United Nations Climate Change Meeting: Poland

Hello from Poznan, Poland & the 2008 UN climate change meeting!

I've arrived safe & sound after a overnight drive to the airport and an early morning flight from London direct to Poznan (in Western Poland, about 250 east of Berlin). Life is hectic at the conference...despite the fact that progress in the actual negotiations is slow. This is the unwritten paradox of climate change meetings. In Poznan I'm working with the Canadian Youth Delegation. We are part of a group of youth NGOs that form the International Youth Delegation to the UN meeting. Our work is largely in three areas:

(1) follow the negotiations as official observers & give a speech to the ministers attending the conference during the high-level segment

(2) report on the proceedings from a youth perspective by working with the media (via interviews for radio, TV, press conferences & releases) and producing our own content (blogs, articles, video messages, etc...)

(3) lobby government leaders attending the conference to enhance their climate change policies

(4) work to build capacity amongst youth for doing 1, 2, and 3 above

I'm doing a fair bit of blogging these days. I've written a number of posts on various sites related our delegation, to climate change analysis, and to youth climate engagement more generally.

I'm a member of a climate policy research group based in Oxford called 'Climatico'. A classmate of mine is one of the directors and there are number of Oxford students contributing to the work of the group. Below is the website to which we are posting regular updates from the Poznan UN meeting.


http://www.climaticoanalysis.org/poznan-2008/



Here is a blog that I wrote about on the subject of a conference side event with the chief UN climate diplomat. Thanks to a friend from the Canadian Youth Delegation this post ended up on the on the Toronto Star website:

http://thestar.blogs.com/climate/2008/12/side-event-on-youth-thoughts-by-yvo-de-boer-unfccc-secretariat.html


This next blog is one that I co-wrote with my American friend Ben from the Oxford MSc. course prior to leaving for the conference.

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2008/12/05/president-obama-should-host-a-un-climate-change-conference/







More updates & photos to come.....

The Christchurch (rowing) Regatta

Rowing is an important feature of life in Oxford and the UK generally. Almost every College has a 'Boat Club' for both male & female rowing crews. The University of Oxford as a whole has a varsity team made up of national team level rowers. The Oxford team competes annually against Cambridge in what is known throughout England (and the rowing world in general) as 'the Boat Race' (started in 1856, see wikipedia). It's a gruelling +4 mile race on the Thames in London during the worst part of winter. Cambridge has won 79 times and Oxford has won 74 times. Millions of people around the world watch it on television and tens of thousands line the banks to watch the race.

So given the attraction of instant fame & fortune....and also noting that Oxford doesn't have the required amount of snow in winter for my preferred sport of Nordic skiing, I joined the Linacre College Boat Club at the start of this term (I don't already have an Olympic rowing medal so I didn't even think about trying out for the university team).

I'm in the stroke seat of a men's 8 boat (see the picture/video link below, I'm the one looking tired in the stern near the cox). We've been training for about 2 months and had our first major competition this past week. The 'Christchurch Regatta', organised by the Oxford college of the same name (see one of my previous posts), is only for crews of novice rowers who don't have previous race experience....consequently it is quite entertaining.

Novice rowers + racing + a narrow river + the excitement of a large crowd of spectators = crashes, broken oars, smashed boats, collisions, and every now and then somebody falls into the river.

The Christchurch Regatta is a tournament style event with head-to-head races held over the course of 4 days (over 100 crews entered). The winner of each race moves on to the next round - the losing boat is eliminated. It was actually lucky that the race happened at all as most years it is cancelled due to flood conditions on the river (it rains a lot here, eh?).

So how did we do?

If you have Facebook, check out this video link (we're the crew wearing black):

http://www.facebook.com/video/?of=502557689#/video/video.php?v=626959396213&subj=502557689

Well, in case you can't tell from the video....we won our race on the first day of competition! It was against a crew from Hertford College (a smallish college with about as much reputation as Linacre College, ie. not much). It was a good race from our perspective, we had a good start (very important in short races, this one was only ~ 800m), and we pulled away from them and held onto our lead of about one boat length as we crossed the finish line. So we advanced to the second round and accomplished our primary objective: don't fall into the water, don't get too embarrassed by the competition or our general lack of skill, and make it beyond the first day of the regatta. Mission accomplished!

The next day we lost...despite a good effort.

We actually had a better race in terms of technique the second day, but we just weren't as strong as the other boat. Generally our crew was excited by the experience, I think that many of us will stay on to row for the college next semester when the competition gets slightly more severe than the novice-only affair last week.

ps. the Linacre College woman's team made it all the way to the semi-finals (four days of rowing!) before bowing out to a quality crew.

Going to the United Nations climate meeting...in Poland

...it's official. I have purchased my plane tickets. I will be coming home for the winter holidays, but I'm off to a conference first before coming home to Canada.

Some of you may remember that I was at the United Nations meeting last year in Bali, Indonesia? Well I'm off again this year with the Canadian Youth Delegation (http://www.cydpoznan.org/) to the 2008 UN climate change conference in Poznan, Poland from Dec. 5 - 15. I'm really excited about it (but not overly hopeful about the outcome), after a full semester of environmental education I feel much more prepared for the climate circus (over 10,000 people are likely to attend the meeting). After a bit of negotiations bedlam I should be getting into Toronto sometime on the 16th.

Here is an article recently posted on the U of Guelph website about some recent graduates (myself included) attending the UN conference:

http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2008/11/post_153.html

Field Trip # 2 - 'Sunny' Brighton & the South Downs

Hello readers! Apologies (again) for the long pause in between blog entries.

Today's feature: My second field trip of the semester, this time to the South Downs near Brighton, in Sussex (on the south coast of England, about 1hr. from London).

The most common activity on our field trips in general is something I like to describe as the 'walk & talk'. Essentially our group drives out to a site of significance (be it biological, environmental, geological, etc.....), we meet up with a local expert on the issues of the area, we hike through said area, and then we periodically stop to either have a chat about the issues or to sample the local pub fare. This basic pattern is repeated for 2-3 days and evenings are filled with continued conversations at the pub. Or in the case of this specific field trip to Brighton, at a funky jazz club with a live band.

The reason for the location of this particular field trip was two-fold. Firstly, it was to investigate and area of southern England being considered for the creation of a new National Park. The ecosystem that they are trying to preserve is called 'chalk grasslands', essentially consisting of rolling hills of limestone overlaid with very thin soil and short grass maintained by the constant presence of sheep. From a North American perspective I must admit it that it has been challenging comparing the landscape management issues in the UK to those at home....there simply isn't any decent sized 'wilderness' areas left in England. While in Canada we might just periodically designate another far north location with (almost) zero inhabitants and call it a park, in the UK it's not that simple. When they make decisions about where to create parks they have to consider the fact that the land they want to designate for protection is often already overcrowded with people, towns, and agriculture. Furthermore, the idea behind the creation of the park doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the concept of preserving a 'wild' ecosystem, often it has much more to do with managing a certain area to maintain it in the way that fits some kind of preconceived notion about how a landscape should look. This is certainly the case for the South Downs where we visited most recently. The second reason for this field trip location was because it was the site of one of our professors ongoing research into soil erosion and flooding. It's a common problem in this part of England, when farmers change from growing grassland grazed by sheep (good for preventing erosion) to intensive crop farming which makes the land more vulnerable to run-off (which in turn floods villages poorly suitated in flood plains and gullies).

A side note....one of the days on the field trip we stopped for lunch in a town called Arundel that had a nice castle. As I explored the town I felt a vague sense of deja-vu....after consulting with my folks, turns out that my family visited this town when we lived in England previously. When I was 6 or so. Strange thing memory....

Matriculation time

Sorry folks, I'm a little behind the times with blog posts of late..... It's been a busy couple of weeks since classes have started.

The subject of this post is Matriculation, the time-honoured traditional entrance ceremony that all new students of Oxford must attend in order to be considered official members of the University.

Matriculation, from the student point of view at least, goes like this:

You get up early on a Saturday morning near the start of the fall term. You dress up in sub-fusc academic dress. This needs further explanation....sub-fusc consists (for men) of a dark suit, white shirt, white bow tie, as well as the academic gown and cap. It's one of the most formal dress codes for Oxford events. All students must wear this attire in order to be allowed to attend Matriculation, which is a mandatory event....so you basically have no choice, you wear the stuff and don't complain. Students must also be dressed in this fashion for exams at the end of the winter semester. I can't say that I'm all-together looking forward to dressing in full academic gown for three days worth of exams.....but we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

After getting dressed up, the students of each college gather together to proceed en-masse towards the centre of the city where the Matriculation ceremony takes place. This part is actually quite amusing, it's a bit like herding cattle through town....there are staff members who keep trying to encourage the group to stay together and the whole line of students inevitably gets split up and spread out. The poor tourists in the streets didn't really seem to know what was going on.....perhaps they assume that everyday is like this in Oxford?

My Matriculation ceremony was held in the 'Examination Schools', the location of the previously mentioned evaluations at the end of the winter term. After about 40mins of waiting to be let in and then waiting for the other colleges to arrive we were finally ushered into the 'holding pens' inside the building so the ceremony could begin. We stood in rows inside a large hall that had many large portraits of apparently famous people and high ceilings. I felt badly for the shorter students who probably didn't see a whole lot of anything except the back of the person in front of them.

The ceremony itself was short - about 10mins in total. A University official said some words in Latin (basically a long way of saying, 'you are now admitted'), followed by a short welcome speech in English and then it was all over. Back to the college where it all started for a group photo and then a free lunch with free wine. The whole experience sort of leaves you with the impression that some traditions, while symbolically important to the institution, may lack a little in translation for those unaccustomed to the pomp & circumstance of life in Oxford. All in all it was fun, people love to get dressed up here!

Thanks to Heidi and Pauline for some of the photos which I borrowed from Facebook.

Harry Potter & other sightings

Things in Oxford have been quite eventful since my last posting. I won't attempt to relate all the goings on.... long story short is that I'm now an official member of the university (more on Matriculation in another post), I've had a great birthday in the UK (thanks for all the messages from home!) and I've now completed my first two weeks of classes. Considering that there are only 8 weeks in the official term that means I'm 1/4 of the way to Christmas! Time flies at Oxford.

As mentioned previously, last week was 'Climate Change Boot Camp' a series of lectures on the topic presented by experts from a wide variety of disciplines. We learned about a) how serious the problem is, b) what changes we've committed to regardless of how much we cut back now, and c) how much further we're going to be in trouble if global negotiations don't work out. Heavy stuff but it was a thrill to learn from some really excellent thinkers on the subject.



The best lecture of the week was from the right-hand man of economist Sir Nicholas Stern whom some of you may be familiar with. The most outrageous talk of the week was from music composer Burt Bacharach of Austin Powers fame, "Raindrops/GHGs keep falling on my head...."....and "What the world needs now, is Carbon Offsets/Love sweet love......"....... so I may have embellished that story a little bit. His talk wasn't about climate change and wasn't an official part of the course - but I did see him at the famous "Oxford Union" debating society last Friday night and he did play a song on the piano.


One of the best parts of last week was attending lectures in Christchurch College. That's the site on campus where the Harry Potter films were made. See the photos - no Quidditch games were going on unfortunately. Although, my friend Simon did invite me out to dinner in the famous dinning hall. Aside from hosting Hermione, Harry, and Ron for 200,000 British pounds a day (the fee Oxford University charged the film production co.), this dinning hall was also briefly used to convene the British Parliament during the 17th century civil war. There is a massive portrait of Henry VIII at the far end above the high table where the important people eat and speak Latin still to this day. 13 British Prime Ministers, Albert Einstein, and Lewis Carol (who penned Alice in Wonderland) have at some point studied here......don't expect my name to be added to the list, perhaps it may be written in graffiti somewhere on the walls built in 1546.


Above is a photo of some of my classmates from the course at Christchurch, they are from Australia, Italy, UK, Mexico, Canada, and UK from left to right. The pond behind them is a tempting swim - except for the fact that your degree from Oxford will be withheld if you jump in - there are some very expensive fish in there donated by some Japanese emperor or something.....

In other news....rowing is going well. I had my first 7am practice on the Thames earlier this week and successfully managed to stay in the boat. Also, I think I saw Richard Dawkins, author of 'The Selfish Gene' and 'God Delusion', on a bicycle the other day.......lots to see in Oxford!

Punting on the Isis

To go punting is a very Oxford-esque thing to do. It's a must really. At some point everybody punts, and to be declared a punter is most noble.

For those unfamiliar with the meaning of this pursuit, I give you two definitions from the internet:

from Wikipedia:

"The word punter may refer to: A man with great prestige, humble but yet beloved by fellow colleagues; aka ; the man"

from dictionary.com:

punt (noun); a small, shallow boat having a flat bottom and square ends, usually used for short outings on rivers or lakes

to punt (verb); to propel (a small boat) by thrusting against the bottom of a lake or stream, esp. with a pole.

While the latter definition more accurately describes the activity I participated in this weekend, I find the former more compelling.

Anyways........as you can see by the photos I'm continuing to have a great time here in Oxford. Last weekend a friend from Guelph came through town for a short visit which was fantastic. David and I had a great time exploring the university and seeing the sights, including this adventure in the punt on the Isis River (a branch of the Thames). I think the charms of the city and my wonderful classmates may have convinced him to apply for the course next year!

Classes have now started - this week is infamously called "Climate Change Boot Camp". Basically it's about 35-40 hrs. of lectures on the science of climate change interspersed with talks on ecological responses to environmental change, climate change economics, etc.... It's a rapid pace, but most discussions are interesting and generating plenty of dialogue amongst our group.

One other note. I've decided to join the rowing club for Linacre College. We'll see how that goes, rowing is a very big thing here. I believe this final photo is of David successfully navigating our punt out of the tree that we were stuck in on the bank of the river.

Dressing up and getting ID'd

Here's a funny anecdote about life in the UK......

One of my classmates who was previously studying in London before coming up to Oxford was once asked for identification for attempting to purchase scissors.....you need to be 18 years old in England to cut paper apparently. I've yet to be ID'd at the pub, but buying scissors...that's another story all together!


The other night was the first time I got to dress up in formal attire for dinner at Linacre College. Here is a photo of the action in our dining hall. That's right - at Oxford you sometimes wear gowns to meals....one of the traditions still kept up by my otherwise more progressive college (we have FairTrade and Carbon Neutral status, rare among the colleges of Oxford). This was one (of many) welcome events that have been going on for the past week. I met my college advisor (mostly a 'if you need me' kind of relationship with an established member of the institution), the food was good, and the wine was free as always at these types of events.




Also around town for the next couple of months is an art exhibit called 'Earth from the Air'. It's an environmental themed aerial photography collection that features hundreds of images from around the world. The display is currently set up in the area around the 'Oxford Castle' - a surreal location for these portraits which depict the massive impact of human activity on the natural landscape. I visited this site earlier in the week, but I figure I'll likely return again this weekend when a friend of mine from Guelph is popping through town for a brief visit. It will be nice to see a friendly face from home!

Speaking of a face from home....the other day I was sitting in a 'fire and safety' lecture at my department. Sitting in front of me was a girl from High School in Toronto. We haven't seen each other in over 6 years! I suppose it's not all that surprising really that we ran into each other here, we are both really keen on environmental issues (it was a geography class we shared together years ago) and Oxford seems to have a high proportion of Canadians. Last night I met another Canadian with whom I share a mutual friend from Guelph....small world indeed!

Shingle beech and English rain - A field trip to Slapton, Devon

Just returned from my first field trip with my fellow MSc students from Environmental Change & Management (about 40 of us in total).....

The field trip was great! It went like this .... Friday we drove for 4 hours to the south coast of Britain to stay for the weekend at an environmental research and educational centre.

Saturday we went on nature walks and had mini-lectures outdoors about environmental mangement issues in a local nature reserve. We got rained on repeatedly, got our feet wet (repeatedly, despite our wellington boots), and then went to the pub in town - repeat the same for Sunday (except this time we stopped at a pub for lunch and it didn't rain as much) and then back to Oxford.

Probably the best part of the trip was spending time getting to know the other students on the trip.... We are a very diverse group, the average age in the course is about 27, many already have multiple degrees from backgrounds as diverse as Engineering, Enviromental Science, Business, and Law. As is generally the case with graduate students at Oxford, we are a very international and well travelled bunch....many are from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada (4 Canuks in total)....others are from parts of Europe, China, India, Ghana, Israel, Brazil, Peru, and so on.....

Saturday night we decided to jump into the Atlantic together.....it was fun, but very cold - no pictures provided.

This coming week are more orientation programs and welcoming events (for my department and for Linacre College) ........ so when does school actually start around here? I think it might be a bit of a shock when it does.

Sights about town...

It really can't be repeated enough - things here are old.

Many buildings have signs that read something like but not necessarily;

"This site was renovated for the third time..........in 1406"

For example, a friend of mine and I escaped from a particularly dull orientation session this week and climbed up the tallest church spire in town (from the 13th century).....some of these photos are from the tower.

I've attended many Orientation sessions for international students this past week. I must admit to finding it strange to be considered an 'international' student. Aside from being divided by a common language (I'm still trying to catch on to the Brit slang and accent), I feel quite at home in the UK. I hope some of my colleages from more culturally foreign locations are coping as easily. Apparently Oxford has students from over 130 countries - I've only met about 5 students actually from the UK so far.

Some folks have been asking about more photos from about town, hope you enjoy these ones....they may be the last you see of sunshine for awhile, summer is fleeing the UK now and I hear that the rains are coming....

More dispatches from Oxford shortly - all the best to those at home and to those reading from abroad!

Arrived safe and sound

I've arrived safe and sound here in Oxford thanks in no small part to those who helped me immensely in my final weeks and days in Canada - thanks so much for all of the packing, shopping, and moral support! It was a bit of a scramble and the suitcases hardly closed (no wonder they were quite overweight!) but all is well now that I've got my feet firmly planted on the otherside of the Atlantic.

Since my arrival on the weekend I have been doing my best to take walks and runs through the city. What a beautiful place this is! There is a large park in my backyard and a branch of the Thames River runs through the city....really neat. That red brick building is where I'm staying, it's called Linacre College. Oxford University is actually composed of about 40 colleges where undergrads and graduate students study, live, and socialize. My college was founded in the 20th century....other colleges on campus were founded in the 13th century - no big deal. Stunningly beautiful old architecture abounds in Oxford.

More comments and photos soon - miss you all at home!

I can't wait to meet all the students in my program....so far so good.

Headed across the pond!

Hello readers?!

In case you haven't heard.....I'm off to Oxford this year to do my Masters! The subject is Environmental Change and Management - more to come later about that, but for now I just thought I'd introduce my blog to the denizens of the interweb, and to you friends & family.

My apologies for those of you whom I didn't get a chance to give a proper goodbye before I left - hopefully we can connect in cyberspace or through old fashioned postcards.

Feel free to read along or generally ignore this blog, or even better post comments!! I'd love to hear how things are going on in your part of the world. I'm hoping to post fairly regularly with interesting, and I'm sure some occasional not-so-interesting facts and comments about life across the pond in the UK.

More dispatches from Oxford shortly.....

All the best,

Derek.