Terra Carta
The October meeting brought the welcome return of Christopher Lloyd to talk about Terra Carta. He told us about his project which is aimed at making children aware of the need to protect the planet. He got the support from (the then) Prince Charles, and from artists around the world who agreed to provide illustrations for his book, which addresses as many diverse issues as possible.
Chris pointed out that children have a natural curiosity that needs to be encouraged, and that there are so many matters that both adults and children take for granted without understanding how they occurred. This led him to produce a separate children's encyclopaedia to help address these issues.
Chris's talk was supported by illustrations from the book which was divided into four sections: Nature, People, Planet and Terra Carta, and he demonstrated these in his own inimitable interactive style, with his cloak of many pockets appearing at one stage
The section on Nature covered all aspects of the natural world and reminds us that nature brings us the air, wind, and food that the 8 billion people in the world need to survive. The People section shows how many of man’s activities are impacting on the natural world, while the Planet section covers rising temperatures and CO2 levels.
In the final section, Chris explained that Terra Carta addressed the need for greater understanding of the risks we all face and how, by working together, we can address these issues. He mentioned wind turbines and solar panels as two areas where they were being addressed and, although these are steps in the right direction, more has to be done particularly in terms of activating young people as it is their future that is at stake.
The address was warmly received and, after questions from members, Chris received a well-deserved round of applause.