Posts Tagged ‘water’
The Australian Water Story: The World Bank Water Day Revisited
Posted in Events, Uncategorized by land-environment on June 24th, 2011
| 30 June , 2011 | ||
| 8:30 am | to | 4:00 pm |
Photo of Lynbrook Estate from Australian Ecosystems
Demonstrating international recognition of the strengths of water research, policy and implementation in Australia, the World Bank in Washington DC hosted ‘The Australian Water Story’ on January 31 this year. A great strength of this program was Victorian-based companies, government agencies and educational institutions which have never been showcased in Victoria. In this day-long program, we recreate the presentations made by Victorians at the World Bank. We highlight new collaborations that have followed the World Bank visit and offer exciting opportunities for Victorian water conservation, agriculture and industry.
The event will be closed and summarised by Dr Sharon Nunes, global Vice President, Smarter Cities Strategy & Solutions of IBM. Dr Nunes will also give a public lecture at 6pm – Click through for details and reservations for the lecture ‘The Role of IT in Sustaining the World’s Water Resources‘.
Visit the website for more information and registrations or contact Skye Harrison, email: skyelh@unimelb.edu.au, phone: (03) 8344 5025
8:30am – 4pm, Thursday June 30, 2011
University of Melbourne, Harold Woodruff Theatre, Floor 1, Room 127, Microbiology Building 184, Map (reference J11)
Download the program.
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Improving Urban Streams Through a Stormwater Retrofit Approach: Forum
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 23rd, 2011
| 29 June , 2011 | ||
| 9:30 am | to | 1:00 pm |
Image: eXtension.org: Gardens, Lawns, and Landscapes via flickr CC
Clearwater in partnership with the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Melbourne Water invite you to a unique event where you will hear insights into the contrasting approaches of two innovative catchment-scale stormwater retrofit programs:
- Shepherds Creek project – Cincinnati, Ohio
- Little Stringybark Creek project – Melbourne, Australia
Both projects aim to improve the condition of receiving waters using novel incentives to engage the community. These incentives encourage the uptake of allotment and streetscape scale stormwater retention and treatment systems.
Key speakers include:
- Chris Walsh – Principle Research Fellow, University of Melbourne
- Tim Fletcher – Associate Professor Water Engineering, Monash University
- Bill Shuster – Research Hydrologist, US Environmental Protection Authority
- Darren Bos – Project Coordinator, Little Stringybark Creek project
- Helen Brown – UK Endeavour Award Fellow, University of Melbourne
Presentations throughout the day will be supported with facilitated discussion and the opportunity to meet and chat with three stormwater experts from the US EPA, over an informal lunch setting. The forum is ideal for water industry practitioners, environment staff, urban designers, town planners, engineers and contract staff. This forum will provide practical insights on: effective engagement of the community in stormwater management economic incentives for encouraging stormwater management at allotment scale design, construction and performance of streetscape and allotment-scale stormwater retention, harvesting and treatment systems the future of stormwater management objectives in Australia.
Price: $60 – includes arrival tea & coffee, morning tea and lunch
9:30 – 13:00, Wednesday 29th June
Visit the Clearwater website for more information and to register.
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Fair Share: Country & City in Australia
Posted in Opinion, Visions by Kate Archdeacon on June 15th, 2011
Image: MargaretNapier via flickr CC
For many decades Australia was the country that rode on the sheep’s back. No more – now we are a country of mining and services. In the new Wheeler Centre Quarterly Essay, one of Australia’s most original and respected political thinkers, Judith Brett, looks at what this has meant for the country and the city in our politics and culture. What will be the fate of rural and regional Australia in an era of economic rationalisation, water cutbacks, climate change, droughts and flooding rain? Does urban Australia care for or understand the country anymore?
The Wheeler Centre, 6:15PM – 7:15PM, Thursday 16 June 2011
Free event; recommended to make a booking.
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Conflicts Between Climate, Energy and Water Policies: Lessons from Texas
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 1st, 2011
| 2 June , 2011 | ||
| 5:30 pm | to | 7:00 pm |
FREE PUBLIC LECTURE Melbourne Energy Institute
Conflicts between climate, energy and water policies: lessons from Texas
Speaker: Associate Professor Michael Webber
Prof. Webber will introduce the climate, energy and water nexus with particular reference to the situation in Texas, a jurisdiction of similar dimensions to Australia and with similar climate, energy and water challenges. He will outline the limits to new fossil, nuclear and renewable energy generation due to water scarcity, and the energy demand implications of supplementing water supplies. He will outline examples of potential knowledge, technological and regulatory solutions to the climate, energy and water nexus from Texas and the United States more broadly, and give his thoughts on priority policy measures.
Thursday 2nd June 5.30—7.00 pm
Graduate House, The University of Melbourne 220 Leicester Street, Carlton, Vic 3053
Click through to register your attendance
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Water Sensitive Cities: Winter School
Posted in Events, Research by Kate Archdeacon on May 25th, 2011
| 11 July , 2011 9:00 am | to | 15 July , 2011 5:30 pm |
The Water Sensitive Cities Winter School is a unique opportunity to hear from Australia’s leading researchers and thought-leaders on key actions in delivering water sensitive and liveable cities. Lectures and workshops will present latest solutions and concepts on required technologies for stormwater treatment, urban design and modelling, climate change adaptation, behavioural change, and social and government engagement. These cross disciplinary topics will all be linked to broader urban sustainability issues and lessons from the international community.
Many of today’s societal challenges may be classified as wicked problems where it is often inappropriate to reduce these problems to a perceived single dimension for which a solution is developed. The perceptions of the causes of these challenges differ from one discipline to another and yet they are all relevant. We now recognise the complex dynamics of the socio-technical dimensions of challenges we face today and our cities are expressions of our efforts in solving many of these wicked problems. Water management in our cities plays a key role in defining and shaping our cities’ future prosperity and well-being, as almost every aspect of our urban environment and quality of life is affected by the way we manage urban water.
Visit the Water Sensitive Cities program for the brochure, or Clearwater to register for the event.
Early Bird Registration closes May 31.
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Using Treated Stormwater for Vegies
Posted in Models, Research by Kate Archdeacon on May 24th, 2011
Source: Clearwater
From “Is treated stormwater safe for growing food?“:
Treated stormwater is safe to use on your household vegetable patch according to a new report by the Centre for Water Sensitive Cities at Monash University. The study found that vegetables watered with treated stormwater, normally associated with having strong levels of heavy metals such as lead, and increased pollutants, were just as safe to eat as vegetables irrigated from mains water supplies.
Dr David McCarthy from the Centre for Water Sensitive Cities said that two major findings emerged from the study. “We found that using treated stormwater did not noticeably increase the level of contamination in the vegetables when compared with those irrigated with the mains water. Secondly, it seemed that the most likely route of pollutants entering the vegetables was through the soil or possibly through the atmosphere”, Dr David McCarthy said.
These findings were presented by Dr David McCarthy at a recent Clearwater event with project funding by the Smart Water Fund.
Click here to view a copy of the presentation which is available on our [Clearwater] website or for more information visit the Centre for Water Sensitive Cities.
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Starting an Asset Register for Water Sensitive Urban Design
Posted in Events, Movements by Kate Archdeacon on May 18th, 2011
| 3 June , 2011 | ||
| 9:00 am | to | 1:00 pm |
Image: Greywater Treatment System at Inkerman Oasis, St Kilda
Is your council keen to gain a better understanding of its Water Sensitive Urban Design assets? Are you interested in exploring ways of recording information necessary for effective WSUD management? Do you want to hear how local councils are starting asset registers to manage Water Sensitive Urban Design across departments?
This Clearwater Hot Topic is a terrific opportunity to hear about the importance of developing a WSUD asset register in council. Presentations throughout the day will be supported with facilitated discussion and workshop activities. Suitable for asset managers, open space managers, technology/communications staff, engineers, environment and maintenance staff.
As an attendee you will:
- Realise the value of starting an asset register that incorporates Water Sensitive Urban Design along with drainage infrastructure.
- View examples of WSUD asset registers developed by local councils and see how they are being used to share information, support maintenance and future planning.
- Have the opportunity to discuss different ways to capture, manage and use data for Water Sensitive Urban Design.
Government/not for profit – $ 80.00 (Inc. GST) Commerical – $ 90.00 (Inc. GST)
Inclusions: Arrival tea and coffee, morning tea and lunch
Friday 3rd June 2011 9:00AM – 1:00PM Fenix Restaurant, 680 Victoria Street, Richmond, 3121
RSVP: Friday 27th May 2011 through the website
This event is being jointly run in partnership with the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) and Melbourne Water.
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Transitions to Sustainability in Agriculture: Public Lecture
Posted in Events, Research by land-environment on May 17th, 2011
| 24 May , 2011 | ||
| 5:30 pm | to | 7:00 pm |
Date: Tuesday 24th May
Time: 5.30pm
Speaker: Professor Pamela Matson
Chester Naramore Dean of the School of Earth Sciences
Stanford University
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies
Location: Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment Building, University of Melbourne
Earth is undergoing rapid population growth, urbanization, industrial growth, and consumption of natural resources, with concomitant changes in the global life support systems. How can we meet the needs of the 9 billion people while at the same time sustaining the ecosystems, air, water and climate systems on which we rely for our and future generations’ well-being and survival? Professor Matson will discuss some of the critical challenges at the nexus of food, water and global environmental change, and will present research examples from a multi-disciplinary project in Mexico in which use-inspired research both improved scientific understanding and contributed to sustainable management approaches.
To register, please visit: http://www.land-environment.unimelb.edu.au/deanslectures/matson
Australia’s Premier Handbook on Sustainable Homes Design
Posted in Research, Visions by sashashtargot on May 9th, 2011
From the Passive Design Section: Solar shading in Summer and heating in Winter using trees or eaves.
The updated fourth edition of Your Home Technical Manual is now available.
Your Home is a thorough compendium with 340 pages of environmentally sustainable solutions for designing and building a home. For people who are building, buying or renovating, it shows how to make a more comfortable home that has less impact on the environment – one that will also be more economical, healthier to live in and adaptable to changing needs.
A project of the Federal Government in collaboration with the building and design industry, Your Home is written by architects, designers and builders and edited by award-winning architect Paul Downton. The fourth edition has updates on insulation, lighting and solar hot water.
Your Home is a comprehensive guide to:
- Building with sustainable materials
- Passive solar design
- Designing and building for your climate
- How to collect and save water
- Insulation products and installation
- Shading and ventilation
- Energy-saving appliances
- Solar hot water
- Energy-efficient lighting
- Renewable energy for home
The manual is available for download (section by section) from the yourhome.gov.au website. Hard copies are available for purchase from The Alternative Technology Association’s Online Shop or contact the Alternative Technology Association (ATA) on (03) 9631 5401.
Your Home Technical Manual is distributed by the ATA, Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation promoting renewable energy, green building and water saving in the home.
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CERES Aquaponics Workshop: grow your own fish and veg!
Posted in Events by ceres on May 4th, 2011
| 14 May , 2011 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 4:00 pm |
| 15 May , 2011 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 4:00 pm |
Learn how to raise native fish & grow organic vegetables in a small backyard aquaponics system at the CERES Aquaponics Workshop. This introduction to backyard aquaponics, with internationally renowned aquaponics biologist Dr Wilson Lennard and CERES Green Tech Manager Stephen Mushin, will cover both the theory and practice of designing aquaponics systems that you can build in your own backyard.
The workshop covers: building a small working system, fish and plant selection, fish feeding regimes, plant nutrient requirements, water quality testing and includes a tour of other backyard systems in Melbourne. Aquaponics systems use nutrient-rich waste water from fish to grow plants on floating growbeds. Once the plants have used the nutrients in the water, it is filtered and returned to the fish tanks.
Aquaponics is a highly water efficient form of food production and is suitable for intensive urban agriculture.
Date: Sat 14 & Sun 15 May 2011
Time: 10am – 4pm
Tickets: $220 or $180 (Mem/Conc)
Bookings: T. 9387 2609 or E. ceres@ceres.org.au
Venue: CERES Community Environment Park - Cnr Roberts and Stewart Streets, Brunswick East 3057.
Melways ref: Map 30 B7.
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