This Alumni Weekend panel discusses future energy needs and steps that must be taken to increase the chance that they can be met sustainably. World energy consumption is increasing, driven by economic development in countries where more is needed to lift billions out of poverty. Our energy is mostly provided by burning fossil fuels, which is driving climate change and producing debilitating pollution. The gap between realistic energy projections and low carbon aspirations is widening. 25th April 2015, Orangery, Schoenbrunn, Vienna Chaired by Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith (Director of Energy Research, University of Oxford) and featuring Juliet Davenport OBE (CEO of Good Energy Group), Dr Jan Dusik (Director of the Regional Office for Europe of the United Nations Environment Programme) and Graham van't Hoff (Exectuive Vice President, Shell Chemicals)

Alumni Weekend

Can Future Energy Needs be Met Sustainably?

Re-visiting the time of Freud, Klimt and Schönberg, the Alumni Weekend panel surveys and analyse this unique period in Vienna’s history and in Western culture. In the opening years of the twentieth century, Vienna – the capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire – provided the grand setting for a proliferation of artists, architects, composers, writers and thinkers whose explorations heralded a number of significant movements in modern culture. 25th April 2015, Orangery, Schoenbrunn, Vienna Chaired by Bethany Bell (BBC Foreign Correspondent) and featuring Professor Shearer West (Head of Humanities, University of Oxford), Professor Ritchie Robertson (Taylor Professor of the German Language and Literature, Fellow of the Queen's College) and Professor Jonathan Cross (Professor of Musicology and Student and Tutor in Music at Christ Church)

Cultural Frontier: Early 20th Century Vienna

Panel discussion of the Ukraine reviewing the current situation, exploring the context of the conflict which broke out in 2014, assessing its impact on Europe, and identifying what the international community can learn and how it should respond. 25th April 2015, Orangery, Schoenbrunn, Vienna. Chaired by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten on Barnes CH and featuring Jutta Edthofer (Head of Division Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Austria) Professor Gwendolyn Sasse (Professor of Comparative Politics and Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College) and Michael Bociurkiw (Spokesperson for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine).

Quo Vadis Ukraine: The Conflict and Beyond

This talk illustrates how Tibetan Buddhism relates to the landscapes of the Tibetan plateau, to form a unique, truly Himalayan blend.

Sacred Landscapes, Buddhist Temples: A case study from Central Tibet

The causes of the First World War have long been controversial and remain so. The Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford, and author of The War that Ended Peace (2013) brings us up to date on the debate.

Choice or Accident? The outbreak of the First World War

Ira Lieberman provides an expert analysis on the evolution of micro-finance institutions. Followed by Juan Guerra, founder of StudentFunder – a case study.

The Commercial Evolution of Microfinance: From donor dependence to sustainable social investment institutions

Social finance and social investment is creating a global buzz, with estimates that the sector will grow over the next decade – an emerging trend that may lead to both vibrant social change and financial returns on investment.

Oxford’s Global Leadership in Social Enterprise: A panel discussion

Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine and Will Hutton, Principal of Hertford, in conversation.

Innovation in Financing Human Well-being

Chas Bountra, a popular speaker at the recent Meeting Minds: Alumni Weekend in Asia, will explain how Oxford is creating a new ecosystem for drug discovery.

Why is Oxford Determined to Change the Way We Discover New Medicines?

Nigel Bowles explores Nixon’s politics that achieved a synthesis of strategy, imagination, ideologies, and calculation rare among Presidents.

Richard Nixon’s Reputation: 40 years after Watergate

Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian and Fellow of Balliol, and Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church and Fellow of St Cross.

Richard Ovenden and Diarmaid MacCulloch in Conversation

How has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.

What Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climate

Joe Cartwright provides a geological perspective into the exploration of shale gas reserves.

Understanding Fracking for Shale Gas

What constitutes a cyber-attack and who conducts them? What are the risks to society? Sadie Creese will discuss these issues and explain research underway at Oxford to help in the detection and prevention of attacks.

What is a Cyber-Attack?

Professor Lionel Tarassenko, an alumnus of the Department and its new Head as of September 2014, sets out his vision for the Department for the next five years.

The 2020 Vision for Engineering Science in Oxford

The annual Oxford University Alumni Weekend aims to showcase the Collegiate University as a whole, giving prominence to a range of current research and its application to real world situations, as well as recognising the achievements of Oxford men and women. This series also includes podcasts from other alumni events including study days and the Oxford European Reunion. Past themes include "A Global Oxford" (2008), "Equal Citizenship" (2009) and "Shared Treasures" (2010).

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Alumni Weekend

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