In June 2023, Craig Bennett (CEO at The Wildlife Trusts and former CSaP Policy Fellow) met with the Cambridge Zero Policy Forum to discuss the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed at the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) and what this means for the UK.

On 29 June, CSaP invited Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, to give a lecture on adolescent brain development – what we know and what it means for policy. The lecture took place at Trinity College, Cambridge.

CSaP’s Horn Fellows gathered at Jesus College, Cambridge for a day of interdisciplinary discussions on Artificial Intelligence (AI), balancing the potential for the application of AI in health and science against its risks.

Dr Rory Finnin, Associate Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge and the Founding Director of Cambridge Ukrainian Studies, delivered an online seminar for CSaP Policy Fellows on the theme of Geopolitics: nationhood, conflict, and identity.

In a second CSaP reading group session, an open conversation was held by academics and students from across the university, and Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (Leverhulme Trust Visiting Chair in Sustainable Development Law and Policy, University of Cambridge) provided opening remarks on the diplomacy chapters of Simon Sharpe’s book, Five Times Faster, Rethinking the Science, Economics, and Diplomacy of Climate Change.

On 17 May 2023, the Cambridge Zero Postgraduate Academy launched their first ever Student Dialogue event with Chris Stark, Chief Executive, UK Climate Change Committee (CCC). The Student Dialogue is an exciting new initiative aiming to bring postgraduate students into conversation with senior policymakers and experts in the climate space; this first event was a great showcase for the engaging and thought-provoking dialogue that these sessions can enable.

In May, the Cambridge Zero Policy Forum met with Chris Stark, the Chief Executive of the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC).

In June, the Cambridge Zero Policy Forum met for the first of four reading group sessions, on Five Times Faster: Rethinking the Science, Economics, and Diplomacy of Climate Change, by Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute, Simon Sharpe.

Dr Eoin O'Sullivan, Centre for Science, Technology & Innovation Policy chaired a discussion with Dr Molly Morgan Jones, the British Academy, and Dan Shah, UKRI. The session focussed on how societal challenges feature in the UKRI and BA strategies, as well as the importance of working with other countries to tackle global challenges.

This year's Dr Seng Tee Lee Public Policy Lecture was delivered by social anthropologist and geographer Professor Melissa Leach. The lecture brought forth the concept of ‘naturekind’, directly challenging the conventional separation between human and non-human nature.