Past events
Professor Mick Dodson AM, 2009 Australian of the Year
Tuesday 3 November, 2009
La Trobe University Bendigo campus was extremely fortunate to have 2009 Australian of the Year, Professor Mick Dodson AM deliver the Sir John Quick Lecture. Professor Dodson, Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies and Professor of Law at the Australian National University in Canberra spoke on the way in which inclusive education and the constitution remain two fundamental areas which require addressing for the improvement of lives for all young Australians, particularly young indigenous Australians.
The majestical Bendigo Town Hall provided a fitting venue for such a wonderful Australian to share his thoughts on education, especially in regional areas of Australia. He said that Human Resources are needed in regional Australia just as much as Physical Resources. Teachers, councillors and mentors are just as important as buildings, libraries and laboratories and these are areas into which adequate funding must be provided to ensure positive outcomes are seen.
Question time saw an inspired audience listen intently as Professor Dodson answered the question, "What can we do?". Having been a long standing advocate of having a yarn about matters of all varieties, he suggested that we can raise our concerns with our local Member of Parliament, talk about our concerns at the dinner table and most importantly teach our children to be inclusive from an early age.
The audio and video of Professor Dodson's presentation will be made available through La Trobe University i-Tunes in mP3 format and also video via a link from this page approximately 2 weeks after the event.
Climate, Sustainability and Society public lecture series
Lecture 3, Wednesday 23 September, 2009
Climate change expert Professor Clive Hamilton came to La Trobe University Bendigo campus via video-stream from the Albury-Wodonga campus in what was the last of three lectures in this very successful public lecture series. Professor Hamilton's presentation graphically displayed the effects that our current waste habits have on the environment in places as isolated as Antarctica and Mount Everest. The need to act is iminent.
Students of the Climate, Sustainability and Society subject were interested in hearing about the way in which they will shape the future in their roles as diverse as teachers and engineers. His response was to remain hopeful and encourage politicians to be pro-active about climate change and pollution reduction.
Professor Hamilton's presentation included statistics and graphs showing forecasted differences in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per person by 80% and 90%. The difference was remarkable. Moreover, he showed a GDP per person to happiness comparison over the past century and interestingly enough while the GDP graph sky rocketed, the number of people surveyed who expressed themselves as very happy remained at about 30%. He suggested that the best way forward was to remain hopeful and be pro-active in encouraging our politicians to be pro-active in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Download Professor Hamilton's lecture in mP3 format by following the link below:
