Sustainable ecosystems, sustainable communities – can we have both?

The next Thursday Forum to be held by Sustainable Living Armidale (SLA) will focus on the concept of sustainability in rural communities. The guest speaker will be Richard Stayner who has worked at UNE since 1985 in the Institute for Rural Futures (formerly the Rural Development Centre).

With a background in agricultural, regional and natural resource economics, he has undertaken many projects related to how rural industries and communities respond to economic, social and environmental forces. His recent work includes studies of the resilience of rural communities, and the capacity of communities in the Murray Darling Basin to adapt to proposed policies to support the sustainability of the river system.

In this presentation, Richard will discuss how the socio-economic sustainability of human settlements relates to the sustainability of natural systems.  He will then talk about the notion of resilience and how it is being applied to both natural and socio-economic systems. Is it more useful to talk about resilient – rather than sustainable – communities?  Does socio-economic resilience require eco-system resilience?  Does eco-system resilience ensure the socio-economic resilience of the places associated with them?  What are the possible trade-offs?  How can the two be reconciled?

Richard will use examples and illustrations from a wide range of work he has undertaken all over Australia in the past 20 years.

The SLA Thursday Forum is on 3^rd November at Kent House, 141 Faulkner Street, opposite Central Park at 7pm. All welcome, light refreshments to follow, gold coin donation appreciated.