By the year 2025, the climate will have changed irrevocably, mainly as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. The temperature is predicted to be, on average, half a degree warmer and will fluctuate to a greater extent. Rainfall will have reduced but will also become more extreme. Resources such as energy, water and food imports will be in shorter supply and transport will be constrained; partly as a result of climate change but also due to regulations aimed at preventing global warming. In a series of important and timely books, The Edge Group explore the impact these changes will have on our lives in the future. Education and Creativity studies the future of the knowledge and creative economies in our changing world. The education sector will be key to the continued success of the UK economy, but will need to adapt to significant changes in its demographic mix coupled with higher social expectations. Transports and Networks is a thorough examination of the future of travel, both in terms of personal mobility and commerce. As the environment becomes more fragile, existing transportation networks are more and more strained.
Working explores how climate change will affect the way we work and live. Proving value and competitive advantage may be a daily struggle for large parts of the UK workforce as the outsourcing of work to where it can be done most cheaply and efficiently gathers pace, in particular to the rapidly growing economies of China and India. Living and Community investigates shifts in the social fabric of our communities that will be necessitated by environmental change. The current period of conspicuous consumption will come to an end, requiring more locally-sufficient and resource-careful lifestyles. Globalism and Regionalism considers the impact that dwindling resources and restricted travel will have on global competitiveness and regional identity. Competition between countries is likely to increase. Health and Leisure contemplates the influence that our current lifestyle choices will have on our future health and well-being. The legacy of the diet of the early twenty-first century may create an obesity epidemic and the balance between those of working age and the elderly will have fundamentally shifted, forcing a crisis in the health system and forcing change.
About The Edge Group - The Edge is an innovative and creative think-tank, sponsored by the building industry professions, that seeks to stimulate public interest in policy questions that affect the built environment and to inform and influence public opinion. The group also seeks to lobby parliament and industry through organisations such as the RIBA, the Institute of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, as well as the Office of the Mayor of London. The Edge was established with support from the Arup Foundation and is supported by The Carbon Trust.