Shared planet

The complex and growing interface between people and the natural world is explored in the latest OU on the BBC radio series Shared Planet. As the world population increases by approximately 200,000 people per day and our demand for resources rises each year, is there enough room for nature?

Hosted by Monty Don, each programme in the series will explore the complex interface between the growing human population and wildlife. Invited guests, some of the world’s greatest thinkers on the environment, will explore topics and look at the economic, political and social drivers that affect our relationship with nature.

The first programme, The problem of population, looks at the crunch point between human population and the natural world with a report from Conneticut on the complex decline of the ubiquitous Chimney Swift, a story Monty Don believes is the paradigm for the series. The studio discussion will explore the wider issues of human population and nature with Lord May, past president of The Royal Society, and Professor Wolfgang Lutz a human population dynamics specialist.

• Listen to the programme on BBC Radio 4 at 11.00am on Tuesday 11 June
• After this date you can listen again via the Radio 4 website
• Find out more about Shared Planet and the problems of population from OpenLearn
• Discover the range of environmental studies at the OU

 Posted 7 June 2013