ILWS - Institute of Land, Water and Society
Previous Events 2008
Australian Forest Growers 2008 National Conference
After two years of planning, the Australian Forest Growers 2008 National Conference held in Albury-Wodonga at the Albury Convention Centre, October 19 to 22, was indeed a credit to all those involved.
The smoothly run conference, with the theme Forestry for a Better Future: climate, commerce and communities attracted 270 delegates from across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the U.S. and Europe. It has been hailed as the most important forestry conference to be held in the region in 20 years.
Pictured (L to R): Dr Digby Race, Tony Cannon and Barney Foran.
The Institute for Land, Water and Society played a major role in the organisation of the conference with senior research fellow Dr Digby Race the convenor of the conference; conference and events co-ordinator Kate Roberts on the conference organising committee; and communications coordinator Margrit Beemster involved in publicity/media for and during the conference. Institute adjunct research fellow Barney Foran was a keynote speaker at the conference. His views on tree crops being an efficient source of bio-energy and call for large scale plantings of trees across Australia were well received both by the conference audience and regional, national and international media. Also presenting at the conference was PhD student Hugh Stewart who spoke on the role of planted forests in rural landscapes.
Digby said the successful conference engaged a diverse range of people involved in forest growing, processing and marketing.
“The conversation at this conference has evolved from previous AFG national conferences where the discussion was formerly about the technical side of growing trees,” says Digby. “The industry is really addressing new frontiers for forest growing in Australia, such as bio-energy, emissions trading and biodiversity. The desire is growing for forestry and agriculture to co-exist to enhance Australia 's economy, landscapes and communities.” 
Mr Tony Cannon, the President of the Australian Forest Growers which is a national association representing the interests of private forest growers, congratulated the conference organisers on a successful event. “The conference you organised was a truly quality conference and it was a fantastic effort,” said Tony. “On behalf of AFG I extend a big thank you for what you have achieved.
Pictured in the ILWS trade display,
(L to R): Dr Digby Race, Barney Foran, Binod Devkota, Kate Roberts and Lukas Wibowo.
“I think one of the achievements was reinforcing the importance of farm forestry in the forestry sector's mix in Australia. I hope this can help to add weight to the need to reverse the decisions by some governments to reduce services to private growers. The diversity of attendees was one of the conference's great strengths as it has exposed a range of people who may not normally get close to the real tree growers … to see the innovation and challenges that occur on the ground.
“Above all the conference was an extremely enjoyable event.”
Environmental Services 
– fact or fiction for landholders?
One hundred and twenty people, many of them landholders, participated in a one day seminar on September 17 which aimed to inform people of the pros and cons of Government environmental services programs; and to clarify the processes around carbon trading.
Pictured (L to R) : Attendees Warren Vogel, Dr Joanne Millar, Sue Brunskill and Lachlan Campbell from the Australian Alpine Valleys Agribusiness Forum
The seminar, which included addresses by Institute members Prof Max Finlayson, Prof Mark Morrison and Prof Allan Curtis, was organised by the Australian Alpine Valleys Agribusiness Forum in conjunction with the North East Catchment Management Authority with the support of North East Water, Plantations North East and the Institute for Land, Water and Society. It was held at CSUs Nowik Theatre in Albury.
Pictured (L to R): The Institute's Jenni Greig and Prof Mark Morrison who spoke on “Evaluation of Current Options” and Vicki Ratcliff, the Director of Environmental Stewardship with the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage & Arts.
The Institute's Dr Joanne Millar, who was on the organising committee, said the committee felt the day was very successful as it attracted both agency staff and landholders and it did a lot in terms of explaining what environmental services actually are. 
“It also explored a lot of questions around carbon trading
and how and if it may relate to agriculture,” said Dr Millar.
The event was well covered by the media with coverage by
Prime TV Albury, the Victorian Country Hour and the
Border Mail.
Pictured: Institute director Prof Max Finlayson (left) with
Mick Keogh (right), Director of the Australian Farm Institute.
"So Much Sky" Launch
The launch of A/Prof Bruce Pennay's brochure “So Much Sky” at the
Albury Library Museum on Friday, September 12 as part of History Week 2008 was an opprtunity for those who attended to hear of and share in the experiences of migrants passing through the Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre at Albury, NSW from 1947-1971.
Among those who spokme at the launch was John Petersen, manager, Migration Heritage Centre, NSW, who is based in Sydney, and acting mayor of Albury City, Cr Henk van de Ven.
Bruce (pictured right), an historian and Institute adjunct, said Australia, in 1947 when the centre opened, was very much Anglo/Celtic. “We then opened our doors to people who were some how different, who didn't speak English,” he saids. “This challenged Australia and its ideas of cultural diversity.” Just as challenging, for the migrants, was their arrival in a new country.
Left: Draga Williams, was a migrant from Serbia who went through Bonegilla. She is pictured with Bruce Pennay and an item of clothing she has donated to the Jindera Museum.
Hard copies of “So Much Sky' are available at the Albury Library Museum and the Bonegilla Migrant Experience Heritage Park. It is also available online.
Echoes of the Past, Voices of the Future Launch
The opening of a photographic exhibition of images and traces of German settlement in the southern Riverina, Echoes of the Past, Voices of the Future , drew a crowd of more than 50 people to the Albury Library Museum on Thursday, September 11.
The 30 stunning sepia images, taken by Institute archelogist and cultural heritage manager A/Prof Dirk Spennemann (pictured, right) help tell the story of the many hardworking German farmers who left South Australia in the mid 1860s to select cheap farming land in the fertile Southern Riverina and establish communities at towns like Jindera, Gerogery, Walla Walla and Edge Hill.
The exhibition, a joint venture between ILWS and Albury City to celebrate History Week 2008, was opened by the leader of the Institute's Communications, Arts & Education discipline group Dr John Rafferty and the museum's team leader, collections & assets, Ms Pam Owen (pictured, left). It included a display of artefacts from the Jindera Museum.
About 40 people attended Dirk's public seminar at the museum on the following Saturday morning on the history of German settlement in the region. Dirk is intending to tour the exhibition to other towns settled by Germans in Australia.
Launch of Barking Owl Video
The tiny hall at Wooragee near Beechworth in North East Victoria was packed to the brim with more than 130 people attending the launch of “Where are…the Barkers?” on September 5.
The short film, which was three years in the making, was produced by the Wooragee Landcare Group and is based on former ILWS PhD student Natasha Schedvin's research into barking owls in the North-East. The entertaining 37 minute docu-drama has been developed to appeal to a wide range of audiences including landholders, land managers and students of all ages. While the “star” of the film is Berry Barker, a local Barking Owl, the film also features Dr Schedvin, (now a wildlife ecologist
at Healesville Sanctuary), local landholders and children.
It is intended to increase awareness and understanding of a little known or understood species and 
its habitat requirements in order to help secure its survival as a species. The film is the work of local film maker Jan Osmotherly and co-director Glen Scolfield. “I found Natasha's research on Barking Owls fascinating,” said Jan. “I was surprised to discover we had our own rare species here for a start and then a bit alarmed to find that are not only endangered but declining because of continued loss of habitat, poor seasons and fire in out area.”
Pictured L to R, Former ILWS PhD student Natasha Schedvin, co-director Glen Scholfield, ILWS supervisor A/Prof David Watson and film-maker Jan Osmotherly.
For copies of the DVD contact Glen Osfield on osfield@optusnet.com.au . A four page information sheet is also available to accompany the DVD.
Rural Australia without Petroleum?
ILWS and the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation hosted a public forum and workshop on the implications of diminishing international supplies of petroleum and the possibilities for biofuels industries in rural Australia on 12 and 13 March in Wagga.
Pictured left, Prof Peter Sinclair and right, Prof Julian Hine.
Speakers included, Prof Peter Sinclair an environmental sociologist and oil industry analyst at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, Dr Barrie May, a biofuel researcher from CSIRO Mt Gambier and author of "Biofuels in Australia: Issues and Prospects" (link to RIRDC site and executive summary of report) and Prof Julian Hine from the University of Ulster, UK.
Over 50 people attended the forum and 25 invited guests particpated in the workshop to share understanding of the 'peak oil' issue and consider the most important implications of oil depletion and substitution. Questions including; How can rural communities adapt to increasing fuel costs and the potential for biofuel production? and How will the development of a biofuel industry affect investment, employment and the growth/decline of rural communities? were considered.
Pictured above, Prof Deirdre Lemerle and Dr Barrie May
Convenor A/Prof Ian Gray said groups including the Council of Social Services and EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation are keen to work together on collaborative research projects with details to be released soon. Prof Peter Sinclair's paper Peak Oil and Corporate Policy (PDF 1MB) is available here or visit his website www.ucs.mun.ca/~oilpowerfor more information.
Pictured L to R, Andrew Honan (Railway Technical Society Australia), Katherine Barlow (NSW Dept of Transport) and forum convenor A/Prof Ian Gray.
Exhibition: Concrete Poetry
While many people find their first engagement with art or creative work as complex or inaccessible, the use of game-playing can allow anyone to become part of the creative process. Concrete Poetry is a new exhibition at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery (Saturday 14 June – Saturday 5 July, 2008) by Dr Andrew Keen, Associate Professor at the School of Visual and Performing Arts, CSU that offers a playful and engaging format accessible to children and adults alike and links the visual to the verbal experience.
Following its world premiere at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery , Concrete Poetry will be travelling to Queensland University of Technology and RMIT University in Melbourne , before heading overseas to the University of Westminster in London and the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana , Slovenia.
Photographic Exhibition - "Estudios del bosque: studies of the forest "
11 January to 30 March 2008
Albury LibraryMuseum, Albury NSW
"Rainforests are by their very nature, dark, wet and secretive, and taking photographs is difficult," says A/Prof David Watson an ecologist with ILWS who is holding his first public exhibition of his photographs, taken in Central and South America. "This exhibition represents a window into that mysterious world through the eyes of a scientist."
The 20 photographs in the exhibition range from photographs of a striking poison arrow frog, to the leaf litter on
the forest floor, to the canopy dwelling birds.