Coast to Coast, Living on the Edge, Brisbane 17-21 Sept 2012

Coastal conference examines topical development issues

There is still time to get involved in one of Australia’s premier environmental events with the Coast to Coast Conference (C2C) 2012 being held in Brisbane this month.

The preeminent event attracts around 400 scientists, academics, policy makers, managers and community workers from Australia and overseas.

C2C Organising Committee Chair, Dr Mara Wolkenhauer, said with 90 per cent of Australia’s population located on the coast, this year’s theme, Living on the Edge, is extremely relevant.

“For now and the future it pays to remain mindful of how our environmental impacts all eventually lead to the coast. Inland and upstream development, industry and agricultural activity can affect our waterways, most of which ultimately flow to the ocean,” Dr Wolkenhauer said.

“This event offers a forum to explore those challenges and aims to focus debate, discussion and learning at international, national, regional, state and local levels.”

The event will feature internationally acclaimed, historian, novelist and essayist, Ronald Wright, as one of the keynote speakers. His best seller, A Short History of Progress, inspired a recent documentary produced by Martin Scorsese titled, Surviving Progress.

Antony Funnell from ABC Radio National will host a debate “Living on the Edge – coasting along or crisis” examining if progress will push coastal communities over the edge. The debate will feature author Ronald Wright, development industry representative Dr Mark Gibbs, and leading scientists including Prof Hugh Possingham and Prof Bruce Thom, to be later broadcast on ABC Radio National’s Big Ideas program.

Coast to Coast 2012 is at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from September 17-21. For more information visit www.coast2coastconference.com.  

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