This final webinar in the series takes us to a broad view of the past to define our approach to the future. We range from the natural history of our continent’s diverse landscapes and species, confronting the cultural and systemic responses needed to redefine and strengthen our relationships with the living world and better adapt to the challenges facing us as a nation in the near future.
This second webinar in the series focuses on untangling the knots in our system that frustrate beneficial change, from the fixed thinking enforced by our political culture to the slow-changing traditions of agricultural land management and business practices founded in European soils and ecosystems. We also look at how business, entrepreneurship and private property have an effective role to play in conserving and rebuilding ecosystems and biodiversity.
This first webinar in the series focuses on the convergence of knowledge traditions, acknowledging the capacity for traditional European farming practices to adapt, the remarkable advances in the ecological sciences based on European classification systems, and the complex Australian Indigenous knowledge systems developed and maintained over a truly astonishing stretch of time, offering a deep cultural understanding and relationships with “country” to help us determine our common future in Australia.
Mrs Nicola Williams, Vice-President, The Royal Society of Victoria
Dr Catherine de Burgh-Day, Councillor, The Royal Society of Victoria and Research Scientist, The Bureau of Meteorology
Mr Rob Gell, Councillor, The Royal Society of Victoria and Company Director for Sustainability Initiatives
Professor David Walker, Councillor, The Royal Society of Victoria and NDHD Research Program, RMIT School of Health and Biomedical Sciences
Judges’ Panel:
Dr Jenny Martin
Senior Lecturer in Science Communication, School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne
Professor Alan Duffy
Astronomer, Swinburne University and Lead Scientist, The Royal Institution of Australia
Alanta Colley
Comedian, Science Communicator and Health Promotion Professional at the City of Darebin