The Green Scythe Fair Debate is now the Green Scythe Fair Parley!

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Well, it never was a proper debate, and we’re not into the adversarial combat that debates engender. So we’ve decided to recast this important part of the Fair. We want to put emphasis on achieving some agreement between the (more or less) opposing positions on the topical environmental issue we’ve chosen to discuss. We still invite three participants who will each make a brief presentation, then take part in a structured discussion, followed by contributions from the floor, all working towards ending the Parley with as much consensus as we can muster. Hence ‘Parley’, "a discussion especially one designed to end an argument or hostilities between two groups of people”.

The topical issue this year is using wood as fuel: “Up in Smoke - is burning wood sustainable?" Grown in the right way, burned in the right way, it must surely be a natural, sustainable and environmentally sound practice. It’s been going on long before humans ever walked the earth, and has been a vital resource for humankind ever since they/we learned to harness fire. It’s also destructive and potentially poisonous, and deforestation is a key driver of climate change.