Eco Church resources

Holy Trinity holds the Eco Church Silver Award. To learn more about A Rocha’s Eco Church,  its focus on how we care for Creation in our worship and teaching; in how we look after our buildings and land; in how we engage with our local community and the wider world, and in the personal lifestyles of our congregation, go to: https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/

The Eco Team have put together a list of interesting webinars on environmental issues from various sources, including the Church of England and the Oxford Martin School (part of Oxford University) – see below. Some are on church issues and others are of more general interest.

Talks

Sustainability in Practice: socially and environmentally responsible food
Wednesday 13 March 6.00-8.00, John Henry Brookes Lecture Theatre  John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University, Headington
Hear Cyrus Todiwala OBE speaking about his position as an environmental pioneer, alongside other issues close to his heart including social responsibility, sustainability, buying British, food, waste minimisation, and healthy eating. Cyrus, with his wife Pervin, is founder of Zest Quest Asia, and oversees four restaurants including Café Spice Namaste. He is ambassador for several organisations including The Clink Charity, and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
There will be a break half-way through the event for a drinks reception.
Introduced by Dr Sabine Stevenson, the second half of the event will be the showing of an episode of Six Seasons, Antonio Carluccio’s series exploring Australia’s indigenous history and food. Dr Stevenson, an archaeologist, accompanied Antonio as “his partner in happiness” during the last decade and is now establishing his archive at Oxford Brookes and, together with the Antonio Carluccio Foundation, fulfilling the spirit of his legacy.
If you have any questions about this free event, contact events@brookes.ac.uk.
To register to attend in person go to visit the events webpage for more upcoming events then click on All Upcoming Events (this is the first entry on the grey line), scroll down to Sustainability in Practice, then click on Book Now, then click on Reserve a Slot.

Webinars

Past webinars which are available to watch again

For links to the range of C of E Net Zero Carbon webinars, and environmental fundraising go to: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change/webinars-getting-net-zero-carbon#na

Oxford Diocese Eco Hub
This describes itself as ’a one-stop shop for information, practical advice and theological reflection on how we can best care for God’s creation.’   It brings together resources from various organisations and groups, enabling us to find information to become agents of change.

Parish Buying Scheme
For clean electricity, and much more besides at competitive prices (including LED lighting, photocopiers, phones and broadband, insurance, office products, church supplies, furniture, fire safety, audio visual, and even Covid-19 supplies).

Panel discussion: Post-COP28 Debrief: Does the agreement go far enough?
This talk is in conjunction with Oxford Net Zero and Oxford Climate Research Network.
COP28 closed with an agreement that, for the first time in three decades, includes oil and gas. But what does the agreement mean in real terms? And is keeping the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach? A panel of academics shares their thoughts after attending COP28 and looks forward to what it means for COP29 and the world over the coming years.
Panel:
· Professor Myles Allen, Director, Oxford Net Zero
·Dr Abrar Chaudhury, Senior Associate, Oxford Net Zero
· Professor Benito Müller, Convener International Climate Policy Research, Environmental Change Institute (Chair)
·Dr Nicola Ranger, Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Systemic Resilience
To watch the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PeN8fmhwoM

Panel Discussion: Saving the Oceans from the Sky
Recording from Oxford Martin School
Principles and best practice in the use of satellite Evidence for monitoring and enforcement of area-based management tools for fisheries and biodiversity conservation.
Global biodiversity targets have set the ambitious goal of conserving 30% of the earth’s land and sea by 2030 through the establishment of protected areas and other area-based conservation measures. In the vast and remote ocean space of areas beyond national jurisdiction, the effectiveness of such measures will depend on the use of innovative monitoring and enforcement tools including earth observation/satellite imagery.
An example of the challenges – and of innovative solutions – is the high seas ‘biodiversity hot spot’ of the Sargasso Sea. Drawing on the lessons learned from existing uses of satellite tools, we identify ‘7 As’ comprising principles and best practice to be used as a road map for the effective use of satellite monitoring and enforcement for sustainable fisheries management and marine biodiversity conservation.
Panel:
· Professor David Freestone, Executive Secretary of the Sargasso Sea Commission
· Dr Efthymios (Akis) Papastavridis, Oxford Martin Fellow, Oxford Martin Programme on Sustainable Oceans
· Professor Catherine Redgwell, Chichele Professor of Public International Law Emerita and Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Sustainable Oceans
· Dr Gwilym Rowlands, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biology, University of Oxford and Oxford Martin Fellow, Oxford Martin Programme on Sustainable Oceans
To watch the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mskNyj-IkoI

Not the end of the world: how we can be the first generation to build a sustainable planet
Joint event with the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food
Professor Sir Charles Godfray & Dr Hannah Ritchie
We are bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the soil won’t be able to support crops, fish will vanish from our oceans, that we should reconsider having children. But in this talk, data scientist Hannah Ritchie, author of Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet will discuss with Professor Sir Charles Godfray, Director of the Oxford Martin School, that if we zoom out, a very different picture emerges. They will discuss how the data shows we have made so much progress on these problems, and so fast, that we could be on track to achieve true sustainability for the first time in history and we can build a better future for everyone.
To watch the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTdT1uKx_VA

Church of England on Church Heating: Guidance and Case Studies
This includes: Heating principles, Perspectives and Approaches; Decarbonising and the Future of Heat; Heating Pitfalls; Options; Appraisals; Getting Advice; Costs and Funding.
https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/churchcare/advice-and-guidance-church-buildings/heating#na

If you missed previous Church of England webinars, you can find a huge range of recordings, sorted into a number of playlists. To skip the ads click the button which appears after a few seconds towards the bottom of the screen, on the right.

Net Zero Carbon playlist

Environmental fundraising playlist

Eco Church playlist

Climate resilience playlist

Land and Nature playlist

Net Zero Carbon Schools playlist