Minutes' silence for British MP at RMIT book launch

A minutes’ silence is unlikely and so an unexpected happening at a book launch.

That, however, is exactly what happened last night at the launch of “Sustainability Citizenship in Cities: Theory and practice” at RMIT’s Storey Hall in Melbourne’s Swanston St.

The lead editor for the book, the Professor of Geography at the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT University, and Director of the university’s Cities Programme, Ralph Horne, called for minutes’ silence.

Professor Horne was responding to the launch of the book by the Deputy Director of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne’s, Professor John Wiseman, and digressed from prepared notes to acknowledge murdered British MP Jo Cox.

In calling for the near 100 people in the “Green Brain” room on the seventh floor at Storey Hall to join him, lamented the death of a young woman who had been committed to and pursued her beliefs and values in the British parliament.

The view over the forecourt of the nearby
Melbourne's State Library from the
seventh floor 'Green Brain' room at RMIT.

The book he and his fellow editors, John Fien, Beau B. Beza, and Anitra Nelson, compiled has no direct relevance to the death of Ms Cox, except that she epitomized many of the values espoused in the book.

In marketing the book, Amazon.com said:

“Urban sustainability citizenship situates citizens as social change agents with an ethical and self-interested stake in living sustainably with the rest of Earth. Such citizens not only engage in sustainable household practices but respect the importance of awareness raising, discussion and debates on sustainability policies for the common good and maintenance of Earth’s ecosystems.

“Sustainability Citizenship in Cities seeks to explain how sustainability citizenship can manifest in urban built environments as both responsibilities and rights. Contributors elaborate on the concept of urban sustainability citizenship as a participatory work-in-progress with the aim of setting its practice firmly on the agenda. This collection will prompt practitioners and researchers to rethink contemporary mobilisations of urban citizens challenged by various environmental crises, such as climate change, in various socio-economic settings.

“This book is a valuable resource for students, academics and professionals working in various disciplines and across a range of interdisciplinary fields, such as: urban environment and planning, citizenship as practice, environmental sociology, contemporary politics and governance, environmental philosophy, media and communications, and human geography.”

Copies of the book were for sale at last night’s launch.