FREE PUBLIC LECTURE WITH PETER HARPER FROM CENTRE FOR ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY (CAT), UNITED KINGDOM

Responding to the threat of climate change, governments have set targets for reducing greenhouse gas by 60-80% over the next 40 years. Recent climate science suggests this is nowhere near enough. A 100% reduction in 20 years might be necessary. Is this remotely possible? How might it be done? What technologies would we need? How would we design a zero-carbon – modern - economy? What impact would it have on lifestyles – on food, travel, housing, infrastructure, employment, leisure? Would it be a nightmare? Does it offer opportunities for a revitalisation of society?

30 years of living investigation at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales may provide the answers the world urgently needs. (www.cat.org.uk)

Peter Harper has been part of a team working on these questions at CAT. He can bring an unusual lifetime of experience to illuminating the vigorous debate around a new vision for ‘Zero Carbon Britain’ 2020. Peter Harper is Head of Research and Innovation at the Centre for Alternative Technology, where he has worked for 25 years, with periodic secondments to overseas universities. He was a pioneer of the alternative technology movement and has always tried to relate technological ‘hardware’ with social and personal ‘software’. His main interests have been in horticulture and low-carbon lifestyles. He runs his own home as an experimental ‘lifestyle lab’. He is mildly obsessed by compost.

6-8pm, 21 April 2008 at the Prince Philip Theatre, University of Melbourne. Please RSVP your attendance to Ferne Edwards at fedwards @unimelb.edu.au. More information will be published shortly.

Map of the campus

As part of the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Mobility, 17 March, our sponsors, GAMUT - The Australasian Centre for the Governance And Management of Urban Transport led a discussion with four questions about sustainable transport issues for our cities. Please find a list of the audience’s responses below. Please note: That as these questions were handwritten some of the responses were too difficult to read.

DISCUSSION QUESTION 4. How can we govern transport better?
better land planning to strategically reserve land for best future transport use
give governance to people who know about issues rather than those who can market themselves
metropolitan agency which provides a forum for local governments to collaborate and coordinate land-use and transport integration
emphasis needs to be taken away from road funding and put back onto public transport networks
funding targeting
organizations competing against each other
look into best practice round the world to a better balanced system
implement this better balanced system that balances public and private transport needs
each transport provides (public or private) to be compelled to show, as a means of assessing performance, full integration with all other agencies providing transport
greater involvement of academics, researchers, organizations like GAMUT in the decision-making ie. they are part of the governance
implement, scheme of kilometre credits
ration personal kilometres
buy kms on an open regulated market (ie. 100 km per person per week)
reduce conflict between drivers & nondrivers
align goals of various departments like VicRoads & DOI
severly punish high consuming and emitting mode – via carbon tax, access restriction, etc.
investment in the appropriate infrastructure which may mean redesigning train stations
better governance of private operators
better bike lanes
same funding for cyclists as for divers including safety and marketing
restructure transport governance at all levels to best practice systems
review the current governance of roads and infrastructure and look at a state level of integrating VicRoads & DOI
one department to manage all transport opinions and public transport, roads, cycling, waking = rather than VicRoads and DOI currently pushing their own, imbalanced agendas
de-privatising public transport would also likely provide for a better integrated system
one cohesive “public” organization that covers and manages and handles the “future” of PT rather than DOI and VicRoads and minister
study of cities that are successful and efficient PT and follow or better
survey households to identify what PT is needed and where it should go
let the community help plan the system
freight delivers out of hours trams for freight (?)
more tax on oil

As part of the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Mobility, 17 March, our sponsors, GAMUT - The Australasian Centre for the Governance And Management of Urban Transport led a discussion with four questions about sustainable transport issues for our cities. Please find a list of the audience’s responses below. Please note: That as these questions were handwritten some of the responses were too difficult to read.

DISCUSSION QUESTION 3. How can creative designers help solve mobility and accessibility problems?
urban villages connected by sustainable transit corridors
Map activities for access & situation (?)
playing urban tag
study skateboarders
elect a large community to go without cars for a month & have them redesign their area
transfer all outer urban residential development to urban hub-cities-centres. These hubs to become social centres but the confluence of a transport network. Establish areas ASAP then de-regulate so more effective market solutions can evolve but with simple not negotiable urban design rules.
Creating a design brief for human powered/ electic assist ultra-light vehicles that can transport children, shopping, etc.
Making street scapes more aesthetic & enticing to use. Connecting walking paths with transport.
Complete communities – growth & redevelopment. Live/ work/ play locally.
Targeted education – Portland OR example of household specific info + cycle education from doorstep
infrastructure networks established for ped/ bike/ PT
rethink the relationship between people & places they want to access, & design for the experience without relying on existing infrastructure
to mandate that large transport projects be planned together by representatives from public transport (rail, tram, bus, ferry) and human-powered forms. Public community consultation to be broadened as part of the process.
We all need to speak the world around to change. Everyone is creative and tapping into they way they think and what is important in their world. There is no ‘solver’ of ‘problems’ there in only tempting people to turn their heads and be a part of a liveable future
Education: in the manner of ANZSOG education of the public service & therefore specifically educating government transport planners and designers.
Consider disabled people, deaf people and blind people in planning
Copenhagen bicycle lanes more widely adopted & re-designed atteractively to encourage even more use
Design in the absence of design
Stop designing & start coordinating
Function over form
Flexible environments
Design as leadership
Engage artists in planning process – work is a cross disciplinary fashion at the onset of a project to explore all options/ alternatives. We need radical, left-of-centre thinking here!
Develop a hierarchy of ‘give way’ similar to oceans. Large gives way to all small.
Design for people first. Then people on bikes second. Then up the scale.
Design mobility and accessability r/s/ schools and communities understanding rel/ people build form technology
Role of symbolism car – what it represents to us. Is it a symbol of freedom and an extension of our identity, something to aspire t or a serious threat to our sustainability?

As part of the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Mobility, 17 March, our sponsors, GAMUT - The Australasian Centre for the Governance And Management of Urban Transport led a discussion with four questions about sustainable transport issues for our cities. Please find a list of the audience’s responses below. Please note: That as these questions were handwritten some of the responses were too difficult to read.

DISCUSSION QUESTION 2. What future does the car have?
infrastructure alternatives – key to facility the demise of the car. Eg. Blackburn Bicycle Trailer Trolley project. More info: bleepnow@optusnet.com.au
the car only has a future when it can run on renewable energy and be manufactured ie. recycled using sustainable means considering full lifecycle
individual mobility?
Internal combustion engine?
The form of vehicle will change but independent travel and the need for some vehicular travel will remain. Ie. Cuba
Hopefully minimization, movement towards distance travel, utility travel and multi-person transport
Much, much reduced IF we improve PT networks so they can truly compete with the car, in terms of reliability, efficiency, coverage, etc. Perhaps this involves changing our community structures (ie. having higher density living, more services accessible in your local area, more ‘open’ communities, etc.) But I think the car will still have a place – but without the internal combustion engine I hope!!!!
Long term when technology change the car will still be a sustainable mode of transport that will represent freedom for the masses. We need to start changing hearts and minds to encourage this change.
Developing alternative technology to drive cars
Density
Idea of car won’t change
Scale of space will change
Car will always have a place
Car-sharing schemes!
Emotional attachment to cars!
Car = independence and freedom
Car is morphing to our aspirations!
Electric
Decrease usage
Convert existing cars (retain embodied energy)
Purpose of car will change – recreation only
Solar-powered
A future where the car is stigmatized
Small, green, recyclable, renewable fuel source
Highest energy efficiency possible
Operate in cities that offer mobility without cars
Where cars are slower
Slower – compressed air power compressed by solar energy
Needs a shift in culture and indentification of self with cars – we cannot sustain the scale of cars for mobility – not even biofuels sustain this – space, etc.
Complex – lighter, modular, smaller part of a more diverse system
What drives the future of the car?
Restricted/ governed/ permit
Timeshare cars for eg. Apartment block book in for access
One car per household policy
Vehicle lock out mechanism once emissions reach daily limit
Greenhouse netural/ safe/ cheaper/ special occasions
Electric
Increase in car pools
Very restricted urban car use, possible community ownership
The form of the car will change over time but the idea of the car will remain due to its connection with a sense of personal freedom

Associate Professor Nick Low from GAMUT - The Australasian Centre for the Governance And Management of Urban Transport led a discussion about GAMUT’s work and the top issues concerning sustainable transport for our cities. Proud sponsors of the event, GAMUT is a collaborative research centre dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable urban transport in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Based at the University of Melbourne, GAMUT works with a network of researchers to focus attention on the need for innovative institutional design for integrated transport systems. GAMUT is one of a global network of Centres of Excellence in Future Urban Transport created by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations, an independent research and educational institution. To find out more about GAMUT visit their website at http://www.gamutcentre.org/.

Please find Nick Low’s powerpoint slides and presentation below.
GAMUT powerpoint slides

Dianne Moy, VEIL, & Kathleen Turner, Architect student, SKM/ University of Melbourne spoke about their visions of “Mobility & the Extended School System 2032” at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table, 17 March. Their topic illustrated the importance of a systems approach when considering urban sustainability, exploring the connection between transport, the environment and education. The Extended School System model is part of the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL) project, based at the Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society (ACSIS), the University of Melbourne. VEIL exists to change the landscape of expectations of a sustainable future and open-up the eco-innovation space in the Victorian economy by conducting interdisciplinary research and constructive speculation with creative engagement with university design programs to re-invent the future. To find out more about the VEIL project visit the website: http://www.ecoinnovationlab.com/. The Sustainable Cities Round Tables and SustainableMelbourne.com both represent VEIL projects.

Please find footage of Dianne and Kathleen’s presentations below.

Bruce Herbes, Wayfinding Consultant from VisualVoice, http://www.visualvoice.com.au/, illustrated the diversity of speakers at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table with his presentation on 3-dimensional pedestrian maps in Bendigo. Reminding us that cities are inhabited by pedestrians - not just cars - Bruce presented his presentation titled “Making the City Legible”. To find out more about VisualVoice visit http://www.visualvoice.com.au/.

Please find footage of Bruce’s presentation below.

Bill Bretherton from Human Powered Cycles, Brunswick, represented the social sustainability aspect of grassroots action through cycling with his presentation, “Asylum seekers, sustainability & cycling as transport”. Devoted to fixing up secondhand bikes rather than solely selling them new as most bike shops do, Human Powered Cycles represents an inspiring example of how to help others by repairing and maintaining bikes for asylum seekers and hence increase their ability to empower themselves in the community. To find out more about their work visit their website at http://www.humanpowered.com.au/.

Please find Bill’s powerpoint slides and footage of his presentation below.

Bill Bretherton’s powerpoint presentation

David Fewchuk, Chairman of the Aurora Vehicle Assoc. Inc. spoke on “Travelling on the Sun” at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Mobility, 17 March. The Aurora Vehicle Association Inc has been working in the field of solar transport since 1987 when Hans Tholstrup devised the first trans-continental World Solar Challenge. Aurora has been a contestant in every World Solar Challenge with an amazing record of 1 win, 4 seconds, 1 third, 1 fifth, 1 sixth and one crash. Aurora consists of a group of volunteers who are dedicated to achieving extreme efficiency in transport and to demonstrating these technologies through competition, demonstrations, exhibitions, school visits and discussion forums. To find out more about their work visit the Aurora website at http://www.aurorasolarcar.com/.

Please find David’s powerpoint slides and footage of his presentation below.

Aurora Solar Car powerpoint slides

Daniel Epstein is the Managing Director of the Conservo Biodiesel Service Station in Prahran - the first of its kind in Melbourne and in fact, Australia! He was one of the 11 presenters featured at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Mobility. The title of his 3 minute presentation was “Conservo & Sustainiversity”. For more information about Conservo visit the website at http://www.conservo.com.au/.

Please find Daniel’s powerpoint slides and footage of his presentation below.

Conservo Biofuels Stop powerpoint slides