UNE is hosting the ANZSEE 2015 annual conference, 19-23 October: ‘Thriving Through Transformation – Local and Global Sustainability’. Two events will be free, but anyone can sign up and attend other sessions, for a fee. See their web site for a full program.
Free sessions:
- Monday, 19 October at 5pm Professor Snow Barlow will give a public lecture: “Food, Agriculture, and Climate’, in the Arts Lecture Theatre 1. The lecture will be followed by drinks and nibbles on the lawns of Booloominbah, sponsored by SLA’s Armidale Road to Paris.
- ‘Transformation Workshops: Managing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy. ‘Friday, 23 October 9am-5pm in the UNE Business School; Lecture Theatre 1.
- Morning 9:00 – 12:00: ‘Policy Making and Well Being in the Sustainable Growth Era.
- Afternoon: 1:10 – 5:00: ‘Regional International Dimensions of Climate Change Adaptation’.
I think about the title of the morning session to the Transformation Workshops. Namely, ‘Policy Making and Well Being in the Sustainable Growth Era.’ So far as I am aware, the size of the Earth has been constant for billions of years.
I do not consider it to be a matter of opinion that you cannot, for example, grow the size of a cricket ball. Does sustainable growth mean doing so continuously – even from one generation to the next? If something of our own creation cannot be grown – let alone sustainably – how can sustainable growth take place when it comes to anything else, let alone this planet?
I ask because if planetary history is compacted into a 24 hour time period, we humans appeared at two seconds to midnight. Am I the only one seeing that all this is not a question of perception, opinion or belief? Something to ponder the next time you are awake at 11:59:58pm.
I also ask because statements and sentences combining the words sustainable growth appear everywhere. It is not just at an Ecological Economics conference. ‘Excellent Lifestyle; Sustainable Growth’ is the headline statement of Armidale-Dumaresq Council’s Community Strategic Plan. For anyone who is interested, this is despite my best (and direct) protestations on the matter.
For those who are interested in my comments on the publicising of Professor Barlow’s public lecture, see the story at http://slaati.org/2015/10/10207 Note: included is a YouTube video (with about 30 views.) I write more extensively under that video i.e. on the YouTube site.
Replies are welcome.
Thank-you and best regards,
Tom Livanos.
tom.369@hotmail.com
I am unable to attend the conference due to other commitments and because I cannot afford the $890 fee.