Events List

Event: 2009 Middle East Festival Environmental Responsibility and Climate Change Lecture by Prof Alastair McIntosh, writer, lecturer, social activist, broadcaster and campaigning academic from the Isle of Lewis; a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology (CHE), a director of the GalGael Trust, a Visiting Fellow of the Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, and Visiting Professor of Human Ecology at the University of Strathclyde.
Talk Title: Gilgamesh and Siduri's Wisdom: a Study of Climate Change and the Ancients.
Forum on Spiritual, Educational and Cultural Responses to Climate Change, with particular reference to Scotland and the Middle East.
Chair: Prof Michael Northcott, Professor of Ethics, University of Edinburgh.
Forum Panellists: Gavin McLellan, Head of Christian Aid Scotland; Richard H. Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, Lancaster University; George Rodger, Trustee of The Vegan Society, and member of the British Humanist Association and the National Secular Society; and Eleanor Harris, from Eco-Congregation.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Time: 6.30pm for 7pm-9.30pm.
Event Description: NB: Gavin McLellan has replaced Mike Robinson on the panel.

Several of the ancient world's most important manuscripts deal with extreme weather events and apparent climate change. What does science tell us about changes in the world at this time? Were they all down to natural causes, or could they have been exacerbated by human agency from the Bronze Age onwards? And what meaning did the ancients themselves place upon the changes that they could see taking place in their environments?

In this talk, Alastair McIntosh will share from his recent book, Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition (Birlinn). He will piece together a picture that emerges from figures like Noah, Nimrod, Gilgamesh and Plato - especially the latter's myth of Atlantis. He will set these in the context of paleoclimatology - the study of ancient climates. And he will focus on the spirituality that the ancients tried to teach about right relationship with the environment, drawing on what is probably the oldest recorded speech of a woman - Siduri, the woman of the vine and maker of wine. Professor McIntosh will conclude by suggesting that the moral critiques of the ancients have even more relevance to us today than when mythical figures like Utnapishtim the Faraway was granted immortality by the gods, but wished that any other scourge had been visited upon the Earth "rather than the flood."

Alastair McIntosh is an Isle of Lewis-raised writer, broadcaster and campaigning academic best known for his work on land reform on Eigg, in helping to stop the Harris superquarry; also for developing human ecology as an applied academic discipline in Scotland. He holds a degree of BSc in geography, submajoring in psychology and moral philosophy from the University of Aberdeen (1977), an MBA, specialising in finance, from the University of Edinburgh (1981) and he is being awarded a PhD by Published Work from the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster (2008).

His book, "Soil and Soul" (Aurum Press, 2001), has been described as "a book every Scot should read" by John Burnside in The Scotsman, "No Logo in a Fair Isle jumper" by Susan Flockhart of the Sunday Herald, "life-changing" by the Bishop of Liverpool, and "truly mental" by musician Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Other books include a poetry collection, “Love and Revolution,” from Luath Pess (2006); “Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition” – published by Birlinn in June 2008 and described by Michael Russell MSP, the Scottish Government’s Minister for the Environment, as “a profoundly important book,” and “Rekindling Community: Connecting People, Environment and Spirituality,” due in October 2008 as a Schumacher Briefing (Green Books).

He is a Fellow of Scotland's Centre for Human Ecology, a Visiting Fellow of the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, and in 2006 was appointed to an honorary position in Strathclyde University as Scotland’s first Visiting Professor of Human Ecology. He is a regular presenter for Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Scotland and has some 200 items of published work to his name, many of which are available at www.AlastairMcIntosh.com

Following Alastair McIntosh’s talk there will be a Forum on Spiritual, Educational and Cultural Responses to Climate Change, with particular reference to Scotland and the Middle East, with discussion and questions among the panel and with the audience. Biographical information on the Chair and on the Forum Panellists is on the Festival website.
Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.