Speakers Corner Trust

Youth Amplified Website Launched

peter — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:05:12 +0000

A nine month project has come to fruition with the launch of Youth Amplified, an innovative new website designed to help 11-18 year-olds improve their speaking skills and overcome the lack of experience and confidence which prevents so many from engaging fully in their communities, schools and workplaces. Developed by Speakers’ Corner Trust and the University of Leeds supported by the BAFTA-winning digital design agency Bold Creative and based on work with schools and youth groups in West Yorkshire, Youth Amplified features animations, videos, self evaluation exercises and a teacher guide designed to help young people improve their ability to negotiate, persuade, project, argue, listen and above all speak effectively. The project was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. More.

SCTNigeria Appoints Its First Director

peter — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:40:59 +0000

SCTN has appointed Ramatu Umar-Bako as its first Director. Ramatu is a lawyer, human rights advocate and development specialist with over 11 years experience working in both local and international organisations including the British Council. She took up her post in April and will be based at ActionAid's office in Abuja. Her appointment means that SCTN can now plan its own national launch as well as the first of its local projects, starting in Abuja but, over time, rolling out across Nigeria.

Overseas Aid – What’s The Point?

peter — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:44:31 +0000

In the latest in SCT's Forum for Debate series, Max Lawson of Oxfam and Dr Stephen Davies of the Institute of Economic Affairs argue the merits of government development aid programmes. Are they really effective in relieving poverty and helping developing countries to secure their own futures or do they simply sustain dependency and feed corruption, waste and the interests of donor nations and big business? Are there succesful aid models and to what extent are they shaped by governments, the third sector or enterprise? You can read the debate here..

Overseas Aid – What’s The Point?

peter — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:01:40 +0000

Even in times when the domestic economy is not under such pressure and public finances are not so stretched, what is the justification for overseas aid?

Does it really bring millions of vulnerable people long term relief from poverty, starvation, disease and conflict – or are those problems endemic and unalterable? Even if aid is capable of addressing these challenges, does not experience tell us that it is too often misappropriated or misspent? At best, does it not encourage dependency and prevent impoverished societies from developing their own economies? And even if it salves consciences in the developed world, is it not also often cynically exploited by donor nations as an extension of foreign policy?

Or is there evidence that aid is actually working? Are there models which not only guarantee that it can be strategically focused, adequately safeguarded and make a significant and sustainable difference where it is needed most? Should aid be regarded as investment rather than charity and can it really help poor countries become less poor, more stable and more independent? If so, what do such models look like?

Max Lawson of Oxfam and Dr Stephen Davies of the Institute of Economic Affairs bring very different insights to bear on these questions.…

SCT Wins Home and Away Support!

peter — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:30:57 +0000

SCT has secured funding both for its work in the UK and for the project it has been developing in Nigeria since 2009. The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation has awarded SCT a grant which will make a significant contribution to its core costs over the next three years, allowing it to pursue a new round of local Speakers' Corner projects as well as develop new programmes in the UK. Meanwhile the Ford Foundation is to provide funding for the new Speakers' Corner Trust Nigeria which SCT is establishing to take the national project forward in Nigeria. SCTN is registered as an Incorporated Trust in Nigeria, has its own constitution, Advisory Council and Boards of Trustees and Directors and, with the benefit of Ford's two-year grant, will now be able to recruit its own director. SCT is extremely grateful to both Foundations for their generous support.

SCT & WEA in New Collaboration

peter — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:45:02 +0000

SCT and the Workers' Educational Association, the UK's largest voluntary-sector provider of adult education, are developing a joint initiative which will provide, through the WEA, a range of learning opportunities to enable people to develop confident and knowledgeable speaking and listening skills, and with SCT’s support, create their own forums for debate and platforms for expression. The scheme complements the Expressing Citizenship project through which SCT and the University of Leeds are designing speaking and listening resources for young people. The collaboration will not only allow the partners to create a valuable new educational resource but also enable SCT to work with the WEA's national, regional and branch networks in developing local Speakers' Corner projects. The programme is to be piloted in a series of projects in southern England and West Yorkshire.

GM Foods – Feeding the World or Destroying the Planet?

peter — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:16:38 +0000

In the latest in our Forum for Debate series, Professor Jonathan Jones of The Sainsbury Laboratory and Emma Hockridge of the Soil Association argue the case for and against genetically modified food production. With the world's population growing and with it the number of people at risk from starvation or malnutrition, the case for GM seems ever stronger. But is its promise false and even dangerous? Does GM provide for more efficient and environmentally friendly food production which benefits the developed and developing worlds alike? Or is it a contaminating threat to conventional crops which allows global businesses to exploit subsistence farmers? What are the relative roles of GM and organic farming in meeting the world's needs? Can a balance be found - or do we have to choose between them? You can read the debate here..

GM Foods – Feeding the World or Destroying the Planet?

peter — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:01:16 +0000

The argument about GM technology has often been passionate and not always constructive. But the stakes are high. With food costs rising and the environmental damage of intensive farming increasing in the developed economies and with population growth and climate change making subsistence farming still more marginal in the world’s poorest countries, the case for GM technology seems ever stronger. But is its promise false or even dangerous?

Does GM technology provide for more efficient and sustainable food production; if so how does it benefit producers, consumers and the environment in both the developed and developing world? Or is it a contaminating threat to conventional crops and to the environment in general as well as a pernicious means of exploiting people in poverty? Can a balance be found: is the current regulatory regime either excessive or inadequate and, if so, what safeguards might deliver the benefits of GM while minimising its risks? Or will the dangers always outweigh the benefits?

Two experts in the field join the debate.…

Speakers’ Corner at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate

peter — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:29:44 +0000

SCT in partnership with the Zentrum für Politische Schönheit and supported by Google is bringing Speakers' Corner to Berlin. A specially designed temporary Speakers' Corner will be set up at the Brandenburg Gate on 9 November to commemmorate the 22nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and to celebrate the right to free expression which the events of 1989 helped secure for all German citizens. Speakers' will include distinguished individuals including Professor Gesine Schwan, President of the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance and a former candidate for Federal President, Dr Uwe Lehmann-Brauns, Father of the Berlin Parliament and British academic and journalist Timothy Garton Ash as well as SCT's Director Peter Bradley. A number of leading activists in a number of fields will also be stimulating public debate on a wide range of issues throughout the day. But most importantly, the Speakers' Corner will provide a platform for members of the public of all ages and backgrounds to express their own ideas and opinions and debate with their fellow citizens the issues which matter most to them. Google will then upload their contributions to YouTube to gain an even wider audience. To read more about the Berlin Speakers' Corner, see the Berlin page.

Hansard Society Endorses SCT Call for ‘Space for Citizenship’ in Parliament Square

peter — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:28:46 +0000

The Hansard Society's keenly anticipated report on the future of the Westminster World Heritage Site A Place for People has endorsed SCT's call for the transformation of Parliament Square into a space for citizenship. To access SCT's submission to the Hansard Society and the Society's 'A Place for People' report, see the October news story here.