15 May 2008

VU students will be holding The ECO-SOCIAL Present and Future Conference and Expo at St Albans Campus on Thursday 22 May.

Media are welcome to attend

'Present and Future' has been organised by second and third Year BA and Community Development students, and addresses critical issues related to the impact of unsustainable development.

Presentations will cover a wide range of topics including: 'Sustainable consumption: Eating our way toward survival'; 'The Dirty Bird: Transport and Aviation'; and 'The Polar Bears' Future is Melting'

According to the students, the days of separating the social and the ecological are past. They say recent concern about climate change due to the effect of greenhouse gases has emerged as one of the most pressing issues of our time.

The conference Keynote guest speaker David Spratt from Carbon Equity, will talk about: 'Climate Code Red a sustainablity crisis'.

The conference will also include a Mini-Expo of environmental displays and indigenous gardens.

Where: Bob Hayes Room, 2nd Floor Building 4,
Victoria University, St Albans Campus, McKechnie St, St Albans
When: Thursday 22 May
Time: 9am - 5pm

Further information: Dr Russell Wright, VU Ph: (03) 9919 2580

Full conference program below

Media Contact: Andy Gash, Snr. Media Officer,
Marketing & Communications Department, Victoria University
Ph: (03) 9919 4950; mobile 0411 255 900

Conference Program

9.15am Introduction by Russell Wright
9.30am Key Note Speaker David Spratt from Carbon Equity

Sessions:

Climate change and the Eco Social
9.40-10.00am The death of Paradise: Pollution and profit in PNG.
10.00-10.15am Could've, should've, would've:
Neglected remedies to slow the damage.
10.15-10.30am Neo-liberalism and the environment.
10.30-10.45am Driving the world to extinction.

Politics of Climate Change
11.15-11.30am Nuclear power is not the answer.
11.30-11.45am No fuel, no fumes, just electricity: The hybrid car.
11.45am-12.00 The dirty bird: Transport and aviation.
12.15-12.30pm Who killed the electric car?
12.30-12.45pm Colonising the seed.
1.30-1.45pm The Polar bears' future is melting.
1.45-2.00pm Threats to marine eco-systems.
2.00-2.15pm Petrol, $15 per lt.
2.15-2.30pm Facing catastrophe, possibility and fear of revolution.

Alternative Futures
3.00-3.15pm Rethinking sustainable cities: Government policy and local action.
3.15-3.30pm A blot on the landscape: a case for and against wind power.
3.30-3.45pm Sustainable consumption: Eating our way toward survival.
3.45-4.00pm The dilemma of nuclear energy.
4.00-4.15pm Carbon trading: A long term solution?