Events

26 March 2025, 16.00-20.00, St Albans Museum, registration and booking is free here.

The underpinning theme for the symposium is how cross-disciplinary practices provide a platform for new approaches and ideas to develop. In this event, we are joined by leading artists and scientists working in the field to fully explore the challenges and opportunities of cross-disciplinary projects and discover what happens in the collaborative space between art and science.

Symposium Schedule

• 15:45 – Refreshments
• 16:00-16:20 – Welcome introduction
• 16:20-16:55 – Introductory Talk from the Art:Sci Research Lab
• 17:00-17:15 – Co-Creating with an Intelligent Amoeba: Artist Heather Barnett + the slime mould Physarum polycephalum
• 17:15-17:30 – Doctor, Doctor, let’s talk about Tourettes: ArtistSam Jury + Psychology PhD Danni Phoenix-Kane
• 17:30-17:45 – Walk to the Bottom of the Sea - Artist Emma Critchley
• 18:00-18:15 – Nothing is Possible: Artists Ruth Jarman + Joe Gerhardt (Semiconductor)with Astrophysicist Dr. Jim Geach
• 18:15-19:00 – Q&A hosted by Rob Godman
• 19:00-20:00 – Drinks + networking

For guests wanting to see the Mind + Matter: Towards Co-Creation exhibition at the Art + Design Gallery, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane Campus, there will be a tour at 14:30 and FREE bus transportation to St Albans Museum + Gallery leaving at 15.00. This is followed by an optional curator’s tour of the Wild About Hertfordshire exhibition at St Albans Museum + Gallery at 15:15.

12 March 2025, 14.00-16.00, DeHavilland Campus, R328

Julie Froud has been a pioneer contributor to the literature on changing nature of capitalism. Her work explored the shifts from a production centred approach -focused on entrepreneurial activity and employment growth- to a regime dominated by financial rents, shareholder interests, quick fixes and short-term returns, a phenomenon known as financialization. In this lecture, Julie will discuss her recent research on the 'foundational economy,' highlighting the essential yet often overlooked sectors such as food, transport, health, and housing, which account for a significant proportion of jobs in the UK and are also critical for social and economic wellbeing. The lecture will also explore the notion of liveability to help provide a focus for policy.

15 January 2025, 15.00-17.00, College Lane Campus, D110

Rural Place Based Futures, Andrew Smith & John Sturzaker, Geography, Environment & Planning

Political economy of local net-zero initiatives, Hulya Dagdeviren & Christina Wolf, Department of Economics and Finance

Nature-based solutions for food, Susan Parham, Urbanism Unit, LMS

Inclusive Local Communities for a Sustainable Future, Luigi Pintacuda, Architecture & Design

27 November 2024, College Lane Campus, Room B01

About The Talk: Colin is strongly influenced by nature and the world around him. He will be talking about a new commission for the Tout Quarry Sculpture Park, Portland Bill where he has been modelling rock formations and researching visualisations of sound found on site. He will examine the process from idea to realisation including the science behind working with optical glass and large forms.

For more info in this event contact: Dr Rob Godman, Reader in Music, Film, Music and Media Building, School of Creative Arts, University of Herts.

Abstract

Who am I? is one of the most fundamental questions we can ask. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to answer as technology challenges our traditional concepts of identity. Now, self-sovereignty will become a defining issue in a post-Covid world. Vaccine certificates are already being made mandatory by nation-states and commercial industries. A louder call for digital ID can also be heard from some quarters. But these are just the opening salvos in a bigger, wider, more essential debate yet to come. What are the terms of service when we have brain-machine interfaces? How many avatar identities will you have in the metaverse? Technology is impacting one's legal authentication but it's the tip of the iceberg in terms of implications for identity overall. The Future Of You takes on themes of identity expression, anonymity, technological surveillance and conformity, medical ethics around genetics, and even the preservation of personal identity beyond death in the digital afterlife.

About the speaker

Tracey Follows is a futurist appearing in a list of the top 50 female futurists in the world in Forbes, regularly commenting on the future of technology, society, and identity. She runs Futuremade  - a strategic foresight, and futures consultancy - working with global brands and businesses to help them spot trends, develop foresight, and fully prepare for what comes next. Her clients have included Telefonica, Google, Diageo, Sky, Farfetch, Conde Nast, Cosette, CogX, BT, and Virgin.

She has spoken at UN HQ, keynoted at events such as the Financial Times Tech Live, Nobel Visions in Moscow and Think With Google, speaking alongside Silicon Valley CEOs at the FT's Global Boardroom and alongside UK Government and Parliamentarians at Think Digital Identity, delivering her Tedx at UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

As a go-to futurist for media she has appeared on BBC Business Matters, Radio 4, Talk Radio, LBC, and TimesRadio, and GBNews and appeared in FT, Guardian, and the Daily Mail. She has written for the Guardian, the Big Issue, Spiked and more, and has her own contributor column in Forbes.

She was an Adage 'Woman to Watch' 2017, the Women in Marketing Winner for Outstanding Contribution to Marketing in 2016, she was Inaugural Creative Strategy Jury President at Cannes Lions 2019. She was on the Advisory Board of DotEveryone and listed by Business Cloud as a Trailblazing Woman in Tech. She is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists, World Futures Studies Federation, a Fellow of the RSA, and an Associate Fellow of the World Academy of Art & Science. Tracey graduated from the University of Manchester with a First Class BA (Hons) in Philosophy and MSc in Technical Change and Industrial Strategy.

Event recording

Abstract

The resolution of conflict is an individual, a national, and a global issue. Positive relationships are crucial to build and sustain individuals and communities. Societies are built on relationships – they are essential ingredients for values led change and transforming lives into the future. This presentation will focus on: the elements of conflict; that conflict operates in a system; and that no single action or strategy is likely to resolve a conflict. Rather, many actions or strategies need to occur simultaneously to effectively move the conflict toward a sustainable resolution.

About the speaker

Ms Helen Shurven has been a Member of the National Native Title Tribunal since being appointed by the Governor General of Australia in 2010. She conducts multi party mediations across Australia and has made over 600 binding arbitral decisions. She is an accredited mediator under the Australian National Mediation Standards and is a qualified legal practitioner. Helen holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Psychology from the University of Western Australia, and a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Education from Murdoch University. Helen previously worked with independent statutory organisations and not for profit organisations conducting mediations and conciliations in health, disability, workplace and family law jurisdictions.

Slides

Abstract

This presentation describes the fundamental role of the global system of money, banking and finance in generating social injustice, economic inequity, environmental despoliation and violent conflict. It outlines the collusive arrangement that exists between finance and politics that has created the global central banking regime to centralize power and concentrate wealth in ever fewer hands and explains how the creation of money by banks as interest-bearing debt causes a growth imperative that is destructive to the environment, democratic government, and the social fabric. But more importantly, it describes the positive developments that are emerging to create a new “butterfly economy” and a civilization in which everyone can live a dignified life.

About the speaker

Thomas H. Greco, Jr. is a preeminent scholar, author, educator, and community economist. He is widely regarded as a leading authority on moneyless exchange systems, community currencies, and financial innovation, and is a sought after speaker internationally. He has conducted workshops and lectured in 15 countries on five continents and has been an advisor to currency and reciprocal exchange projects around the world. He has authored numerous articles and books including, The End of Money and the Future of Civilization.

Event recording