Event - River Holme Connections
Our Holme Festival: Rivers are the lifeblood of your town
Event Information
Date/Time:
22/10/2019 7:00 pm 8:00 pm
Location:
Learning Centre, Heritage Quay
University of Huddersfield,
Queensgate,
Huddersfield,
HD1 3DH
Cost:
This event is free to attend.
More Details:
Lifeblood of Your Town: Why Should you Make Friends with Rivers like the Holme and Colne?
by Dr Paul Gaskell, “Trout in the Town” North of England Programme manager, Wild Trout Trust
Our towns and cities typically owe their existence to the rivers on whose banks each settlement formed. Providing people with water, transport, power, food and sanitation, these watercourses were, and still are, the lifeblood of our urban centres.
Following the industrial revolution, you could be fooled into thinking that humans have successfully dominated and domesticated urban rivers. Extensive engineering modifications to channels and building over rivers appear to sustain this falsehood.
Recent flooding events, heatwaves, poor air- and water-quality, mental and physical health crises – plus the huge decline in insect life – are stark warnings that society depends on healthy ecosystems far more than nature depends on humans.
Dr Gaskell will discuss these issues, highlighting practical actions we can take at grass-roots level and above, and providing links to supporting resources.
Interested in more Our Holme talks?
This talk is part of the Our Holme River Festival. Other events on the day include:
- 10.30-11.30am: Saving the planet in the hills above Huddersfield, Mr Chris Dean
- 1.00-2.00pm: Climate change and National Parks: from threat to opportunity? Andrew McCloy
- 2.30-3.30pm: A body in the river: the new science of forensic hydrology, Professor Carolyn Roberts
- 5.30-6.30pm: Reducing the impact of plastic waste on the water environment, Mr Rob Casey
More about our speaker
Dr Paul Gaskell, “Trout in the Town” North of England Programme manager, Wild Trout Trust
Dr Paul Gaskell is a freshwater biologist, angler and author. Following a career in both contract and academic research, at “Covance” and The University of Sheffield respectively, Paul joined the Wild Trout Trust in 2008. He was tasked with creating a programme to inspire, support and enable local community groups and organisations across the UK to adopt and care for sections of urban streams and rivers.
The result was “Trout in the Town” the Trust’s Urban River Restoration Programme, which Paul now runs.
