18 August 2008
Resilience: National Science Week
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Scientists around the world are getting very excited about a new way of thinking called resilience. They say it can be used to better manage our communities, businesses, natural resources or even help cope with the pace of change in our lives.
Our population has doubled over the past 40 years, smog is choking our cities and our resource base is disappearing. So, is this the answer to tackling the big problems like the future for the Murray Darling, drought, global warming, or even depression? Or is resilience just a new buzzword that will inevitably fall out of favour? A leading panel of scientists, farmers, industry leaders and psychologists discuss the possibilities of the new science of resilience at a special Australia Talks forum in Canberra, part of National Science Week.
Guests
Dr Paula Barrett
Behavioural psychologist
Dr Brian Walker
Director, International Resilience Alliance, Board member of Australia 21
Dr Joyce Wilkie
Organic farmer
Christine Charles
Regional Director, Environment and Social Responsibility, Newmont Australia
Dr Xuemei Bai
Senior Science Leader, CSIRO Sustainable Eco-systems
David Salt
Science writer
Paul Ryan
Ecologist
Greg Bourne
chief executive, WWF
Bill O'Kane
Chief executive Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority
Further Information
Dr Joyce Wilkie, Bush Telegraph
Newmont's Sustainability Report 2007
Eighth Annual Hawke Lecture - A Sustainable Planet - a Future for Australia by Greg Bourne
Native Title and Mining Companies
The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority
Dr Xuemei Bai, urban resilience
Murray Darling Basin Commission
Publications
Title: Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World
Author: Brian Walker, David Salt
Publisher: Island Press
Presenter
Paul Barclay
Story Researcher and Producer
Liza Holman
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