FENNER CONFERENCE ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Background and history of the Fenner Conferences on the Environment
Fenner Conferences on the environment are sponsored by the generosity of Professor Frank Fenner AC, CMG, MBE, FAA, FRS and the late Mrs Bobbie Fenner, under the auspices of the Australian Academy of Science. They have the aim of identifying issues of environmental and ecological significance that are of relevance to policy.
The first conference was held in the Dome in September 1988 and one or two conferences have been held there each year since then. Many of these conferences, which have brought together persons with scientific, administrative and policy expertise, from industry, academia, government and non-governmental organisations, have had direct relevance to problems currently under discussion within the government. (Fenner, F. The First Fifty Years. Australian Academy of Science, 2005.)
Reflecting Professor Fenner's commitment to conservation in Australia, the Conferences were designed to bring together expertise from a diversity of disciplines to consider current environmental and conservation issues and challenges in Australia. In originating the series, his concern was to ensure that the Conferences should not be narrowly scientific but should bring to bear a wide range of expertise and thereby contribute to the formation of policies which can alleviate some of the environmental problems that confront Australia.
The Australian Academy of Science has a keen and long-standing interest in the population-environment debate. At the 2004 Fenner Conference on the Environment Understanding the Population-Environment Debate: Bridging Disciplinary Divides representatives of key disciplines were brought together to discuss the priorities, strengths, assumptions and limitations of their disciplinary perspectives. At that Conference there was a resounding consensus that the population–environment nexus is central to the larger, urgent question of how to achieve a socially and ecologically sustainable future for Australia. For this reason, population-environment issues are worthy of further consideration at the 2007 Fenner Conference on the Environment. The Conference comes at a critical time in terms of overall environmental conditions with water of particular concern. Despite growing recognition of the issues and increased efforts across all levels of government, water quality and availability remains a significant issue in many parts of urban and rural Australia. Indeed, the phrase ‘water crisis’ is now appearing frequently in the media. It is timely, therefore, to explore the water-population connection in some detail.
The 2007 Fenner Conference on the Environment will focus on Australia’s urban and peri-urban areas. It will bring together speakers from government, business, academia and research organisations, with panel discussions and break-out discussion groups an integral part of the proceedings. There will be four main conference sessions:
Session 1: Australia’s population movements, water, climate and climate change
Session 2: National water policy, knowledge needs and institutional reform
Session 3: Science-based planning for water and population in high-growth areas
Session 4: Innovative technical solutions for water management
