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To close Series 5 of Tea and Talk with the RSE, we chat to Professor Jim Skea and Professor Camilla Toulmin about the road to a Just Transition to net-zero. Jim is Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London, co-chair of Working Group III (Mitigation) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a former member of the UK Committee on Climate Change and chaired Scotland’s Just Transition Commission. Camilla is Senior Associate, Climate Change, International Institute for Environment and Development and Professor in Practice at the University of Lancaster. She is a Senior Fellow at the Africa-Europe Foundation, with responsibility for Sustainable Energy and Agri-food systems, an Associate at the Institute for New Economic Thinking and has spent 40 years’ work at the interface between environment and development, spanning local and global scales.

We speak to RSE Fellows Professor Maggie Gill and Professor Colin Campbell about land use and climate change. Maggie is Emeritus Professor in the School of Biology at the University of Aberdeen. She is a former Chief Scientific Advisor, chairs the Scottish Science Advisory Council, which provides independent advice to the Scottish government and has a particular interest in the research/policy interface. Colin is a guest Professor at the Swedish Agricultural Sciences University in Uppala, sits on the Scottish Government’s Forum for Natural Capital and has a long-standing interest in sustainable development.

In episode three of the Tea and Talk Podcast, we speak to RSE Fellows Professor Gordon Masterton and Professor Iain Docherty about transport, mobility and what net-zero means in practice.  Gordon is Chair of Future Infrastructure at the University of Edinburgh and has a wealth of experience advising on transport and infrastructure projects including Crossrail and HS2. Iain is Dean of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Stirling, a leading researcher of transport and mobility and a former non-Executive Director of ScotRail.

We chat with members of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland, Dr Sandro Carnicelli and Dr Leslie Mabon about the impacts of climate change on tourism. Sandro Carnicelli is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland where he leads work and conducts research on Marketing, Events and Tourism. Leslie Mabon is a lecturer in Environmental Systems at the Open University looking at the governance of complex environmental issues and how you balance scientific knowledge with social and cultural considerations.

With COP26 being held in Glasgow, we chat to Professor James Curran MBE FRSE and Professor Duncan Maclennan CBE FRSE about the impact of climate change on Scottish cities, and the policy and lifestyle changes needed in order to make cities more environmentally friendly. James Curran MBE is a former Chief Executive of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, serves on the board of the Green Purposes Company, and is Chair of Climate Ready Clyde. Duncan Maclennan CBE is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Glasgow, Professorial Research Fellow in Urban Economics at University of New South Wales, and has worked for many years in the areas of housing, infrastructure and neighbourhoods.

“Good integration is not camps, it’s not aid. It’s people living in flourishing communities where everyone can contribute.” In S03E05 of the RSE Tea and Talk Podcast, Dr Rebekah Widdowfield discusses the issues asylum seekers and refugees face in a post-Brexit Britain with RSE Fellow, Professor Alison Phipps, Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow and UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts.

Studies have shown that living with a disability is more expensive than living without one. As the Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a huge blow to the global economy, what will this mean for those with disabilities and the social care and welfare systems that many rely on? In S03E04 of the RSE Tea and Talk Podcast, Dr Rebekah Widdowfield discusses these issues and more with Professor Nick Watson FRSE, Chair of Disability Research and Director of Centre for Disability Research at the University of Glasgow, and Theresa Shearer, Group Chief Executive of ENABLE Scotland, Vice-Convenor of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and a trustee of Inclusion Europe. Both Nick and Theresa are also members of the RSE Post-Covid-19 Futures Commission’s inclusive public service working group.

Scotland has become a massively more diverse country in the past fifty years. The advent of better birth control methods in the 1960s sparked an attitude shift and offered more freedoms to women in their lives, their place in the labour market and to a person’s sexual identity entirely. However, alongside these freedoms came issues like the gender pay gap, LGBTI discrimination and the distribution of labour. In S03E03 of the RSE Tea and Talk Podcast, Dr Rebekah Widdowfield discusses how Scotland can address these issues with RSE Fellows, Professor Lynn Abrams and Professor Ian Rivers. Lynn is Chair in Modern History and a member of the Centre of Gender History at the University of Glasgow, Ian is Professor of Education for Social Change at the University of Strathclyde who researches bullying behaviour in schools, focusing particularly on the bullying of LGBTI young people and the psychological effects of being a bystander.

Scotland compares very poorly with other countries in Europe and even within the UK when it comes to health inequalities, but why? In S03E02 of the RSE’s Tea and Talk Podcast, RSE Chief Executive Rebekah Widdowfield talks to Professor Graham Watt CBE FRSE about the reasons and possible answers. Graham is Emeritus Professor in General Practice at the University of Glasgow and a Fellow of both the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He has written extensively on health inequalities and for over a decade has been involved in the Deep End Project, which looks at work in general practices serving the hundred most deprived populations in Scotland.

Launching the third series of the RSE’s Tea and Talk Podcast, RSE Chief Executive Rebekah Widdowfield chats with RSE Fellows, Talat Yaqoob and Louise Macdonald OBE. They look at how the public has been informed and engaged during the Covid-19 pandemic and how we can build on this experience to improve both public debate and participation in decision-making. Talat is a Scottish campaigner and writer focused on women’s equality, race equality and intersectional analysis of policy. Louise is National Director of the Institute of Directors in Scotland, former Chief Executive of Young Scot and among many other roles is Co-Chair of the National Advisory Council of Women and Girls.  

Welcome back for another series of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's 'Tea & Talk' Podcast; a series of conversations with some of Scotland's leading authorities on the impact of Covid-19, featuring Fellows of the RSE and members of their Post-Covid-19 Futures Commission.In Episode 5, RSE Chief Executive, Rebekah Widdowfield chats with Professor Niamh Nic Daéid about using the learning from the Covid-19 pandemic to enhance Scotland's ability to effectively utilise data, evidence, and science in preparing for and responding to future challenges. Professor Nic Daeid is director at the award-winning Leverhulme research centre for forensic science at the University of Dundee and an authorised forensic chemist working on areas as diverse as fire investigation, clandestine drug chemistry, and explosives. A member of RSE's post-Covid Futures Commission, Niamh chairs its working group on Data, Evidence and Science.

Welcome back for another series of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's 'Tea & Talk' Podcast; a series of conversations with some of Scotland's leading authorities on the impact of Covid-19, featuring Fellows of the RSE and members of their Post-Covid-19 Futures Commission.In Episode 4, RSE Chief Executive, Rebekah Widdowfield chats with Caroline Gardner about using the learning from the Covid-19 pandemic to support inclusive public services and innovative thinking. Caroline was the auditor general for Scotland between 2012 and 2020 during a period of significant growth in Scotland's financial powers; and has the passion for evidence led change to deliver better outcomes. Caroline is a member of the RSE's post-Covid Futures Commission and chairs its working group on inclusive public service. She also sits on the expert panel supporting the independent review of adult social care by Scottish government.