From Sir Ed Davey MP to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe; Vince Cable to Steve Crawshaw; Laura Bates to Stephen Grosz, we’re proud to be welcoming expert figures across a range of disciplines. October is Black History Month and we have several inspirational Black women joining us, including Joycelyn Longdon (23/10, 6pm), Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (30/10, 6pm) and Candice Brathwaite (31/10, 6pm).  

Our programme continues to be inspired by the Solutions Agenda. Jon Alexander’s How to Save Democracy series brings the likes of Caroline Lucas to our stage, and kicks off this month focusing on citizens’ assemblies (15/09, 6pm). 

To highlight three events on Refugees and Migration: The Media Society examines the role of the press in migration narratives (22/09, 6.30pm), we continue our partnership with English PEN, asking authors to imagine a fair and just UK system for refugee rights (20/11, 6.30pm), and Refugee Action showcases the Lift the Ban coalition (25/11, 6pm).   

As well as October’s Green Economy Forum, speakers including Sir Partha Dasgupta, Tim Jackson and Kate Raworth, Diane Coyle, James Arbib, César Hidalgo and more address the Green Economy, and 3B Impact compile an expert panel on investors’ role in the age of aid cuts (24/09, 6pm).  

Health Systems and AI for Good intertwine in Operation Smile’s exploration of AI’s transformation of care for children with cleft conditions (07/10, 6pm). Richard Susskind unpacks the processes, and perplexities, of thinking about AI (08/09, 6pm). Following our popular debate in June, we join forces with Purpose Union for two more debates this autumn. First up: Can AI Help Close the Inequality Gap?, (18/09, 7pm).  

Ahead of December’s Resilient Cities Forum, we look at London’s housing crisis with author Peter Apps, activist Kwajo Tweneboa and journalist Vicky Spratt (14/10, 6pm), and explore the impacts of our obsession with cars with Arthur Kay and Professor Dame Henrietta Moore (29/10, 1pm). In November, we continue to push the envelope of insurers’ approach to the climate crisis with another Purpose Union debate (details coming soon). 

Thanks to feedback from the Member Survey, we’ve added more interactive formats, as well as more daytime events. In the week ahead, join us for a workshop boosting creativity, innovation and intuition with the Craigberoch Business Decelerator (04/09, 6pm), and spend your lunchbreak with a legend of the sustainability sphere, Jonathon Porritt, and the young campaigners he has collaborated with (08/09 12.30pm).  

Speaking of members, we’re thrilled that several autumn events came to us via the Impact Programme Proposal Submission Form, including Dee Gibson’s talk tonight on meaningful travel (01/09, 6pm), Atul Kumar’s fundraising workshop (06/10m 1pm), Mex Ibrahim’s panel of experts taking on Big Food (22/10, 6pm) and Andrew Gilmour’s conversation with Paddy O’Connell linking conflict and the climate crisis (27/10, 6pm).  

In addition to the partners I’ve mentioned, we’re building on the strength of partnerships with Climate Connection (with events happening monthly), On Frontline (firstly, Gaza: The War on Press Freedom, 02/09, 1pm, now featuring Al-Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh), How To Academy (highlights include Sarah Stein Lubrano, 25/09, 6pm), Green Rider (13/11, 6pm), Global Witness (03/11, 6pm). A new partnership with Hay Festival, Lviv Book Forum and Ukrainian Institute London brings a special event featuring Hisham Matar, Elif Shafak alongside Ukrainian writers (02/10, 6.30pm).  

I’ve hardly scratched the surface here! Head to our website / your app to find out about all the other events we have lined up. I look forward to seeing you. 

Lily