture took place at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Economic growth is supposed to deliver rising prosperity: higher incomes increasing wellbeing and leading to prosperity for all. But this conventional formula is failing. Growth has delivered its benefits, at best unequally. Moreover, the ecological and social consequences of unfettered growth are devastating. Climate change threatens long-term wellbeing. Resource scarcities undermine the basis for future prosperity. Persistent inequalities still divide the world and a growing ‘social recession’ haunts the market economies. Development remains essential for poorer countries. But are ever-increasing incomes for the ‘already rich’ still a legitimate goal for advanced nations? Or should we be aiming for prosperity without growth? In this seminar, Tim Jackson, an advisor to the UK Government and author of Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet (Earthscan, 2009), will argue that society faces a profound dilemma: economic growth is unsustainable; but ‘de-growth’ - or economic contraction - is unstable. He will show that the prevailing ‘escape route’ from this dilemma - to try and ‘decouple’ economic activity from its impact - is not working. How can we proceed in a world where global resource consumption is still rising yet meeting climate change targets will require reductions in carbon intensity two orders of magnitude higher than anything achieved historically? In the light of these challenges, Professor Jackson engages in a critical re-examination of the economic structure and social logic of consumerism. He will set out a new vision of a shared prosperity: the capability to flourish as human beings - within the ecological limits of a finite planet.

The first Seminar Series event of 2011 took place on Wednesday 19th January at the Teacher Building, Glasgow. Hazel Henderson spoke live from Florida via webcast. At the seminar Hazel discussed the implications of recognising global finance as a commons for re-structuring our current global casinos. She explored how to restore the purpose of finance as serving the real economies of the world, as well as the principles that should guide finance in the service of people and planet and outline the limits of markets and money itself. She examined how best to defend the global commons: atmosphere, oceans, biodiversity, etc. from inappropriate market penetration and protect human rights, especially those of indigenous peoples in non-market societies and their traditional cultures and lands. Her seminar also raised possible implications of socially responsible investing at the local level.