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Students attend food and water conference
Edinburgh students joined their peers from around Europe at this year’s Bright Student Conference in Milan.
Edinburgh student, Charlie King, at the conference
The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Food and water: an increasing challenge’, with sessions focussing on food and water security, and climate change.
The format of the conference involved daily plenary sessions from notable academics, followed by working groups which gave students the chance to explore possible solutions for the issues being discussed.
The event is organised by the League of European Research Universities (LERU).
Important speakers
Speakers included Marzio Domenico Galeotti, Professor of Economics at the University of Milan and an Expert Reviewer of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Donato Lodi, Director for Media and International Relations with UNICEF Italy and Monica Frassoni, head of the Italian Green Party.
The conference concluded with two divisive talks on food shortage and environmental sustainability of crop production systems.
Chiara Tonelli, Secretary General of the World Conference on the Future of Science, and Luca Bechini, of the University of Milan’s Department of Crop Science, both argued for further exploration of genetically modified foods, sparking a vibrant debate.
The conference ended with a gala dinner of Milanese cuisine and a ball.
Attend next year’s Bright Conference
Next year’s Bright Conference will take place in Munich in April.
It is themed ‘University Teaching in Europe: Challenges and Perspectives’.
The International Office will provide funding for 10 students to attend the Munich conference.
Students interested in attending should contact Lesley Balharry.
This article was published on Jun 16, 2010