CMS commitment to listening, learning and acting.

As we are all aware, Australians have now voted in the October 2023 referendum, rejecting a change to the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia and to establish a body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

Whilst CMS celebrates democracy and acknowledges the decision of the nation, it is clear that misinformation is an enormous challenge in our democracy, and that many Australians are lacking an understanding of the truth of our colonial past and its continuing impact on First Nations people today. We are very disappointed by the outcome. This is particularly since the electoral data very clearly shows that First Nations communities living in remote and regional areas overwhelmingly voted Yes.  We recognise the stress and hurt felt my many – in particular, Indigenous colleagues and their families and communities – as a result of public debate surrounding the referendum, and its outcome.

We are heartened that 70% of people in our home municipality of Nipaluna/Hobart voted “Yes”. We are also buoyed by the statement released by the Science and Technology of Australia (https://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/we-will-continue-to-listen-and-act/), which reads in part “…in the wake of the referendum result, STA re-dedicates ourselves and our community to partner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations in STEM to advance the cause of repair, respect and recognition. We renew STA’s longstanding commitment to support, amplify, and elevate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations in STEM – and highlight the inspiring Indigenous STEM knowledges of this country. You can show your support for STA’s Indigenous member organisations and other Indigenous causes in so many ways.”  We are pleased to see such support from the broader scientific community.

Regardless of the referendum outcome, Australia will continue to face challenges to better understand the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for just and empowered lives. We recognise that a powerful opportunity remains for us to realise the generosity and wisdom of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and to renew our journey toward a shared vision of a better nation for all Australians.

At all levels, it is obvious that we have much more work to do to better connect with each other, and to the people and cultures who have managed the many Countries that make up the land now referred to as Australia for at least 65 000 years. CMS re-commits, strongly, to listening, learning, and working to ensure we can do this in a way that maximises the success and wellbeing of Indigenous people now and into the future.

Download our Voice Statement here.

See related 'IPCC Voices' report here.

Congratulations to the Curious Climate Tasmania (CCT) team who were a finalist, and one of two ‘highly commended’ awards in the International Green Gown Awards, part of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, in the ‘Benefiting Society’ category.

CCT delivers public-powered scientific engagement, bridging the gap between experts and audiences with credible, relevant information about climate change. CCT is different from most science communication projects in that content is driven by its participants. It asks the Tasmanian community what they want to know about climate change, and responds directly to their questions.

The Curious Climate Tasmania team is a collaboration across UTAS but led by Professor Gretta Pecl (IMAS/CMS) and Dr Chloe Lucas (GPSS/CMS) and is a novel and highly successful science engagement program that links experts and the broader community to provide credible, relevant information about climate change but is importantly driven by public interests.

Read more and watch a short video here: University of Tasmania, Australia | Green Gown Awards.

CMS was lucky to have a fourth year Arts student from Beaux-arts de Paris, Sarah el Idrissi, spend several weeks with CMS. Here is a short video she made during a visit to Maria Island with CMS Director Professor Gretta Pecl, and marine ecologists Professor Sean Connell and Adriana Vergés. The video is set to music from the Bahrain pearl divers men’s choir

Supported by CMS, this film explores Tasmanian Aboriginal connection to kelp forests. The film also features CMS affiliate Dean Greeno, and was released January 6th at an amazing launch event. Watch the film and see the pics here.

Prof Gretta Pecl is an Ambassador for Business Events Tasmania

Abstract: Our global society is severely addicted to a particular vision of the world and a future that has become both unsustainable and undesirable. The facts about our predicament – climate and environmental disruption, biodiversity loss, growing inequality, financial instability, eroding democracy – have been known for decades. However, the solutions have also been known for just as long. So why have we not made faster progress? What is holding us back? This talk frames our current predicament as a societal addiction to a ‘growth at all costs’ economic paradigm. While economic growth has produced many benefits, its side effects are now producing existential problems that are rapidly getting worse. We can learn from what works at the individual level to overcome addictions to design therapies that may work at the societal scale. The first step to recovery is recognizing the addiction and that it is leading to disaster. However, simply pointing out the dire consequences of our societal addiction can be counterproductive by itself in motivating change. The key next step is creating a truly shared vision of the kind of world we all want. We need to design and test creative ways to implement this societal therapy. The final step is using that shared vision to motivate the changes needed to achieve it, including adaptive transformations of our economic systems, property rights regimes, and governance institutions.

Please see below recording of the webinar.

This webinar explored climate change adaptation from the cutting-edge science to on-the-ground action. Looking at what is happening locally to adapt to the impacts of climate change and Tasmania’s role in broader programs like the National Environmental Science Program.

This forum was hosted by the patron of National Science Week Tasmania and CMS member, Dr Jess Melbourne-Thomas.

Panel:
• Associate Professor Sarah Boulter, Associate Professor in Climate Change Adaptation, University of Tasmania and Climate Adaptation Mission Lead, National Environmental Science Program
• Katrina Graham, Senior Climate Change Officer, Hobart City Council

CMS members Dr Jess Melbourne-Thomas presented the talk "Challenges and solutions for Antarctic marine biodiversity under climate change", and Prof Marcus Haward presented the talk "Marine Biodiversity in the Southern Ocean: Lessons from CCAMLR" at the panel.

Plenary presentation at the World Fisheries Congress, 20-24 September 2021, Virtual

University of TasmaniaInstitute of Marine and Antarctic StudiesCSIRO Department of the EnvironmentGEOS
© copyright Centre for Marine Socioecology 2024
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