Teas and later Evenings

Join Daniel Kenning over tea/coffee/biscuits to hear more about the concept of Transition Engineering and the fresh approaches it offers for shaping paths to the future. Today he looks at how systems work, and how from history we can see how they respond to external change. Numbers limited: booking essential

It's a fine Orkney tradition – to take a break from the day’s activities to enjoy tea or coffee and fresh local produce, and the opportunity to meet up with friends or catch up on events of the day. There’s a 10-minute story as well at around 3.30 pm, and today John Goodlad tells of Shetland smuggling and Faroe brandy.

Charles Dickens never forgot his traumatic boyhood experience in Warren's boot-blacking factory. Two hundred years later, Neil Price found a series of clues in his own family history that pointed to Warren's main competitor, and its owner in particular. He travels back to 1836 with Dave and Laura Grieve on a trail of detection.

Sit back over a drink to hear the composer Edward McGuire in conversation, speaking about his setting of Three Donne Lyrics, and his interest in the life and work of Donne amidst the turmoil of the 17th-century scientific revolution. He describes too his own interest in astronomy, expressed in works ranging from Big Bang and Orbit to Symphonies of Galaxies. There’s an opportunity to put your own questions and to hear an introduction to the bass flute by flautist Ewan Robertson.

An opportunity to hear more from Daniel Kenning over tea/coffee/biscuits about further aspects of the concept of Transition Engineering and the new approaches it opens up to solve challenges globally and locally. Today he describes the crash test – how to look at the consequences of staying on a path that’s unsustainable.

The hall’s just off Palace Road, and ideal for a break to enjoy tea or coffee and fresh local produce, and to meet up with friends or catch up on the day’s events. There’s a 10-minute story as well at around 3.30 pm. Today it’s a family story of discovery, with Neil Price telling about the mason, the tsar, and the dry docks of Sevastopol.

Are current global crises taking us into the territory where science fiction turns into reality? Back in the 1990s when historians looked to a peacful and prosperous future, Scottish science fiction writer Ken MacLeod was forecasting a much grittier world ahead. What does he think of the present day, and how does he now see the future?

The third of three discussions over tea/coffee/biscuits with Daniel Kenning, co-founder of the concept of Transition Engineering. Its aim: to provide us with methods to systematically solve problems and plan for a better future. Today he looks at how such a new vision can be developed.

Take a break at an ideal place, with tea and coffee coming round and a range of fresh local produce on the tables. There’s a 10-minute story as well at around 3.30 pm. Today Sarah Jane Gibbon has stories of island journeys made by her grandmother, the writer Bessie Skea (‘Countrywoman’).

Underwater hydrophones at the Fall of Warness. The wind driving the turbines on Hammars Hill. Building a tidal machine at Leask Marine’s workshop. An electric car and a home air to water heating system. Brian Cromarty has used field recordings to compose four pieces of music inspired by Orkney’s energy story.

Catch up on the events of the day and meet up with friends over tea or coffee and fresh local produce. There’s a 10-minute story as well at around 3.30 pm. We’ll hear today from Jon Side about Elaine Bullard’s journeys to all parts of Orkney, to study and record the plants of the islands.