Leading environmental campaigner and Britain’s first and only Green MP Caroline Lucas is all set to deliver the 2024 Lancaster Environment Lecture at Lancaster University.
Lancaster-based literature festival ‘Litfest’ and Lancaster University made the announcement today that the lecture, entitled ‘Another England Is Possible’ will take place in the Margaret Fell Lecture Theatre at the University on April 25 at 7pm.
Caroline Lucas was first elected to Parliament in 2010, where her passionately reasoned and incisive interventions in the House of Commons have held power to account ever since and kept environmental issues and social justice firmly in public view.
Drawing on her new book, ‘Another England’, Caroline Lucas will delve deep into our literary heritage to explore what England’s progressive spirit can teach us about the most pressing issues of our time: whether the toxic legacy of Empire, the struggle for constitutional reform or the accelerating climate emergency.
The MP for Brighton Pavilion, she was elected to parliament in 2010 and also served as leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2008 to 2012, and co-leader from 2016 to 2018. She was previously a Member of the European Parliament for 10 years. She holds a PhD in English Literature.
The lecture will be introduced by Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University Professor Andrew Schofield who said: “Lancaster University is delighted to welcome Caroline Lucas, MP, to give the 2024 Lancaster Environment Lecture. This annual event builds on Lancaster University’s multidisciplinary research expertise on climate change and its collaboration with Litfest facilitates engagement with communities locally, nationally, and internationally on issues of environmental sustainability.”
The event moderator will be the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at Lancaster University, Professor Edward Simpson.
The Lancaster Environment Lecture is supported by FASS and co-organised by academic committee members from the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing (ELCW), the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC), the Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts (LICA), the Department of Languages and Cultures (DeLC), the Law School, the Department of Politics, Philosophy, Religion (PPR) and the Department of Sociology.
As one of the oldest literature festivals in the country, Litfest has successfully created a wide variety of events and activities for and with its audiences since 1978, always championing the local, the national and the international. Currently a volunteer-led organisation, Litfest seeks to build on this legacy to create the capacity to deliver projects, activities and events all year round.
The inaugural Lancaster Environment Lecture was given in 2022 by Dr Vandana Shiva and in 2023 was given by George Monbiot.