Event Details

The Annual John Urry Lecture was established to commemorate the life and work of one of Lancaster's foremost researchers, leading sociologist and co-founder of the 'mobilities paradigm'. The 10th Anniversary Lecture will be delivered by leading global thinker Jeremy Rifkin.

Jeremy Rifkin will present his latest ground-breaking book, 'Planet Aqua', in which he argues that we have misjudged the very nature of our existence. We have long believed that we live on a land planet when in reality we live on a water planet, and now the Earth’s hydrosphere is taking us into a mass extinction as it searches for a new normal.

Six thousand years ago, urban hydraulic civilizations began to arise around the world. Today we find ourselves, amidst that legacy, trapped in a massive commercial juggernaut of hydropower superdams, artificial lakes, reservoirs, and ubiquitous water infrastructure that’s collapsing in the throes of a rewilding hydrosphere.

The great reset, says Rifkin, is rethinking the waters as a “life source” rather than a “resource” and learning how to adapt to the hydrosphere rather than adapting the hydrosphere to us. Rifkin takes us into a new future where we will need to reassess every aspect of the way we live – how we engage nature, pursue science, govern society, conceptualize economic life, educate our children, and even orient ourselves in time and space on our water planet: Planet Aqua.