SGR Conferences

Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) organises a conference roughly once a year (in the autumn) on issues of concern related to science, design and technology.

Keynote speakers are leading researchers/commentators in their field, and the event also includes SGR's Annual General Meeting, together with poster sessions or workshops.

This section of the website includes reports of previous conferences. Links to conference presentations and related material are provided where available.

industrial network (Gerd Altmann)
Science superpower or techno dead-end: what would a globally responsible Britain look like?
Date:

SGR's 30th anniversary conference and AGM; online

Recordings now available.

Photo of protest with banner reading Climate Action Now
From science to activism: how should action follow climate research?
Date:

SGR online conference and AGM

Speakers included: Dr Lewis Akenji, Hot or Cool Institute; Andrew Simms, SGR; Liz Kalaugher, SGR

Presentations available to view and/or download

Solar panels
Transition Now (part II)
Date:

Recovering from Covid-19, will responsible science and technology be tools of rapid change?

Part II: Responsible technology and the climate emergency

SGR online conference and AGM

Presentations are now available to view and/or download!

 

Scorched desert (iStock)
Transition Now (part I)
Date:

Recovering from Covid-19, will responsible science and technology be tools of rapid change?

Part I: Responsible science and the climate emergency

SGR webinar

Presentations are now available to view or download!

 

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Scientists behaving responsibly: should science walk the talk on climate breakdown?
Date:

Should scientists adapt their work and lifestyles responsibly to align with the 1.5 degree climate change target, to set an example for change in wider society?

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Artificial intelligence: how little has to go wrong?
Date:

Is artificial intelligence evolving quicker than the regulation to manage it? Are we sufficiently able to imagine what major problems may emerge, and can it even be effectively regulated?

Conference outputs are now available to download!

Creating a better world
Date:

SGR's 25th anniversary conference and AGM

With the world facing heightened risks of nuclear war, the growing threat of severe climate change, and numerous other major problems, fears are once again growing for our future.

Universities for sale?
Date:

SGR conference and AGM 2016
This conference discussed the ways in which the arms, fossil fuel and other controversial industries are involved at UK universities, how government policies encourage this, and the range of detrimental effects - and then discussed proposals for change.

Michael Atiyah answering questions from the audience
Islam and the West: a personal perspective
Date:

Professor Sir Michael Atiyah, OM, FRS, delivered the inaugural Martin Ryle Trust lecture, which took place in Conway Hall, London.

Messages for the Paris conference: The forgotten dimensions of climate change
Date:

SGR conference and AGM 2015

Presentations

Progress towards all-renewable electricity supplies
Prof Keith Barnham, Imperial College London (author of The Burning Answer)

How do we keep 80% of fossil fuels in the ground? Look up, wise up, cheer up
Dr Laurence Matthews, Cap and Share UK

Nuclear weapons and climate catastrophe
Dr Philip Webber, Scientists for Global Responsibility

Demilitarization for deep decarbonization
Tamara Lorincz, International Peace Bureau

A summary of the event, together with the presentations and other material, is now available to download.