The Sustainable Development Society asked me introduce one of the speakers contributing to their lecture series and I gladly chose to welcome Dr Tony Jackson of Dundee University. I recall Tony as an lively lecturer recently returned from working in Africa whose classes I attended when I studied economics at St Andrews. Our paths crossed again many years later when I worked for Friends of the Earth and Tony by that time had moved to Dundee to set up the environmental management course. So it was a pleasure to be back in School II to hear about his current work on strategic environmental assessment and sustainability appraisal.