I attended a conference last week here in Melbourne called Government Sustainability that attracted lots of people from local government as well as companies/consultants (trying to sell various "solutions") and a few associations and state agencies. Very few researchers attended ... a point that suggests a distinct lack of collaboration between academia and key local/state stakeholders in the field of sustainability?
I was struck by the large focus on sustainable or green buildings with Council House 2 or CH2 in Melbourne as it is called held up as a shining example. There were a few presenters who suggested the role of planning was on the rise in Australia, which is far more about districts rather than single buildings, and city-wide infrastructure.
This discussion highlighted again just how much Australia can learn from Sweden on sustainable urban development. For example, the Western Harbour in Malmö, known as Bo01, is an entire district focused on bringing about sustainability in action. In fact, it is now several inter-linking districts that has a momentum that means it is "creeping" into the whole city planning of Malmö.
I am looking forward to the Thriving Neighbourhoods conference, also to be held in Melbourne, where I suspect there will be a greater diversity of participants, more examples from the "world" outside Australia, and some more in-depth discussions on planning and thriving in a carbon-contrained economy.
Astute observation Kes,
ReplyDeleteThere is severe disconnects between government, private and academic sectors which limit the capacity of all three to innovate. Obviously we have some good work done Cooperative Research Centres in Aus, and also some good work done by the likes of RIRDC. But there is also a dearth of entrepreneurs and innovative businesses.
Governments find it difficult to work in the space of innovation and project development, even where tried and tested technologies are used. Yet where there are better profits to be made elsewhere the private sector is unlikely to create opportunity. This is where mechanisms like the RET are so important. But it still leaves the question of where the initial investment for technology like bioenergy or biofuels can be made and who should invest in it?