It has been a quiet year for the great northern debate project having delivered only two events since our last report.

In December 2014 we held a debate at The North of England Mining Institute in partnership with RCE North East partner Community Hubs Network. The panel debate entitled “Were things better back then? Is the gay ‘community’ now in decline?” was lively and well-attended and we are pleased to say it attracted an audience we have not reached in the past. We hope that it will be the first step in developing a long-term collaboration with both The North of England Mining Institute and Community Hubs Network.

In April 2015 we co-convened our third Great Debate at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna. The debate, entitled “The thirsty 10 billion: Are we managing?” interrogated the difficult questions that need to be addressed about how we manage and consume water - for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. The Great Debate’s director, Caspar Hewett, chaired and the eminent panel of experts consisted of Professor Tony Allan, founder, School of Oriental and African Studies / King’s College London Water Issues Group; Dr Carole Dalin, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment; Professor Wilco Hazeleger, Director, The Netherlands eScience Center; Professor Sonia Seneviratne, Institute for Atmospheric & Climate Science, ETH Zurich and Dr Henny van Lanen, Wageningen University & Research centre. The audience of over 400 people played a full part in the debate, which can be seen on video here: http://client.cntv.at/egu2015/GDB1