Solution Revolution

In 2019, California will become the first state to fully implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) into their Kindergarten-Grade 8 curriculum. The aim of these standards is to increase science education, to enhance the quality of science education, and to teach core concepts of science in a way that can be applied across all disciplines. My talk will address these standards, asking what do we need from our science education? And is the NGSS model one which could work in Scotland?

Legal technology is big business, yet dozens of organisations and tools have been launched in recent years which focus not on law firm’s profits, but instead on access to justice (‘A2J’). How can we best empower ordinary people to exercise their legal rights in ways not previously possible or practical? Can science and technology step in to help where traditional legal systems are failing the most vulnerable among us? In this talk we will explore the ‘A2J problem’, and highlight a couple of real life tools available today which seek to redress the balance.

Basic income is a mirror held up to modern life, what happens when you challenge everything about contemporary society. Despite celebrating rebels in popular culture and our enthusiasm for leather jackets many of us work in boring careers for wages that don’t adequately compensate us. All because the alternative is poverty. A guaranteed income for each individual, regardless of circumstance and sufficient to live with dignity would create a wonderful foundation upon which people could build their lives. Come and hear about the proposed basic income pilot schemes here in Scotland.