George McRobie, one of the world’s leading proponents of sustainable agriculture and small-scale technology, will speak at UPEI’s Faculty Lounge in the Main Building, on Tuesday afternoon November 15, from 4:30 – 5:30 pm. The public is invited to this event, hosted by the Institute of Island Studies. McRobie will speak about the Transition Movement in Europe and North America, and the challenge we all face of living with climate change, and living without oil. The recipient of an honorary degree by UPEI, McRobie is a part-time Islander, dividing his year between homes in Brackley Beach and London, England. He is also the patron for The Homestead Farm, the new sustainable agriculture component of the Sir Andrew Macphail Homestead in Orwell, PEI. McRobie was a close friend and colleague of the radical economist E.F. Schumacher,whose landmark book “Small Is Beautiful” made such an impact in the latter part of the 20th century. With Schumacher, he co-founded in 1966, of the Intermediate Technology Development Group, an organization known since 2005 as Practical Action. Its mission is to work with poor communities in four regions of the world to develop appropriate technologies in areas such as renewable energy, food production, and small enterprise development. Following Schumacher’s death in 1977, George McRobie carried on their joint work by writing a practical guide called Small Is Possible, published in 1981. This book made prominent mention of the work of Prince Edward Island’s Institute of Man and Resources, an organization which first drew McRobie’s attention and person to our shores. More recently, McRobie has served as President of the Soil Association, Britain’s foremost farm organization promoting organic agriculture.