Running Hot! 2010 – not a ‘sustainability’ conference
How nice it is to be attending a conference that is a little different, primarily that is not about sustainability, sustainable practice, green ‘anything’ or climate change. I am finding it more upbeat than the usual sustainability focus and have a rare opportunity to indulge in physical and social science ,of which most fields I have not heard of before!
From the 1st-3rd of November runninghot! 2010 was held at the amazing venue that is our national museum Te Papa, Wellington. The theme: ‘Wonder and Widgets – Realising the Value of Research in NZ’.
From my observation over the past few days a number of key themes have occurred, but in particular sources of finding for research; the who, how and why. Other themes included the importance of basic and applied science, the commercialisation of research (in relation to the first theme), who is researching in New Zealand, research partnerships between institutions and spanning disciplines and finally the importance of the general communication of science and innovation.
One particularly important point that I took from the conference is the importance of collaboration within research projects, particularly between the social and natural scientists. When working on projects whereby sustainability is the defining theme, collaboration between these two groups is a give-in – to ensure that we are working towards sustainability. Lack of collaboration could in fact be why research in New Zealand at this time is not sustainable! Don’t get me wrong, there is still discussions about the need for more collaboration at sustainability conferences it may be a bit more of a give-in.
As mentioned above it was somewhat of a new experience to view the world of research through a lens something other than that of wearing my ‘sustainability’ hat – the imminent threat of declining resources and health of natural and social systems, coupled with the increasing demand for resources caused primarily through our drive for growth … however, I had moments of lapse. These were fuelled by some very cleaver and entertaining presentations given across the three days of the conference. Many of these are available on the runninghot! 2010 website www.runninghot.org.nz/. Favourites for various reasons:
Humourous: James Dekker , Brennon Wood and Justin O’Sullivan.
Fascinating: Dr Catherine Mohr, an engineer/medical doctor with her presentation entitled ‘From Surgeons to Superheros’ and Ray Avery, entrepreneur “Production Realization: The New Frontier” and Juliet Gerrard “Changing the Mood”.
Most useful for my own research: Tracey McIntosh “Research, Innovation and Social Justice”, Judy McGregor “Unrealised Value: How can research influence economic and social change?”
And the whole conference just wouldn’t have been the same without Brian Crump, Radio NZ host who was really quiet superb!
Thank you to all the organisers, it was a fantastic conference. See you in 2012.
Launch of new tools for embedding Sustainable practice
The Sustainable practice 360 tools were launched at an event in Untouched World in Christchurch as few days ago.
Endorsement was offered by Peri Drysdale, from Untouched World, Steve Henry from Otago Polytechnic and staff from the Mellenium hotel. In addition 14 businesses have used various aspects of the tools to manage and measure business performance
Barry Law from the Sustainability Company in Christchurch has developed the tools. Our Centre will be delivering training programmes in partnership with Barry accross the South Island
Gearing up for Sustainable Practice Expo
The inaugural ‘Showcasing Sustainable Practice Expo’ is taking place this Friday 5th November from 9am to 4pm at Queenstown Memorial Hall and its all hands on deck as we put the finishing touches to the planning.
The Centre is delighted to be hosting the Expo in collaboration with the partners of the Queenstown Lakes Sustainable Business Programmes and at a district level we are hoping to inspire yet more capability in sustainable practice.
The response has been terrific and with 25 exhibitors registered it’s a real opportunity for people to see the results being achieved by businesses and community groups in the region and the chance to learn more, share ideas and celebrate success.
To name but a few, Rilean Construction will launch a locally designed house that’s affordable and energy efficient, Ziptrek Ecotours will showcase their new ziplines, Interface New Zealand will show how they’ve redesigned carpeting so everything can be reused and recycled … There will be demonstrations of the Otago Polytechnic Solar Hot water trailer and a Ricoh Eco bike that people can ride to see just how much energy it takes to generate power to run an appliance.
We’re looking forward to the inspiration from our guest speakers – Paula McCallum the recently appointed General Manager of Qualmark; Rod Oram – International Business Journalist, Sunday Star Times and Good Magazine Columnist; Rachel Vaughan from the Green Globe Certified Kaikoura Community, and CEO of Envirocomp Ltd Karen Upston. In our efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of the Expo, three out of the four guests will join the Expo via Skype video.
Brief presentations and a panel discussion from the Queenstown Lakes Sustainable Business Programmes steering committee (Destination Queenstown, QLDC, Lake Wanaka Tourism and Chamber of Commerce) will cover the importance of this work to our region.
Entry to the expo is free and people are encouraged to come along and see what people are doing to make their businesses and homes more sustainable. All visitors to the Expo go into a draw for a prize pack which includes a Ziptrek Ecotour for two, a Dart River Jet Safari, a bottle of local organic wine, a Mobil prize pack and a $50 voucher from Queenstown Office Supplies.
We hope to see you there!
Follow us on Twitter @csp_otago #cspexpo2010
