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POPULATION–ENVIRONMENT DEBATE NOT JUST ABOUT THE NUMBERS!
26 May 2004

The 2004 Fenner Conference on the Environment Understanding the Population–Environment Debate: Bridging Disciplinary Divides, hosted by the Australian Academy of Science as part of its 50 year celebrations has concluded that the debate is an urgent issue for Australia.

'There is no simple bottom-line "optimal" population size for Australia – the issue is too complex,' said Professor Tony McMichael, a world-renowned epidemiologist and speaker at the conference.

The conference also highlighted that the disciplinary divide remains an important barrier to solving the complex problems of society in an integrated fashion, and that Australia must join the growing global momentum to bridge this divide.

Professor Frank Fenner, conference patron, said, 'The research, policy and general communities must address the Population–Environment issue within a pluralist, inter-disciplinary framework.'

Some of the major impediments to greater cross-disciplinary activity identified at the conference related to institutional structure in our education systems and a lack of incentive for multi-disciplinary projects in the research funding process.

Professor Julie Thompson Klein, an interdisciplinary expert from Wayne State University in the US and plenary speaker at the conference, said 'In Europe, Canada, and the United States, interdisciplinary approaches in both research and education are promoting greater collaboration and integration among the professions and among government sectors.'

The outcome of the Fenner Conference similarly called for a 'whole-of-knowledge' approach to the urgent and complex issue of the Population–Environment nexus.

Professor Fenner further stressed that along with a holistic approach, 'The issue must be addressed within a long time-frame, which extends well beyond the usual horizons of social and political decision-making.'

There was resounding consensus from the conference delegates that the Population–Environment issue is central to the larger, urgent question of how to achieve a socially and ecologically sustainable future for Australia.

There was a strong call for the four Learned Academies to work with the institutions of learning and government, to give new impetus and support to cross-disciplinary and inter-sectoral structures and strategies.

Further information on the conference program and speakers' material is available at www.science.org.au/events/fenner.