Welcome to my journal.
Get an insight into my day-to-day work and my perspective on key issues.
Reading Ahead: Episode 2: Future Skills
Children today spend around half as much time playing as they did in the 1970s. That loss isn't just a loss of fun. It's a loss of exactly the skills our economy and society will most need in the century ahead. For the last two years, alongside my work as Chancellor of the University of Reading, I have chaired the Raising the Nation Play Commission, which has made recommendations to Government advising on a National Play Strategy for England. The Commission found that much of a child's later capacity to learn, adapt and thrive is down to one simple thing: unstructured, self-directed play.
And it turns out that play could be the best way to prepare for the century ahead. In our latest episode of our podcast, Reading Ahead, out this week, I am joined by two titans in understanding the skills needed to thrive in work in the future: Dr Naeema Pasha, founder of the World of Work Institute and Martin Allen Morales, polymath entrepreneur, chef, music and tech executive and CEO of the charity Institute of Imagination.
Reading Ahead: Episode 1: Climate Change
In the middle of one of this summer's heatwaves, unable to sleep, I woke at four in the morning to find birdsong pouring in through the open window — starting almost exactly on the hour and fading again half an hour later. It struck me as extraordinary, partly because it was beautiful, and partly because I realised I almost never hear it. Most of us are asleep for the one part of the day when nature is at its loudest and most alive. It made me wonder whether those were birds that have always been here, or if there are new voices in the dawn chorus due to our shifting climate.
More than any other challenge, climate change is the one that will most drastically define the century ahead. So, in our first episode of Reading Ahead, I wanted to ask: how do we reconnect with the natural world closely enough to understand what's changing in it, and act accordingly?
Reflections on Hosting the IPCC at the University of Reading
Last night I had the privilege of joining colleagues from the University of Reading and guests from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for a dinner held alongside a two-day series of international workshops on our campus. Around 150 people gathered — including academics, scientists, policymakers and practitioners — united by a shared seriousness of purpose: strengthening the global evidence base on climate change, and ensuring it continues to inform action in every corner of the world.
The Role of Universities in Global Security
I was honoured to be invited to give a lecture to educationalists, policy makers and students at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. I had been asked to consider the role universities have in global security by wearing my new hat as Chancellor of the University of Reading.
A New Kind of Chancellor for the University of Reading's Second Century
In May 2022 I was appointed as Chancellor of the University of Reading, the ceremonial head of the University. I am the ninth person to hold the position in Reading's 96 years as a University, taking over from the current Chancellor, William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill, who has held the post since 2016. I wrote this blog to set in context of a reflection on what kind of Chancellor I hope to become...
Just IMAGINE if... 2022: Ideas to Solve Global Challenges
New Ideas. Where do they come from? When we have a new one, why hasn't anyone thought of it before? How is it that some develop into reality and others don't? Is it possible to solve global problems without new ideas becoming reality? I don't think so, and so they fascinate me.
Could your idea change the world?
In February 2019, our inaugural competition took place at the University of Reading, with ten finalists pitching their ideas to an audience of purpose-driven entrepreneurs and business leaders, who voted for Alexander, a young man from Peru, with an audacious idea to create a quinoa and tarwi based milk from the wild slopes of the Andes.
Just IMAGINE if - Business was Always a Force of Good
The phrase 'just imagine if' has stayed with me throughout my life. Imagine a world of gender and racial equality. Imagine a world free from businesses polluting our environment. Imagine if we could make a genuine impact to reduce childhood obesity.
It's these dreams that led me to establish 'just IMAGINE if...', an annual, university-hosted, business-focused, non-profit competition to address the UN's Sustainable Development Goals - the 2019 final was at the University of Reading in February.
Just IMAGINE if - Nothing was Impossible
Just IMAGINE if... is an innovation and social enterprise competition designed to find business ideas to help address our global problems
The three little words 'just imagine if...' have started endless sentences in my head, ever since I was a toddler.
One Person Two Degrees and 30 Years of Perspective
In February I was humbled to be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Bristol. It was a surreal experience, getting robed up and entering the Great Hall to receive a degree exactly 30 years after I had first done so; and then giving a public lecture in the very building I attended lectures in, with my undergraduate textbooks and dreams.
