The oldest polar ice samples have helped climate scientists to understand climate patterns dating back more than 800,000 years. These ice cores have been instrumental in showing us the link between the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, and rising global temperatures. These ‘messages from the ice’, studied by experts at Northumbria University’s Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling and elsewhere, have shaped our understanding of the huge climate harms human activity has caused. At AUDE’s 2024 Conference, A Message From The Ice, (being held at Northumbria University from 15 to 18 April) we’ll have the opportunity to learn more about one of the university’s research specialisms, and how science has laid out for us the problems we now need to solve.
But AUDE members are practical people. We know the science is fascinating. But with our own universities’ target dates for achieving net zero carbon now coming rapidly into view, what do we need to be doing now? At this conference we’ll focus like never before on the delivery of projects that will help us, and we’ll be showcasing those in the AUDE community with approaches we can all learn from. And we’ll be hoping to answer a question that is huge for all of us – how do we finance work we know is vital but is far beyond the regular budget? How for that matter do we maintain the necessary focus on our campuses and with our teams at a time when some politicians appear to be having doubts about long-standing positions? With so many facets to this gigantic challenge, join us at Northumbria to look at everything from embodied carbon to biodiversity gains, the realities of off-setting, and the leadership practices we need to adopt if we are to carry Boards with us.
Newcastle is known as something of a party city, and with students making up 20% of the population perhaps that reputation is well deserved. You’ll be certain of a warm welcome to #AUDE24, that’s for certain. But that isn’t the reputation we’ll be focusing on. Delegates will have a chance to take in a fast-developing campus, and learn about Newcastle as it is today. Hadrian’s Wall might run through the city, but today only London beats Newcastle for new tech start-ups. The Tyne might in the past have been known for shipbuilding, and the city for coal mining. But in the 21st century the modern reputation is increasingly around renewables. The wind turbines off the coast at Blyth, and the world’s longest undersea power cables which connect the north-east coast to Norway, suggest a huge shift in focus that many of us may not have known about.
Northumbria University has jumped hugely in the research league tables, and is determined that the label ‘post-92’ won’t define it forever. The university excels in widening participation, and in research areas from health and social equity to space satellites.
