Bringing a safe climate future forward: Listen to the audio from the ATA froum
Climate change is without doubt the defining challenge of our generation, a challenge which requires action, commitment and innovation by all sectors of society to avoid the most dangerous impacts to our landscapes, our ecosystems, our economy and the choice of where we live.
What will a sustainable Australia look like in 2020 and how do we get there? What sustainable technologies have already been developed and what can we expect in the next 10 years. How do we build sustainable communities? And what policies do we need in place to build resilience to climate change.
As part of the Sustainable Living Festival 2010, held in February 2010, the Alternative technology Association brought together five expert speakers from a range of backgrounds (sustainable technology, community development, architecture, water managment and policy) to discuss what a sustainable 2020 Australia should look like and how we can get there.
Listen to the audio:
- Click here for the introduction.
- Click here for the forum panel discussion
- Click here for the question time and wrap up.
MC
Caroline Bayliss
Caroline is Director of Global Sustainability at RMIT University in Melbourne. In this role, Caroline works across a broad constituency, both within and outside RMIT. Caroline and her team provide strategic research, evaluation and advice around sustainability issues relevant to particular organisations, industries and sectors. She has particular expertise in relation to sustainability assessments, sustainability indicators, sustainability and Triple Bottom Line reporting and sustainable procurement. With Degrees in Arts and Law from Monash University, Caroline has worked as a solicitor in private practice, a corporate lawyer and in a Corporate Affairs role, focusing particularly on government and stakeholder relations.
Speakers
Dr Mark Diesendorf
Dr Mark Diesendorf teaches, researches and consults in the interdisciplinary fields of sustainable energy, sustainable urban transport, theory of sustainability, ecological economics, and practical processes by which government, business and other organisations can achieve ecologically sustainable and socially just development. Prior to joining the Institute of Environmental Studies in June 2004 he was senior lecturer in Human Ecology at the Australian National University (1994-1996), then Professor of Environmental Science and Founding Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney (1996-2001), and then Director of the private consultancy Sustainability Centre Pty Ltd (2001-2007).
Ian Porter
Ian Porter is the CEO at Alternative Technology Association (ATA), Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation working to support Australian households to live more sustainably, and a Director of GreenFleet. Prior to joining the ATA, Ian Porter was the Executive Director of Sustainability Policy with the Victorian Government, and responsible for the landmark policy documents Victorian Greenhouse Strategy (2002) and the Greenhouse Challenge for Energy (2004). In 2007, he moved to the Nous Group where he led the climate change department, working with the public and private sector to develop policy and respond to major challenges in the fields of climate change and energy.
Andrew Maynard
Andrew Maynard is the Director at Andrew Maynard Architects (AMA) named in Wallpaper magazine’s Architects Directory, an “annual guide to the world’s most innovative practices”. Since AMA was established in late 2002 it has been recognised internationally in media, awards and exhibitions for its unique body of highly crafted built work and socio-politically-based concepts. All of AMA’s designs are concept rich, left of center and sustainability conscious: styles and singular themes are avoided. AMA specializes in ideas rather than building type, whether the project be a house in Fitzroy, a library in Japan, a protest shelter in Tasmania, a plywood bicycle or a suburb eating robot. AMA’s conceptual and built work has been exhibited in New York, Budapest, Melbourne, Sydney, Osaka, Milan, Sao Paulo, Toyko and more.
Mary Crooks
Executive Director of the Victorian Women’s Trust and Project Director of Watermark Australia. Mary believes in the power of engaging the broader community in the big issues of our times. Mary was a founder of Watermark Australia and was principal writer of Our Water Mark. Watermark Australia provides information and resources to assist people to move towards using and managing water efficiently.
David Holmgren
David Holmgren is best known as the co-originator of the permaculture concept following the publication of “Permaculture One” in 1978. Within the growing and international permaculture movement, David is respected for his commitment to presenting ideas through practical projects and teaching by personal example, that a permaculture lifestyle is a realistic, attractive and powerful alternative to dependant consumerism.
As well as constant involvement in the practical side of permaculture, David is passionate about the philosophical and conceptual foundations for sustainability that are highlighted in his book, Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. His latest work Future Scenarios: How Communities Can Adapt To Peak Oil and Climate Change outline energy descent futures that could emerge over the next few decades. David Holmgren’s refreshing and unorthodox approach to the environmental issues of our time has been a major influence on the Transition Towns movement.
