Turning Green in Brisbane: Emissions, Infrastructure, Films,Food & Environment

October is a big month in Brisbane for events with a strong green and sustainable emphasis, covering: a launch of the stationary energy plan by Beyond Zero Emissions; the Australian Green Infrastructure Council conference; Unlimited Design Asia Pacific featuring Jeb Brugmann and Green films; the Environment Institute of Australia and NZ event with the notable UK strategist Peter Young; and the Global Change Institute event with Guy Pearse speaking on ‘Queensland – The Smart Dumb State’?

Major green and sustainable events in Brisbane in October:

Unlimited: Designing for the Asia Pacific 4–10 October, Brisbane, Australia

Our program of talks, exhibitions, workshops and satellite events offer a fresh perspective on design under the 2010 theme of Opportunity. Most events are free and address complex future challenges – from urbanisation, transport and food production to health and education.

State Library of Queensland, South Bank, Brisbane

Nutrition Systems for 9 Billion People

Join one the world’s most articulate and experienced design thinkers and innovation experts for this free talk exploring one of the biggest global issues confronting humanity: food.

Jeb Brugmann presents a compelling and at times confronting future scenario – where the search for protein defines our urban future – requiring local solutions that can be scaled to global proportions. Will the drive for protein overtake our love for food? How can we possibly feed 9 billion people?

In 1990, Jeb founded ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability. He served as ICLEI Secretary General from 1991-2000. Jeb is the author of Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities Are Changing the World, and Managing Partner of The Next Practice, which he founded in 2004 with business guru Professor C.K. Prahalad. Jeb is best known for leading roles in urban sustainability planning, ‘base of the pyramid’ business development, co-creation process management, and urban greenhouse gas mitigation planning.

Green Screen films at GOMA:

•           October 4 – 10, 2010

•           Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Queensland Art Gallery

•           Stanley Place, South Bank, Brisbane

The Australian Cinémathèque presents Green Screen, a program of recent and new-release eco-documentaries with a focus on environmental and urban design issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Headlining the program is The Burning Season, which charts the ambitions of social entrepreneur Dorjee Sun, the charismatic 29-year-old Australian who believes Indonesia’s rainforests and the dwindling orangutan population can be saved by a carbon emissions trading scheme which would provide environmental and economic relief to Indonesia..

Monday 4 October

12pm/ Simon Chambers Cowboys in India 2009 (79 mins) / Cinema B

Tuesday 5 October

12pm / Cathy Henkel The Burning Season 2008 (90 mins) / Cinema B

Wednesday 6 October

12pm / Yung Chang Up the Yangtze 2007 (93mins) / Cinema B

6.30pm / Rupert Murray The End of the Line 2009 (85 mins) / Cinema B

Thursday 7 October

12pm / Rupert Murray The End of the Line 2009 (85 mins) / Cinema B

Friday 8 October

12pm / Yung Chang Up the Yangtze 2007 (93 mins) / Cinema B

Saturday 9 October

11am / Cathy Henkel The Burning Season 2008 (90 mins) / Cinema B

Sunday 10 October

1pm / Nanna Frank Moller Cities on Speed: Shanghai Space 2009 (60 mins) + Jennifer Redfeam, Tim Metzger Sun Come Up 2010 (38 mins) / Cinema B

3pm / Camilla Nielsson, Frederik Jacobi Cities of Speed: Mumbai Disconnected2009 (58 mins) / Cinema B

Presented by Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)

Source: www.unlimitedap.com

Queensland’s Continuing Addiction to Carbon

18 October 2010, Brisbane Hilton

Be part of a conversation with leading economists, industry leaders and international experts on the risks and rewards for Queensland’s economy from climate change and climate policy. Hear what our leading economists see on the horizon, how key companies and industry sectors are positioning themselves to exploit the opportunities presented by this new business environment, and the implications of international trends for Australia and Queensland.

Engage with the experts in constructing industry‐sector road maps for the next

decade as a structured response to the challenges ahead.

Future 3: An international perspective on the key challenges Peter Young, Chair Aldersgate Group (high‐level UK Policy and Advisory Think Tank)

Organised by Environment Institute of Australia and NZ

Source: www.eianz.org

Australian Green Infrastructure Council National Conference

AGIC’s second annual National Conference for Infrastructure Sustainability, Delivering and operating Australia’s infrastructure sustainably, will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in conjunction with the WCEAM Congress (25-27 October 2010).

Trade booths available

AGIC members are invited to consider taking an exhibition booth (3m x 2m) at a cost of $3,300 (inc GST) at the WCEAM World Congress on Engineering Asset Management being held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 25-27 October 2010.

Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Simply visit the website www.wceam.com and click on the Expressions of Interest tab to nominate for exhibitor / sponsorship information.

Source: www.agic.net.au

Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan Brisbane Launch 27 October 2010.

Brisbane Convention Centre, Merivale St, South Bank, QLD

You are invited to attend the Brisbane launch of the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan. This cutting-edge plan, the culmination of over 12 months and thousands of hours of pro bono work by engineers, scientists and postgraduate students, is a collaboration between the climate solutions think tank Beyond Zero Emissions,  and the University of Melbourne Energy Institute.

This plan is unique in Australia. It is a detailed and costed blueprint for transitioning our stationary energy sector to 100% renewable energy in ten  years. The technologies utilised in this plan are commercially available now.

This free public event will cover the details of the plan as well as the  state of renewable energy in Australia more broadly. A panel discussion with technical experts will follow the presentations.

Source: www.beyondzeroemissions.org

Guy Pearse – ‘Queensland – The Smart Dumb State’? Queensland’s Continuing Addiction to Carbon on Thursday 28th October 5:30pm – 6:30pm at UQ Centre, Union Road, ST LUCIA QLD 4072

In his GCI Insight Seminar Series presentation, GCI Research Fellow Guy Pearse takes us behind the ‘Climatesmart’ branding and asks how much longer Queensland expects to tackle climate change by increasing spin rather than cutting emissions.

Last year the Queensland government released a glossy 424 page strategy called ‘ClimateQ: Towards a Greener Queensland’. There were lots of new ‘Climatesmart’ initiatives, but no timetable for cutting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions from their current level—the highest in the country. Instead, the government acknowledged that current policy would leave Queensland’s emissions 36% higher in 2050.

Though the emissions generated by the state’s coal exports are Queensland’s biggest single contribution to climate change by far, they were not mentioned in the strategy once. Meanwhile, the government is spending billions of dollars on infrastructure to help Queensland double coal exports over the next decade or so. The legacy of that is a state generating more than 50% more greenhouse pollution at home and abroad than Australia’s current national total. Seemingly en-route to becoming the ‘greenhouse ghetto of the South Pacific’, Queensland looks determined to fuel climate change as much as it feels it.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided after the even.

Source: www.gci.uq.edu.au