Eiffel Over

Tag: Extinction Rebellion

  • When government bans protest against our projects, engineers must put down their tools

    When government bans protest against our projects, engineers must put down their tools

    The cornerstone of our democracy is the right to protest. At the moment the government is pushing through amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that would make it illegal to protest at a range of infrastructure sites.

    The Government is intending to use the latest amendment to

    introduce a new offence of interfering with the operation of key infrastructure, such as the strategic road network, railways, sea ports, airports, oil refineries and printing presses, carrying a maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both

    George Monbiot citing in the guardian a private letter to members of the House of Lords

    This is on top of the existing authoritarian measures in the bill. For instance, named individuals can be banned from protesting. If I write a post encouraging readers to attend a protest, I can be individually banned from protesting. If I turn up anyway, under these new measures, I can be sent to prison for 51 weeks.

    Why is the government doing this?

    Well, I suspect it is because they know that protest works, as demonstrated by the success of the protests to stop fracking in the UK. A sustained campaign of protest by a small dedicated group halted one of the most illogical of engineering projects: fracking for more fossil fuels while committing to reducing our carbon footprint.

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  • #17 Tabitha Pope – Participatory Architecture – Show notes

    #17 Tabitha Pope – Participatory Architecture – Show notes

    Tabitha Pope is an architect and lecturer, with a specialism temporary structures and participatory architecture and a passion for work that sits at the boundary of art and architecture. In this episode, produced in support of International Women’s Day, my colleague Lucy Barber interview Tabitha about:

    • What is participatory design and what benefits does it offer us in the climate emergency.
    • Challenging power in order to make architecture a more inclusive space for all under-represented groups, not just women.
    • How her practice of carpentry allows her to intervene in the design process in a different way.
    • Establishing a nature connection to help designers and citizens alike tackle the biodiversity crisis.
    • Stepping into a space of vulnerability in design in order to do things differently.
    • Creating spaces for joy and encounter to tackle loneliness and build resilience in communities.

    Listen on Apple Podcasts , Sticher or by download here.

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  • The end of trying harder and being nicer

    The end of trying harder and being nicer

    Over the last few weeks I’ve been talking to engineers about they can do in response to the climate emergency. For those that are engaged with the topic, I am picking up a sense of deep frustration, which seems to come in two flavours.

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  • A reminder about the imminent climate catastrophe and how we should educate engineers to prepare for it

    A reminder about the imminent climate catastrophe and how we should educate engineers to prepare for it

    [The following text is adapted from the after-dinner speech I gave at the University of Edinburgh Engineering Faculty’s away day. It was originally titled ‘How problem-based learning can save the world and make you happy too’. But I have renamed it ‘A reminder about the imminent climate catastrophe and how we should educate engineers to prepare for it’]

    Tonight’s engagement is my first since I took a summer sabbatical, which I planned to use to work on a book. Those plans changed in my first week away when I got involved in the Extinction Rebellion summer uprising in Bristol. That experience of direct action and the reaction it caused prompted me to read much more about climate breakdown, models for political change, the implications of societal collapse, the role of engineers to help minimise impacts and deal with upheaval in our own communities and the role of the people that teach engineers.

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  • Climate breakdown – uncivil engineering questions

    Climate breakdown – uncivil engineering questions

    At the start of the summer I felt that the best contribution I could make to tackling the climate emergency was to offer my skills as a trainer and a facilitator to Extinction Rebellion (XR). In June, I joined the team that run induction sessions for new members of XR Bristol. The following words I’ve adapted from the script we use as the basis for the induction sessions.

    ‘The Government has an obligation to provide protection for the citizens it represents. This is the basis of the social contract upon which the citizens give the government the power to rule.

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