Post Symposium Comments
The Symposium finalised with a 40 minute open discussion pane session involving all speakers. There were plenty of questions from the audience.
Comment 1
“I found the session very interesting, informative, terrifying but was disappointed in the attendance, particularly for the panel at the end. The room should have been packed; obviously folk had other sessions to attend but this issue should have attracted a full house.
There was also no discussion/resolution as to next steps. One of the biggest questions is how do we communicate what is without doubt the most important issue of our time to the general public. We can have all the "in-house" discussions we like but if there is no plan to get it out there amongst the voters and thence to the politicians, then we are wasting our breath. What is the plan from here? Perhaps get the speakers and other interested parties around a table and thrash out a national strategy which might include:
- Get and maintain the general publics attention: A Climate Rescue Roadshow? Not a one-off stunt but a continuing program of talks and discussions with the general public throughout Australia.
- A website along the lines of the Tasmanian effort? With attached blog and links to critical information.
- Both of the above?”
Comment 2
“The symposium was quite informative and the spectrum of speakers was quite appropriate given the broad range of influences this topic has. The information provided during these lectures was quite informative in that it gave me an understanding of the likely issues that will face us and also the scope of these issues from various perspectives. It was also useful that this information was quite interconnected between the various speakers as this gave an understanding that the information provided would bring out the big issues and we could then take this information away knowing that it has been identified on several levels. I now know what the impacts associated to our industry will be and I guess the next part will be adapting to these changes and managing our industry accordingly. It will be very useful to be informed and involved if possible with any approaches or movements that result from this campaign as things progress as I am sure they will be very beneficial to our division.”