Quick ticket sales to key events at this year’s inaugural Suffolk Festival of Ideas in Bury St Edmunds next month has led organisers to add a new high-profile name to the line-up.

Those behind the weekend of talks, performances and installations that are intended to challenge individual and collective responses to climate change have said demand for events featuring George Monbiot and Owen Jones has been exceptionally high.

Tickets for a performance by the critically acclaimed Luke Wright in Smiths Row gallery have also been selling well.

Due to the level of interest an extra event has now been added to the festival line-up. Dr Teresa Belton, from the University of East Anglia, will be hosting a workshop based on her recently published book Happier People Healthier Planet: How putting Wellbeing First Would Help Sustain Life on Earth, at Café del Mar in Bury on Sunday, May 24.

She will talk about her study of people living satisfying lives of modest material consumption and will invite the audience to explore through exercises and discussion the intricate, reciprocal relationship between personal well-being and protection of the natural world.

Mark Ereira, Green county councillor for district who has helped fund the festival through his locality budget, said: “It is so pleasing to see a further event added to the programme, and the great local interest the Festival of Ideas is now generating.

“The wellbeing of individuals and communities is intensely wrapped up with planetary wellbeing, how we live our lives and continue to flourish (or not!) – and the festival will be examining this closely.”

Matt Gaw, curator of the festival, said: “We want this festival to be something that really engages people with the challenges that our society faces, from climate change to hyper consumerism. The fact that people across Suffolk are snapping up tickets shows how important these issues are.”

Dr Belton’s workshop will run from 10.30am to noon, with tickets costing £5 and including tea, coffee and cake.

Tickets for other events, including a talk by Aubrey de Grey and a screening of the award-winning film Chasing Ice on the afternoon of May 24, are also now available from the Abbeygate Cinema box office on 0871 902 5722. In addition to ticketed events, a large number of events are free, including Question Time-style discussion evenings.

For the full festival line-up and for tickets visit www.suffolkfestivalofideas.co.uk