Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Transport Forum March 2009

Will Steffen

Surviving the anthropocene

At the Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Transport forum, Prof Will Steffen gives a comprehensive and frankly terrifying overview of the multiple challenges facing humanity if it is to continue to prosper on earth. From the overuse of global resources (incl water) to the increasingly rapid changes to glaciers and the atmosphere, man's increasingly heavy footprint is leading to a variety of tipping points simultaneously, says Steffen.

Prof Will Steffen is Executive Director of the ANU Climate Change Institute.

Damon Honnery

Global energy, the greenhouse and the future

At the Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Transport forum, Dr Damon Honnery presents a broad picture of the future of the world's energy use, projections about the efficacy of renewables and the complications of rapidly shifting energy sources.

Dr Graham Turner

The limits to growth

The Limits to Growth, published in 1972, was a landmark publication when released, one of the first studies to link the world economy with the state of the environment. At the Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Transport forum, Dr Graham Turner tracks how these scenarios have played out, relating to economic growth, trade, use of resources, population growth and environmental impacts. He then follows the projections into the near future.

Dr David Newth

Stability, tipping points and triggers

Dr David Newth gives a brief but fascinating overview of the way complex systems behave, as a means to analyse the interrelated issues of maintaining sustainable societies on earth.

This forum was organised by Roger Taylor in collaboration with the Australia Fabians.

Melbourne, March 2009