2009 Calendar

Feburary 27

Speaker: David Dumaresq

Forum Theme: Human Ecology for an Urbanising World

Topic: Global Food Flows and Urban Food Security: Case Studies from Three IARU Cities

March 6

Speaker: Rob Dyball

Forum Theme: Human Ecology for an Urbanising World

Topic: Human Ecology for an Urbanising World

March 13

Speaker: Andrew MacKenzie

Forum Theme: Human Ecology for an Urbanising World

Topic: Recovering suburbia: An analysis of suburban form – post fire redevelopment.

March 20

Speaker: David Eastburn

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: Felling trees on top of the garden – revealing 'monocultures of the western mind' and learning from PNG

March 27

Speaker: Kerry Arabena

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: Remote area stores in Aboriginal Communities

Powerpoint presentation from the forum (pdf, 448KB)

April 3

Speaker: Su Wild-River (ANUgreen)

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: ANU is finalising a new Environmental Management Plan 2009-2015. This seminar will explain the proposed structure, targets, indicators and strategies.

April 10

No Forum as it is Good Friday

April 17

Speaker: Val Brown

Forum Theme: Key Texts in Human Ecology

Topic: Resilience Thinking and all that.

Val Brown will lead a round table discussion on the rise and rise of resilience as a key factor in sustainability policy and research.

Reference: Walker B and Salt D Resilience thinking: sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world (pdf, 768KB)

April 24

Speaker: John Schooneveldt

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: "Scientific Metaphor: A contextual approach"

May 1

Speaker: None

Topic: Cancelled

May 8

Speaker: Dr Maarten Stapper

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: Barriers towards sustainable food production systems

May 15

Speaker: Iome Christa

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: Sustainability of Music Festivals in Australia, Focusing on Waste Management

May 22

Speaker: David Eastburn

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: Kristianstad Vattenrike
Biosphere area in southern Sweden  - gradually transforming a community's attitude towards the value of wetlands and using a people-centred or cultural approach to landscape-scale natural resource management.

May 29

Speaker: Human Ecology Student Panel

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: A panel of students in the early stages of their studies in Human Ecology will reflect on their experience to date and their expectations to come.

June 5

Speaker: Helen King

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: Agriculture and climate change in the ACR

Powerpoint presentation from the forum (pdf, 406KB)

Notes from the Powerpoint presentation from the forum (pdf, 108KB)

June 12

Speaker: Desley Speck

Forum Theme: Human Ecology for an Urbanising World

Topic: A Hot Topic? Constructions and communication of climate change.

This presentation reports on some of the findings from initial research towards Desley's PhD.

The Forum Goes to Manchester

This and next week's sessions feature forum speakers who are attending the Society for Human Ecology Conference in Manchester in early July dry running their papers.

June 19

Speaker: Various

Forum Theme: Human Ecology for an Urbanising World

Topic: - The Forum Goes to Manchester

This and last week's sessions feature forum speakers who are attending the Society for Human Ecology Conference in Manchester in early July dry running their papers.

June 26

Speaker: Various

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: - PHD Workshop

This week in the forum we are going to workshop some issues that people are coming across in their PhDs on socio-ecological systems. Depending on numbers, we will do this in small groups or in plenary. We will cover both theoretical and more administrative aspects.

July 3

Speaker: Lorrae Van Kerkhoff

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: - Methodology for Dummies

Fenner's integrative and qualitative methods expert, will run an interactive session on methodology. Bring along your questions, frameworks, assumptions and ideas about methodology.

July 10

Speaker: Sara Smiley Smith

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: - Understanding Decision Making for Improved Institutional Sustainability: Examining Change in University Settings

Visiting ANU as an IARU Fellow this Winter, Sara will present on her dissertation research which seeks to understand how institutional systems make decisions to adopt more sustainable practices, and what factors inhibit or accelerate such decision making processes. To place the discussion in context, she will also discuss her experience as a decision maker working in Yale University's Office of Sustainability.

July 17

Speaker: David Dumaresq

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: - Why Methodology Matters.

This week we'll have a presentation from David Dumaresq title "Why Methodology Matters". This talk is part of our ongoing discussion about "Methodology" rather than as a self contained talk for its own sake.

Chapter from Midgely's "Systemic Intervention" entilted Why Methodology? for those interested.

July 24

Speaker: Sandra Lauer

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series & Human Ecology for an Urbanising World

Topic: - Community Formation and Attitudes to Sustainability: a Canberra Study

This research project was commissioned by the ACT Government. The primary aim was to investigate whether there is a relationship between community development and sustainability.

The study also explored the perceptions, experience and expectations of residents in different areas of Canberra concerning community and sustainability.

July 31

Speaker: Various

Forum Theme: Human Ecology for an Urbanising World

Topic: - The Forum Returns from Manchester

This week's session features forum speakers who attended the Society for Human Ecology Conference in Manchester in early July.

August 7

Speaker: David Dumaresq

Forum Theme: Key Texts in Human Ecology

Topic: - Revisiting the Limits to Growth

David Dumaresq will be leading a reading group discussion on Revisiting the Limits to Growth.

A discussion based around the recent American Scientist paper by Hall & Day. The paper to be discussed is available here and David has suggested that eager participants could have a look through the original book, The Limits to Growth.

August 14

Speaker: Carina Wyborn

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: - Crossing boundaries to link landscapes: Landscape scale restoration in Australia

August 21

Speaker: Charles Massey

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: - The sheep mulesing controversy: a mix of innovation in sustainable agriculture, genetics, politics, power and discourses.

August 28

Speaker: a panel discussion led by Steve Dovers, with Daniel Connell, Katrina Proust and Jacqueline de Chazal

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: - Doing an integrative/interdsiciplinary research PhD

September 4

Speaker: John Schooneveldt

Forum Theme: Key Texts in Human Ecology

Topic: - Ways to intervene in a system

Following David Dumaresq's presentation on the classic report to the Club of Rome: Limits to Growth (1972) and its updates: Beyond the Limits (1993) and Limits to Growth: Its thirty Year Update (2004), John Schooneveldt will lead a discussion one of Dana Meadows best known papers: Ways to intervene in a system (in increasing order of effectiveness).

He will illustrate the paper with examples from the current climate change debate. A copy of the paper is available here. John asks that you read the paper before the session. He first read it some ten years ago and rates it as one of the most interesting and important papers he has read......ever!

September 11

Speaker: Rob Dyball

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: Ecological Society of America Conference

Rob Dyball will report back on Human Ecology at the recent Ecological Society of America Conference in Albuquerque and outline the Section's proposed symposium for ESA Pittsburgh in 2010.

September 18

Speaker: Damian Walters

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: Restoring wetlands with disadvantaged and rural communities in South Africa.

September 25

Speaker 1: Deb Cleland

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: - Finding a way out? Alternative livelihoods for subsistence fishers in SE Asia.

Speaker 2: Edwina Loxton

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: - Social impacts that result from reduced access to public native forest for timber production.

October 2

Speakers: Valerie Brown, John Harris and Jacqueline Russell

Forum Theme: Key Texts in Human Ecology

Topic: - Tackling Wicked Problems: through the transdiciplinary imagination.

This book based on the work of the Human Ecology Forum is in the last production stages before going to Earthscan for the 30th October. The editors will discuss how the themes of the book and the 15 papers from Forum members have been brought together in the book's final design.

October 9

Speaker: None

Topic: Cancelled

October 16

Speaker: Jamie Pittock, Rakhyun Kim and Imran Habib

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: Multi-lateral environment agreements: talk shops or drivers for sustainability?

Are the world's multi-lateral environment agreements (MEAs) just resource-wasting talk shops or are they drivers for sustainability? How could they be more effective? Three Fenner PhD students with experiences from different countries and from working with national and international institutions give their perspectives on the state of our MEAs, based on their early PhD research.

Powerpoint presentation from the forum (pdf, 1.2MB)

October 23

Speaker: Dr David Pearson

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: Organic and Local Food Webs in Australia

Within the context of sustainable food systems Dr Pearson will be exploring a research agenda for organic and local food webs in Australia.

Powerpoint presentation from the forum (pdf, 2.37MB)

October 30

Speaker: Catherine Gross

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: - Trade-off in drought: Perceptions of need and injustice in water distribution in Australia.

Concepts of justice and the distribution of public resources have been at the heart of social debate for centuries. Yet, even though Australian governments have a long history of dealing with resource use conflicts, many decisions, such as those in water allocation, are perceived as unjust. In these situations social tensions emerge and social conflict is often the result.

This presentation explores one such conflict: the North South Pipeline and Food Bowl Modernisation Project in Victoria. The conflict is investigated from a justice perspective. The case study shows not only that justice is fundamental to people's acceptance or rejection of a decision but also why it is important.

November 6

Speaker: Viveka Turnbull Hocking

Forum Theme: Fenner Scholar Series

Topic: - Enabling Design for Sustainable Futures: Design-led research and research-led design.

In addressing the theme of design as a catalyst for social change Viveka will specifically look at the role of design-led research.

The contemporary issue of sustainability, however ambiguous, is highlighting the need for social change; in particular the need for researching possible futures and inspiring the implementation of effective change.

Focusing on research may not seem to be a direct application of social change. However in enabling social research projects across the disciplines to utilise a design-led methodology, could increase the creative capacity of our society to envisage and implement a sustainable change for the better.

This presentation explores what such a design-led methodology could look like, how it should work and why it ought to be of significant value. As an example of how this methodology can be operationalised  Viveka will outline her community based project in Tumut which engaged participants in a process of designing sustainable wellbeing for their communities’ future.

The purpose of this paper was to construct a methodology that acts as both design-led research and research-led design to give an approach to researching possible sustainable futures.

The paper to be discussed is available here.

November 13

Speaker: Jacqueline de Chazal

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: From policy to practice in climate change adaptation: an examination of policy-driven adaptation in south-east Australia and some consequences.

November 20

Speaker: Daniela Stehlik

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: Considering the value of 'resilience' - lessons from Australian droughts.

November 27

Speaker: Mike Bennell

Forum Theme: No Themes!

Topic: The
role of collaborative governance for managing socio-environmental
complexity in the case of the Murray Darling Basin.

December 4

Speaker: Open forum

Topic: - Human Ecology Forum wrap up for the year