Posts Tagged ‘innovation’
Climate Redesign: Collaborative Project
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on July 13th, 2010
Climate Redesign 2010: An experimental collaborative project involving climate communicators and creatives to generate ideas on how to increase measurable mainstream support for action on climate change. We will be brainstorming together, sketching, modelling, drawing, writing, building briefs and testing ideas. We will be inspiring each other, having fun, sharing skills and forming working relationships with the people who will energise our ideas and implement them in the real world.
Public momentum on climate change action is stagnating, Copenhagen flopped and Rudd back-flipped on legislating a strong ETS. Meanwhile the issue is not going away and scientists are getting more alarmed with the scientific evidence. Australian groups have created the technical and economic solutions and now we need big creative ideas to inspire the Australian community and our leaders to implement these solutions. We are calling for Australia’s creatives to step up to this challenge and provide the ideas, skills and leadership that will transform the movement and catalyse real change. We want to abandon the stereotypes of past communications and actions to embrace the new, the clever, the dynamic and agile, the unexpected.
We are not aiming to produce campaign materials. We aim to produce the ideas and concepts that will lead to better campaign planning or a better alternative to a campaign altogether. We want to design frameworks for the Climate Communicators to allocate resources and ideas within their own organisations and to seek funding and support for implementation. All ideas and concepts produced will be shared and not be owned by anyone person. We will encourage remixing and upcycling of ideas between participants.
rewards
Participants will gain the following:
1. Work creatively in a fun environment
2. Extend working networks
3. Learn new ways of collaborating together
4. Contribute actively to the climate change issue
Saturday July 17, with an evening introduction in the week of the 5th.
Visit the website for more details on how to get involved.
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Designing Innovation: Social Innovator Dialogues
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 28th, 2010
Source: The Australian Centre for Social Innovation
The Australian Centre for Social Innovation, in collaboration with the Centre for Social Impact and the Australian Social Innovation Exchange invite you to join us for the inaugural Social Innovator Dialogues. The Social Innovator Dialogues aim to bring internationally renowned leaders in social innovation together with local changemakers and challenge us to think differently about the big issues affecting our communities and to test practical ways to integrate innovative approaches into our responses to unmet social needs.
This July for our Designing Innovation tour, we’re bringing leading thinker, Ezio Manzini, to our shores for masterclasses and free public forums that look at where social innovation, design and sustainability meet. Ezio is perhaps best known for his skills in practical scenario building towards solutions that encompass both environmental and social quality and the Designing Innovation tour will give you the opportunity to engage with him on both the theory and practice of building socially innovative responses.
July 14 Free Public Forum: Small, local, open, connected
The only sustainable way to get out of the current global financial and ecological crisis is to promote new economic models, new production systems and new ideas of wellbeing. To define and implement these new models is, of course, very difficult. But it is not impossible. And we do not have to start from zero. What is the meaning of locality and community today? Can localities and communities be designed? How can bottom-up initiatives positively interplay with top-down ones? For discussion on these questions and more, register and come along to the Designing Innovation Public Forum. The forum will be half lecture, half Q&A.
July 14 Melbourne Masterclass: Next economy – enabling sustainable ways of living
This masterclass will explore how the interplay between social and technical innovation is opening up brand new opportunities. How can we conceive and deliver “enabling solutions”? How can individuals, businesses, institutions, associations and communities collaborate in the framework of viable business models to support sustainable ways of living? This masterclass is for policy-makers and practitioners who are interested in sustainability, social innovation and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Attendees will have the opportunity to workshop some of these ideas and approaches, including how to reframe problems to inspire creative thinking about solutions, as well as understanding how ‘design thinking’ can help us experiment and prototype.
Places are limited so please visit the website for more detailed information and to register for your place.
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Stormwater Storage Aquifer: Rossdale Golf Club
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on May 20th, 2010
Source: Smart Water Fund
The Smart Water Fund congratulates Rossdale Golf Club on being announced as a finalist for the inaugural Prime Minister’s Water Wise Award. One of five national finalists, Rossdale Golf Club was nominated for its integrated stormwater harvesting and aquifer storage and recovery project. Working in partnership with the CSIRO, the Club received funding from the Smart Water Fund to implement Victoria’s first aquifer storage and recovery project (ASR). The project has seen the Club reduce its drinking water usage by 56 per cent, saving 35 million litres per year while still providing a high quality course for local golfers. This innovative approach to water management combines the harvesting of stormwater from a nearby drain with traditional dam storage and the innovative ASR process. ASR is the process of using natural underground aquifers as storage medium for treated urban stormwater that can then be used as required.
In Rossdale Golf Club’s case, stormwater collected during the winter months is stored within an aquifer until needed during the dry summer period.
Smart Water Fund CEO Christine Cussen congratulates Rossdale Golf Club on being recognised by this prestigious award. “To be nominated as a finalist for the Prime Minister’s Water Wise Award is a fantastic achievement for the Rossdale Golf Club and for the CSIRO research team, backed by the Smart Water Fund, who has contributed to the success of this project,” she said. “This project is a great example of research being applied to create real life water saving solutions. With such positive results, the lessons learnt by Rossdale Golf Club are already being leveraged by other golf clubs and local councils across Victoria who are investigating the potential of ASR,” Ms Cussen said.
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Use of recycled water in industry: Guidance Tool
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on May 3rd, 2010
Source: Smart Water Fund
Victoria University and the Smart Water Fund have developed a guidance tool for industrial water users to address issues associated with recycled wastewater systems and increase uptake across the state. The user-friendly guide, ‘Guidance for the Use of Recycled Water by Industry’, is designed to inform industrial water users on recycled water and how systems can be installed, with an emphasis on reticulated treated wastewater.
“As part of the project we engaged five different industries in Victoria and identified common concerns about reticulated treated wastewater, such as corrosion, water quality and company image when associated with using recycled water,” said project manager at Victoria University, Professor Stephen Gray.
“Across the board industries were unsure of its applicability to their business and some were reluctant to install recycled systems, despite the water savings they could make,” Professor Gray said.
Victoria University identified nine different categories of water use that are common across different industries. Each category has its own water quality requirements, human exposure levels and hazards.
“After identifying the most common water needs for industries in Victoria, we conducted a thorough literature review to provide a comprehensive and sound base on which to make recommendations,” Professor Gray said.
Based on the literature review, Victoria University developed a quick scan ‘water reduction tool’ and decision support framework (DSF) and trialled it on the five industries, each having different water use needs.
“The trials were received positively, with four of the five companies successful in identifying a water-saving measure for further investigation.” Professor Gray said.
“Depending on the structure of your business, recycled water systems can make water savings of more than 50 per cent, which improves the financial sustainability of your business in the long-term and reduces your impact on the environment.
“Wastewater recycling also provides additional benefits for companies where rainwater tanks are not an option, or higher levels of certain minerals and substances are beneficial.”
The guidance tool has been recognised by industry bodies in Victoria and nationally, including the dairy and food industries, as a well-rounded and accurate document for industries to make an informed decision on recycled water.
The guidance tool has also been referenced in a number of reports and websites, including VicWater and recycledwater.com.au
Read more about the project on SmartWater.
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Smart Water Conference: Presentations Online
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on April 26th, 2010
Source: Smart Water Fund
Presentations from the inaugural Smart Water Conference are now available for download. The Smart Water Conference presentations offer an insight into the projects and topics discussed and are an invaluable resource for anyone interested in undertaking water saving projects.
Held in October 2009, the inaugural conference provided a platform for knowledge transfer in the water industry and gave attendees an opportunity to meet innovators in the water management and research fields. The conference featured 18 speakers across three different topic streams, from a range of industries and sectors, including science and technology, industry and business, and community, education and social science. Each project discussed has received funding and support from the Smart Water Fund to provide new learnings into water conservation, water recycling and biosolids management.
Keep an eye on the Smart Water Fund website for vodcasts of the conference presentations, which will be made available soon.
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Carbon Compass: Sharing Sustainability Solutions for Business
Posted in Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on April 12th, 2010
Want free access to proven carbon, climate change and sustainability solutions for your business? Would you like to know what other businesses are doing to successfully adapt to the carbon constrained economy? Do you have a carbon, climate change or sustainability solution you’d like to share with the business community? Carbon Down’s Carbon Compass website provides all of this, free for small and medium sized businesses. Carbon Compass provides businesses with access to practical solutions which have been implemented by other businesses and organisations, making Carbon Compass a unique sustainability hub.
Joining is free and as a Carbon Compass member your business will be able to:
- Gain one-stop-shop access to solutions and resources relating to carbon, climate change and sustainability – enabling you to implement within your own business
- Rate and review solutions that other businesses have posted on Carbon Compass
- Provide your own solutions that other businesses can implement
- Receive feedback from other businesses on the solutions you provide
- Expand your network, raise the profile of your brand and gain access to a growing community of like minded businesses
The site provides fact sheets and case studies through an archive that is easily searchable by industry, type, resource or topic.
Simply visit www.carboncompass.com.au to register your business.
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Human-Powered Grand Prix & Energy Innovation Festival
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on March 17th, 2010
Source: Sustainable Living Space
Visit the website for more information.
[young] Energy State of the Nation
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on March 11th, 2010
Visit the website for more details.
Lianyungang, Post Waterfront City – Pop. 30,000,000: Exhibition
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on March 9th, 2010
Image: WAW 2009 Exhibition Panels via issuu
The planning & design of next generation living – WAW2009: World Architecture Workshop
Since 2002 the World Architecture Workshop has undertaken interrogation through design in cities around the world. In 2009 the workshop turned its attention to the urbanism of population bursts in the context of water based city expansion in Lianyungang, China. Seven groups each obtaining students from Australia, China, France, and Japan produced projects which address global warming, complexity in the instant city, diversification of traffic systems and the merging of salt and fresh water systems and urban design strategies for the city. Given China’s current rate of urbanisation the projects go on to propose engagement with primary industries as employment generators for recently re-located populations from rural areas. Massive population increase raises questions of identity for a city. The projects thus treat the histories of the city as building blocks for designing new identities for Lianyungang to guide it through the shifts, growth and iterations of change that its extraordinary ambition will bring.
Participating Universities:
-Miyagi University Japan
-Nanjing Forestry University, China
-RMIT University, Australia
-Sanjiang University, China
-Tohoku Institute of Technology, Japan
-Tohoku University, Japan
-l’Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Montpellier, France
Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Time: 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Foyer Gallery, Level 11, RMIT Building 8, 360 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Refreshments provided.
Knowledge Collaboration & Learning for Sustainable Innovation: Call for Papers
Posted in Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on March 9th, 2010
The ERSCP-EMSU 2010 conference, ‘Knowledge Collaboration & Learning for Sustainable Innovation’, will take place in Delft, the Netherlands, on 25-29 October 2010. Representatives of academia, business, government, NGOs and civil society organizations are very much invited to submit abstracts for (1) paper presentations or (2) poster presentations, as well as proposals for (3) discussion workshops/roundtables or (4) paper sessions that are within the Conference’s scope or themes.
The conference themes are:
1. Sustainable Universities and Higher Education
2. Knowledge Collaboration for Sustainable Innovation, Design, Business & CSR
3. Sustainable Consumption and Production
4. Climate, Energy, Water
5. Sustainable Cities and Regions
6. Sustainable Consumption, Production and Innovation in Developing Countries
All paper and poster abstracts can be submitted online at http://www.erscp-emsu2010.org/submissions until March 20, 2010. Full papers are due on September 1, 2010. More information can be found in the call and on the website. The organising committee can be contacted at conference@erscp-emsu2010.org.
Confirmed opening key notes include prof Tim Jackson, University of Surrey and prof Wubbo Ockels, Delft University of Technology. The conference is a joint effort by TU Delft, TNO and The Hague University of Applied Sciences.