Climate Emergency Conference 2024
Councils and communities reclaiming the climate emergency

Program

Friday 19 April, 2024
08:30  Registrations open​ - tea and coffee available.
P Building near Reading Room Cafe
09:30 Opening Plenary: Why now? 
​Room M001 (main auditorium)
  • Wurundjeri Welcome to Country - Uncle Colin Hunter Jnr Jnr
  • Mayor's welcome - Cr Cuc Lam, PSM, Mayor of Maribyrnong
  • Welcome to VU - Fatih Tuncer, Manager, VU in Community
  • Rescuing the Climate - David Spratt, Safe Climate Australia 
  • Current and future climate impacts (video featuring Anjali Sharma, Farmers for Climate Action, Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action and more)
  • Can we save the world? - MC Cr Trent McCarthy, Darebin City Council and CEA Executive member
10:45 Morning tea and networking break​
11:15 Plenary 2: Communicating the Climate Emergency
​​Room M001 (main auditorium)
  • Adrian Whitehead, CACE The silent emergency
  • Belinda Noble, Comms Declare Saving the planet is a communications challenge
  • Cr Bernadette Thomas, Maribyrnong City Council Communicatng the climate emergency from a council perspective
  • Jane Morton, Darebin Climate Action Now Don't mention the emergency?
  • Rosie Goethel, Gen West Lessons learnt in communication with CALD communities
12:15 Lunch break
13:15 Break-out sessions: Block 1
  • Break-out 1: Getting started on your climate emergency response
    Room D200
    • Dale Martin – Local Government Climate Emergency Toolkit
    • Cr Jude Dwight, Mayor, Knox City Council   
    • Tiffany Harrison, Gippsland Alliance for Climate Action

  • Break-out 2: Stepping up your climate emergency response
    ​    Room C209
    • Sue Wilkinson, CEO, and Sam Green, Yarra City Council
    • Mara Baviera and Victoria Hart, Merri-Bek City Council
    • Silvana Predebon and Justin Walsh, Macedon Ranges Shire Council
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  • Break-out 3: Climate emergency advocacy approaches
    ​Room C203
    • Bryony Edwards, Council and Community Action in the Climate Emergency (CACE)
    • Natasha Palich, The Council Alliance for a Sustainable Built Environment (CASBE)
    • Cr HY William Chan, City of Sydney
    • ​Tim Kelly, Town of Gawler ​
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  • ​Break-out 4: Moondani Balluk Garden Tour and Talk with Megan O'Shea, Iramoo, Victoria University.
    Moondani Balluk Garden + Room G105
 
  • Break-out 5: Scaling up: big projects, big impacts 
    ​​Room M001 (main auditorium)
    • Michelle Van Gerrevink, Brimbank City Council - the Victorian Energy Collaboration
    • Santiago Perrotto, Darebin City Council - Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre
    • Dr. Heather Holmes-Ross, Mayor, and Kate O’Neill, Mitcham Council - Mitcham community renewables project
    • Mike Woods, Latus, Heavy fleet electrification ​​





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​      For more detail see Break-out program: Block 1
14:20 Break-out sessions: Block 2
  • Break-out 1: New approaches to community mobilisation
    ​​Room M001 (main auditorium)
    • Sam Green, Yarra City Council
    • Angela Ashley-Chiew, Asian Australians for Climate Solutions
    • Ben Pederick, The Adaptation Game 

  • Break-out 2: Council mobilisation deep dive
    ​    Room D200
    • Adrian Whitehead, Council and Community Action in the Climate Emergency (CACE)
    • Cr Isabelle Tolhurst, Mayor, and Martin Gill, CEO, Borough of Queenscliffe
    • Cr Jude Dwight, Mayor, Knox City Council
      ​
  • Break-out 3: Crises on the horizon
    Room C203
    • Celeste Young, Victoria University
    • Nick Rose, Sustain: The Australian Food Network 
    • Sohum Banerjea, The Climate Risk Group

  • Break-out 4: Decolonising our partnerships
    ​    Room G105​
    • Laura Nix, Nillumbik Council 
    • Katrina Larkham, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation
    • Paul Davis, Banyule City Council 
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  • Break-out 5: Drawdown and cooling
    ​    Room C209
    • Assoc. Prof. Elmira Jamei, Victoria University
    • Assoc. Prof. Ashok Sharma, Victoria University
    • Lia De Gruchy, Maribyrnong City Council
    • Joerg Werdin and Patricia Bozyk, Yarra Ranges Council

   
     ​For more detail see Break-out program: Block 2
15:20 Afternoon tea and networking break​
15:50 Final Plenary: Building a better world
​​Room M001 (main auditorium)
  • Liam O’Brien, Assistant Secretary, ACTU Workforce and economic transition
  • Frances Coppolillo, Chief Executive Officer, Melbourne Polytechnic Education for the transition
  • Brett Woods, Research Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities, Victoria University Young people as active citizens in a fair transition
  • Ian Dunlop, Safe Climate Australia A National Climate Emergency Plan
17:00 Post-conference drinks at the VU Bar
Catch up on the recordings and presentations from Day 2.