Byron Shire Echo February , ArticlesTop scientist to lead climate Walk a mile in my soggy boots change workshop at Byron BayOne of Australias foremost scientists will lead a oneday workshop for managers in the
northern rivers
this month. Entitled Managing the Challenge of Climate Change, the workshop will also feature leading green entrepreneurs and senior executives from both the public and private sectors, and academics from Southern Cross University, the University of Technology Sydney and Grifth University. The keynote presenter will be Dr Brian Walker, pictured right, Senior Research Fellow in the CSIRO Division of Sustainable Ecosystems. He is also the chair and program director of the Resilience Alliance, an international network of research centres working on sustainability. Other speakers will include Dr Garry Glazebrook from the Association for the Study of Peak Oil ASPO, Tony Chadwick, Business Development Manager of Deln Lend Lease, Alastair McCraken, chair of Eco Tourism Australia, Cheryl Desha, Education Director of the Natural Edge Project, David Wyatt, founder of in complex systems is directly relevant to how we face the challenge of climate change. Resilience is the capacity of a system a community, a business, a farm or an ecosystem to absorb disturbance and to undergo change while still retaining its essential functions, structure, identity and feedbacks. Increasingly, cracks are appearing in the capacity of communities, ecosystems and landscapes to provide the goods and services that sustain our planets wellbeing, Dr Walker says. Resilience explains why greater efciency by itself cannot solve resource problems, and offers a constructive alternative that opens up options. The workshop, a joint project of Southern Cross University and the Ethos Foundation, will be held at the Byron Bay Beach Resort on Monday February . Enrolment details can be obtained by phoning Ken McLeod on or visiting the Ethos Climate Change Leaders Network website at John Campbell I cant recall a wetter summer in the twenty years Ive been living at Goonengerry. The climate going berko all around us has made a lie of the old Mark Twain saying that everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. It seems that weve unknowingly been doing something radical about it ever since he uttered those words, if you get my drift. The rain started before Christmas and my neighbour McHale, who was here the other day, is as jack of it as I am. Angular and gouty, he took an age to get his sodden Blundstones off. I couldnt help but marvel at his ability to hop around the veranda on one foot, like a human pogo stick, while yanking the boot from the other. He puts it down to the yoga hes taken up. Hed come over to show me how to assemble the drill I borrowed. I have no tools, my simpletons credo being that if it cannot be mended with gaffer tape or blue tack then Ill just have to pay through the nose for a tradesman to come and x it and leave behind his inevitable mess. Unless, by humbling myself I have no pride, either, and employing my Machiavellian smarminess, I can persuade McHale to delve into his box of thingummies and work his gnarly ngered magic. I feel obligated to help, he explains, always with gruff humility. I know youd do the same for me. Provided I could do it with tape or tack, I think, wondering too how the ugly obligated came to supersede obliged. Is it simply because it sounds more important Whatever. I figured hed been listening to one of the lifestyle shows on Bay FM again and didnt split hairs with him, not now that he was getting stuck into the job that I didnt have the wherewithal to do myself. Then he dropped the sort of classic malapropism for which I secretly regard him as a national treasure. Fitting the bit into the drill, he casually uttered geez, the yards a clogmire, isnt it.Novogenesis and chair of Papryus, Murray Richardson, CEO of NORCO, Elizabeth McGregor, Director of the North Coast Institute of TAFE, Professor Jerry Vanclay, Head of the School of Environmental Science and Management at SCU, and Steve Davies, CEO of Beyond Building. The Federal Treasurys red book brieng for the incoming Rudd government described climate change as .the single most pressing environmental, economic and social challenge this country faces. Against this background, Dr Walker calls for managers and planners to drastically rethink their approach to the way our landscapes, natural resources, communities and organisations are managed. He believes the latest research on resilienceAccolades for Byron Bay resortAfter three years of operation, The Byron at Byron Resort and Spa was rewarded recently with two Awards for Excellence from the Mayne Investments Northern Rivers Urban Design Awards. The resort took two of the three Awards for Excellence allocated one for urban design and one for sustainability. Another Byron development, Troppo Architects commercial and residential development on the corner of Bay and Fletcher Streets in Byron took the third Award for Excellence. This is a blessing for us, said Lyn Parche, the resorts general manager, pictured. We have received both national and international awards since opening, but to be recognised like this locally is particularly important and Their focus on sustainability provides a great example for other northern rivers tourism
operators. The Byron at Byron has been investing in researching international tourism to Byron and the Northern Rivers and during the last twelve months alone senior resort staff have visited the UK, Germany, New Zealand and the US. We have found that many internationals had never heard of Byron Bay before, said Lyn Parche. But now with international travellers being very conscious of the impact they have on the environment many are seeking a unique and authentic Australian experience. People have loved learning about the Byron region.McHale is not the sort of man to be corrected, especially by a toolless bloke like me. I let it pass and, as is so often the case, found myself taking a liking to the linguistic innovation. I put it in the vault, with the intention of sharing it with Cat Carer. We have similarly rampant egos and love making fun of other people. Clogmire Thats like, so totally deviant, Old Man. I knew shed dig it. I was driving her home. She presented herself on my doorstep at ten in the morning, muddy but still in dilated pupil rapture after a doof party somewhere down in the valley. My mistake was to go inside for a cuppa when we got to Bruns. Her mothersreading group was meeting, its members ushed with the volatile mix of menopause and Dubonnet. I suppose it must be awfully boggy in the hills, Faerie Queene enquired, what with all the rain weve had. Indeed, I replied. And then, without thinking, its a clogmire up there. She and Lady Cadaver and the rest of the gang dropped their Geraldine Brooks as one, their mufed tittering murderous. I was hoist by my own petard. Or, if I can propound another new word I had been McHaled. Slinking away, I cautioned Cat Carer against making a similar slip. I felt obligated to do so.Do you need tovery special to John and I. Chief Executive of Northern Rivers Tourism, Russell Mills, believes The Byron at Byron truly deserves the accolades. They work tirelessly for the betterment of the tourism industry and they encourage their guests to get out and experience the beauty of the region.DETOX or DE-STRESSEXERIENCING - bloating, constipation, stomach upsets, skin problems, llow energy, allergies, d depression, chronic f fatigue, bl ll h muscle pain or headaches YES Then we can help. HELP US CELEBRATE OUR 2ND WONDERFUL YEAR OF NEW OWNERSHIP with COLONIC HYDROTHERAPY therapist assisted LIVE BLOOD ANALYSIS DETOX MASSAGE its awesome NATUROPATHY much more FREE FAR INFRA RED DETOX SAUNA Until th March, for new clients on mention of this ad Bookings essentialBallina NaturopathicsThe Detox SpecialistsProviding colonics to the Northern Rivers for years5 River Street, Ballina Phone We guarantee quality, commitment and more affordable treatments.
