April 14, 2015
Call to integrate regional environment strategies
“Healthy environments and productive economy -- a challenge for the future of Australia" will be the topic addressed at this year’s Allan Sefton Memorial Lecture on Friday 1 May.
This year’s guest speaker is Professor Bruce Thom (pictured right) who is a Member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and Honorary Professorial Fellow in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UOW.
Now in its 23rd year, this annual lecture was established in recognition of the late Allan Sefton who was well known to Illawarra residents for his work as a naturalist and conservator of the local environment.
Since 1996, the Australian Government has produced State of Environment reports every five years. Some state and local governments also produce such reports. Furthermore, reports on the condition of selected assets such as estuaries are produced by environmental agencies.
Professor Thom in his address will examine the purpose and use of all these reports.
He will highlight how the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists has developed an alternative approach to the management of assets which relates to the long-term health of the environment and how sustaining that health benefits the economy.
Professor Thom believes there is a need to provide mechanisms that link policies and investment decisions across all levels of government.
Existing mechanisms reflect degrees of fragility that hinder integration of decision making especially at the scale of landscape function, he will argue.
Professor Thom will highlight how the use of integrated regional strategies that embraces land use planning, infrastructure planning, catchment management, including accounting for changes in asset condition and disaster preparedness should greatly assist in achieving more secure outcomes for the future well-being of Australia.
Speaker biography: Professor Thom is a geographer with interests in coastal geomorphology and in recent years, his interests have expanded to include coastal planning and management. In these capacities, he is currently serving as an advisor to local, state and federal governments. As a former Chair of the National State of Environment Committee, Professor Thom was in a position to examine changes to environmental conditions across a range of Australian environmental assets, an interest that has continued as a Member of the Wentworth Group. He has also served as a Pro-Vice Chancellor Research (University of Sydney) and Vice-Chancellor (University of New England).
Background: The Allan Sefton Memorial Lecture was established in 1993 and is a public occasion where a distinguished Australian scientist speaks on a topic of wide environmental interest. The lecture is organised annually by the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and supported by a fund established by BlueScope, Wollongong City Council and friends of the Sefton family.
Event details
Allan Sefton Memorial Lecture
Friday 1 May | 5.30pm – 6.30pm
NEW Sciences Teaching Facility, Bldg 43, University of Wollongong
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Media contact: Victoria DiMise on +61 2 4221 5853.