The opening event of the Hay Festival on Thursday 2nd June was a debate to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of E F Schumacher, author of the landmark book Small is Beautiful. The panel consisted of Caroline Lucas (Green Party leader), Andrew Simms (fellow of the New Economics Foundation) and Charlie McConnell (Director of Schumacher College) and the question posed was Is Small Still Beautiful?
Schumacher’s definition of ‘small’ should not be confused with any desire to make everything smaller just for the sake of it. He was keen to promote the need for things to be of ‘appropriate’ size and that the scale of any activity should take into account the social, environmental and economic impact. He was an advocate of certain industries being nationalised in order to protect the welfare of its employees.
The hour long event, sponsored by Caplor Energy, raised some very relevant points regarding the need to move to a more sustainable way of living if we are to avoid the ‘hideous prospects’ of continued global warming. 
The audience was reminded that the level of carbon emissions is still rising and Caroline Lucas eloquently urged world governments to stop talking and writing about the problem…..and to get on and address the issues now. “We found the billions required to bail out the banks almost overnight – that shows what is possible when the political will is there.” The conclusion of the debate was that not only is ‘small still beautiful’, ‘small is possible’ and ‘small is inevitable’.
After the event Caplor MD, Gareth Williams, had the opportunity to speak to Caroline Lucas about her thoughts regarding whether Government would continue to support renewable energy technologies 
in the future. Whilst she was confident that support would be maintained, she suggested that all companies within this sector should take every opportunity to lobby MP’s and steering groups to increase the levels of funding and investment in new technologies. She stressed the need for a change in political will which she feels will only come about if a clear message is sent by the electorate of their desire to see a more sustainable future. Her concern is that many people are genuinely unaware of the speed at which we are using up the world’s natural resources and how our current behaviour will lead to catastrophic climate change. Companies, like Caplor Energy, have the opportunity to provide the general public with more information about how to live in a more sustainable way and this in turn will add weight to the growing pressure on Government to fully adopt the policies to support this.
E F Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful was first published in 1973 and features in the Times Literary Supplement top 100 most influential books written since the second World War. It explores the economic reasoning for sustainability and the possibilities for change in environmental, social and financial aspects of the business realm. Nearly 40 years on his philosophy is perhaps even more relevant as we begin to make the transition towards the lifestyle he envisaged.
