Many of the thematic streams at Social Capital 2027 will feature a Distinguished Speaker — an internationally recognised scholar or practitioner whose work is shaping the frontiers of social capital research and practice. These headline presentations anchor the concurrent sessions, offering deep insights and provocative ideas that frame the conversations within each stream.
Drawing from diverse disciplines and contexts, our distinguished speakers illuminate how social capital connects to the major challenges of our time.
Stream: Environment, Sustainability, and Climate Change
How Story on Climate and Nature Recovery Creates Social Capital
Jules Pretty, Emeritus Professor of Environment and Society, University of Essex
The planet’s losing.
We’re in a hole. Story with a swerve gets us out. It’s the shape of all our lives. Up-down, down-up. And this shape of slantwise story, it creates hope, agency and social capital.
Story says, lift your courage. The pantry’s full of ingredients. Support for low-carbon, nature-positive, and equitable policies, institutions, and technologies is growing fast at local, national and international levels. Story can create new tipping points.
On all paths, there’s going to be a need for inspiration. Story’s an ancient tradition in every human culture, tested at each fireplace and hearth. After food, someone begins a story. The children are wide-eyed, faces upturned. Such a story contains moral and social guidance. It lets listeners know how to live well. It tells of journeys undertaken, both inner and outer. It reveals old paths. It creates energy for the new. It crosses from the individual to the collective.
Jules Pretty is Emeritus Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex. He is an author, researcher and podcast host. His next book is called Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformation Stories for Climate and Nature Recovery (March 2027).
His website is at www.julespretty.com. His YouTube channel of films and podcasts is “Story for Climate and Nature Recovery” (https://www.youtube.com/@JulesPretty58), and his podcast series is called “Heat! Camera! Action! (audio listing: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2608197).