An Environmental Profession for the Future
Wednesday 28th - Friday 30th September 2011
Novotel Twin Waters Resort
Sunshine Coast
For more than a generation, governments, businesses and communities across the globe have been grappling with the issues of sustainable development, wrestling with the challenges of greater efficiency and equitably providing for a rapidly growing human population, while also leaving a smaller physical impact on the environment.
Managing the human relationship with the natural world has become the one of the most complex and challenging issues of our time, requiring increased investment in education, research and development, technology, and professional standards. It also increasingly requires adjustments involving economic reform, social behavioural and values change. After a generation of Environmental Protection Agencies and environmental managers, our relationship with the natural systems of the Earth still remains unbalanced and unsustainable - as is confirmed by all major environmental indicators.
So just how does the modern environmental professional fit within this complexity? What is it about the next 20 years that will be different from the past decades which have seen the rise of environmental managerialism and cleaner technologies – but also greater environmental impacts through exponential growth in production and consumption? Will the questions be different for tomorrow’s environmental manager? What will be the shaping influences on the demands of corporations and communities needing the services of environmental professionals? What have we learned that will endure into the future in shaping the professional management of the human-nature relationship?
Issues to be explored at the EIANZ annual conference
Today the focus of the environmental manager can be in fields as diverse and increasingly complex as food and energy security, climate change, marine and waterways degradation, industrial pollution, community engagement and inter-sectoral resource conflict between farmers and miners. As we approach the milestone of celebrating the first 25 years of our organisation, the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) at its 2011 annual conference will challenge members and participants to stop, consider and explore:
- what about the environment profession needs to change to ensure continuing professional relevance to delivering value and shaping the future;
- new perspectives coming from the next generation of Australians who have an important stake in the future;
- better ways to engage the community and respond to emerging issues that for resolution require higher levels of input from the social sciences;
- the lessons of more than 20 years of active professional development in environment management both for the members, their clients and communities;
- the implications of making sustainability the crucial performance determinant in assessing the professional role of the EIANZ member.
To ensure a practical focus and professional orientation, debate about these challenging questions will be structured in the main conference around four themes:
- Dealing with uncertainty in a world that does not understand risk and foresight
- Managing country holistically and sustainably
- Engaging people in ways that matter and have positive impact
- Future Directions for environmental professionals
Click here to download the registration brochure!
20% Off Student Only Offer
Register 5 or more students and receive 20% OFF
(discount does not apply to dinner, welcome reception or field trips)
Special available on standard rate & early bird
Be quick to take advantage of early bird finishing 2 September
Also register today and receive:
1 year FREE student membership
(excludes Journal)
Benefits include:
• library of environmental policies for reference by members
• discounted rates to attend EIANZ professional development events
• dedicated EIANZ website
• quarterly electronic newsletter, The Environmental Practitioner & regular electronic news bulletins
• EIANZ-run Australasian conferences, forums, workshops & social events organised by local Chapters & Divisions
• submissions to public inquiries & responses to public reports on behalf of the membership
• development of networks within government, industry, the media & related professions to facilitate external communications
