Urban Farming Is Growing a Green Future

With seven billion mouths to feed, human agriculture exerts a tremendous toll on the planet, from water draws to pollution, and from energy use to habitat loss. But there is also a growing set of solutions, from organic agriculture to integrated pest management. More people around the world are taking a look at urban farming, which offers to make our food as “local” as possible. By growing what we need near where we live, we decrease the “food miles” associated with long-distance transportation. We also get the freshest produce money can buy, and we are encouraged to eat in season…more here Urban Farming Is Growing …

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Sustainability – the logic and power of transformative collaboration

Climate change is a global issue, and action must come from every aspect of society to yield the needed change. How can corporations make a difference without losing income? Keith Weed from Unilever argues that sustainability and economic growth can go hand-in-hand, after implementing a few key approaches.

“Using less, paying more” – Making the case for long term investment in water efficiency

Major capital investment in seawater desalination and recycled water in response to the Millennium drought (which ravaged parks, sporting ovals and gardens) caused a steep increase in water prices just when water efficiency efforts really stepped up. With the drought now broken in eastern Australia, and water consumption at low levels, customers are now “using less but paying more” as utilities strive to recover large capital costs.  This makes continuing water efficiency efforts problematic.  However, this paper articulates why this is just a short-term problem and that a long-term strategy for maintaining investment in water efficiency is important to create …

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Growing cities from within: urban agriculture in inner Brisbane.

The integration of ‘multifunctional’ land uses including agriculture, has benefits such as decentralised food production, food security, reinforcement of farming as a way of life, cultural landscapes and biological diversity (Bjørkhauga and Richards, 2008). The difficulty arises as multifunctional approaches, although analysed from a policy and economic perspective, have not been integrated in spatial analysis (Wilson, 2009, p. 278). Notable studies make it clear that we currently do not have the tools to deal with the planning or operation of multifunctional agriculture integrated with peri-urban communities. New ways of looking at farming practices are needed (Lawrence, et al., 2004; Bjørkhauga …

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Implementing the Illawarra Regional Food Strategy – the Kiama way

The current food system faces many challenges of equity, sustainability, waste avoidance, human health, and animal welfare.  We must address these challenges in order to secure a resilient food future.  Local Government has a role to play in enabling access to adequate and nutritious food through; our built and natural environment, planning, governance, service delivery, and policies. The Illawarra Councils recognise the important role of food in our lives, and its impact on our communities.  Our region joins a growing movement focussed on rebuilding a relationship with good food, which is ethically produced, with minimal ecological impact.  The development of …

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Regiopolis: Rethinking Australian Regional Cities

Regeneration of many cities is essential to enable their sustainable re-development but importantly to maintain their viability and creativity in this global and rapidly changing world. The predominant focus of Australian planning and design literature is concentrated upon its coattail cities and the problems and challenges these burgeoning metropolises presently. Even state and commonwealth government policies preference these places against the rest of the Australia’s urban and regional centres biasing the focus of the majority of research activities and interrogations. For example, the recent round of the Commonwealth-funded National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) (2010-2013) projects concentrated over 80% …

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The Digital Work Hub Project: a catalyst for urban and regional revitalisation in SEQ

A 2013 collaborative Regional Development Australia project between the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Logan/Redland, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, examined opportunities and challenges for establishing a network of digital work hubs across South East Queensland. The global megatrends influencing the future of work as highlighted by Deliotte & AMP Capital 2013 Its (almost!) all about me. Workplace 2030: Built for us, concludes that workplaces of the future will be designed to connect and facilitate as interconnected hubs providing the catalyst for diverse, vibrant work precincts. Presently however, Australian cities with their agglomeration of knowledge workers and innovative high value added …

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Association’s Australian Regional Development Conference Initiative

The inaugural conference was an unqualified success that saw over 50 presenters take the stage in Albury NSW. The conference has it’s own blog to enable delegates to continue the discussions on-line and will soon publish both peer and non-peer-reviewed papers along with the program podcasts. Visit the ARDC blog here: http://regionaldevelopment.org.au/blog The Awards dinner had over 200 attendees. The conference will return to Albury in 2015, call for papers will open soon.

Mayor of Albury City welcomes delegates to the Australian Regional Development Conference

It’s a great pleasure to welcome you to Albury for the Australian Regional Development Conference. As one of Australia’s leading regional cities, we welcome this discussion and debate to Albury. AlburyCity is a very proud supporter of this event. The challenges facing regional areas cross borders and territories. But the proper planning, discussion and debate of new ideas they are challenges that can be overcome. The Australian Regional Development Conference will focus on issues surrounding economy, planning, environment and community development. The aim of the conference is to advance economic and social outcomes for regional Australia. The conference provides the …

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Energy minister vows to curb the spread of solar farms

Solar farms must not become “the new onshore wind”, Greg Barker, the energy minister has said DECC admits that the spread of solar farms has been “much stronger than anticipated in government modelling” and some have been sited “insensitively”. Ministers have vowed to curb the growth of massive solar farms that blight the countryside, pledging they will not allow it to become “the new onshore  wind”.  In a solar strategy released on Friday, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said: “We want to move the emphasis for growth away from large   solar farms.” It unveils plans to instead put more …

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