View 2010 Program > exhibitors | talks | workshops | performance | film | art | local events

6 - 21 february 2010 | melbourne australia

Main Event | Federation Square, Melbourne
Sat 20th February 12.00 pm - 12.50 pm
venue

Are We Making a Difference Yet?

Audience interactive session over what "a difference" in the quest for sustainable living might mean; who "we" who want to make a difference might be; and what gives us the right to think that we should be "making a difference"? The two facilitators begin from a joint aggregate of half a century struggling with these questions within a framework that asks: not what the new machinery of sustainability (e.g. photovoltaics or biodegradable detergent) might be nor what installing it means, but how Australians came to the expectations of the planet that they have (e.g. private/exclusive ownership of commuter cars that use less than one hundredth of their fuel to move their drivers down to the corner shop to buy a stock cube) and, what it takes to change these. Presenters
Anthony James is a writer, musician and sustainability advocate. He argues that the most logical and hopeful way towards sustainability is through personal and cultural development, more than technological development. His perspectives have developed in working within a range of industries (including education, health, music, media, construction, retail and fashion) in both the public and private sectors, particularly in Australia and Central America. Anthony lives with his partner in Melbourne, and also works with CERES in Brunswick East. His qualifications include a Masters of International and Community Development, Graduate Certificate for Sustainability, and Bachelor of Business Systems. He is a commuter cyclist.
Frank Fisher is Professor of Sustainability at Swinburne University and inaugural National Environmental Educator of the Year (2007). He was an electrical engineer for a decade, mostly in Europe, then, after retraining, took the first Victorian lectureship in environmental science at Monash University where he worked for nearly 30 years. Frank has been chronically ill for nearly 50 years (Crohn's & consequences), has lived through 30+ operations and lives on 40 pills/injections per day. Therefore he has been a health consumer activist for 30 years. He has two 30 year old sons and his partner is a farmer who, against the rural Australian odds, strives to farm greenly. He has been a commuter cyclist for 40 years.