University Launches Summer Programme of Free Public Events

Tickets are now available for the University of Suffolk’s summer programme of free public lectures and discussions.

The programme opens with the next in the Spotlight Suffolk series of panel discussions, focusing on the key challenges facing communities across Suffolk and looking at how organisations can work together to tackle them. 
 
Taking place on Tuesday 3 June, Spotlight Suffolk: Towards a Brighter Future – Growth or Decline? will be chaired by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jenny Higham and will be hosted at The Hold, University of Suffolk. 
 
The distinguished panel will bring a wealth of expertise in a range of areas, including business, skills, growth, infrastructure, poverty, health and wellbeing. 
 
Panellists include Andrew Cook, Executive Director of Growth, Highways and Infrastructure at Suffolk County Council, Rob Wright, Founder and Resilience Specialist, GIANT Life Skills Ltd, Wendy Herber, Independent Chair and Non-Executive Director, Healthwatch Suffolk, Professor Valerie Gladwell, director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Suffolk, and representatives from Suffolk Chamber of Commerce. 
 
The new series of Open Lectures, hosted in the University of Suffolk Waterfront Building, will start on Wednesday 18 June with Dr Alison Pooley, from the University’s Suffolk Sustainability Institute, who will be talking about her research on almshouses and the importance of supporting sustainable, healthy communities. 
Dr Pooley leads the Sustainable Healthy Communities theme within the Suffolk Sustainability Institute and has extensive experience within architecture and the built environment. 
 
On Tuesday 24 June, Charlie Smith, Course Leader for the University’s new Esports degree launching in September, will be talking about why Esports is such a big global growth area and its importance to the local economy. 

Dr Mark Bowler, Course Leader in Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation Science at the University of Suffolk, will talk about the work he is doing with wildlife enthusiasts and students in the Suffolk community, which has led to detecting one of the UK’s rarest bat species in the county, the barbastelle bat.
 
His lecture, Monitoring bat populations using Wildlife Sound and Conservation Technology takes place on Thursday 3 July.  
 
The University is at the forefront of citizen science bioacoustic monitoring, from towns and farms in East Anglia to the Amazon Rainforest in Peru, and Dr Bowler’s lecture will provide the chance to listen to some bat calls from the local area and see some students’ work at Foxburrow Reserve, Martlesham Wilds and Sutton Hoo.  
 
Tickets for both the Spotlight Suffolk and Open Lecture events are free, but booking is required. Guests attending these events are invited for refreshments at the start and end of the event. 
 
Professor Jenny Higham, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Suffolk, said: “As a civic university, it is important for us to share our research and activities with the community. 
“Our Spotlight Suffolk events offer an opportunity to bring a broad range of speakers together and create space for important issues to be debated.” 

Andrew Cook, Executive Director of Growth, Highways and Infrastructure at Suffolk County Council who is a panellist at the Spotlight Suffolk event said: “Fresh on the heels of our recently launched Economic Strategy for Suffolk, there are some really exciting potential developments on the horizon for Suffolk.  

“The county council is also busy preparing for the biggest local government reorganisation in 50 years with a shift to a new Mayor and the increased focus on growth that will bring.  

“I’m looking forward to sharing my experience and discussing a bright future for Suffolk.” 

To find out more about the Spotlight Suffolk or Open Lecture events and to book a free place, please visit Events — Open Lectures | University of Suffolk