The Future of Coasts ECRP Event

On August 19 and 20, Future Earth Australia co-hosted an early-career researchers and practitioners (ECRP) forum and workshop on the Gold Coast, along with the Australian Climate Change Adaptation Research Network for Settlements and Infrastructure and Climate-KIC Australia. The event, themed around the future of coasts, brought together ECRPs to share their work and network across disciplines.

Attendees at the event included ECRPs from Western Sydney University, the University of Newcastle, Geoscience Australia, the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, the University of Queensland, the University of Tasmania, CSIRO, Griffith University, Southern Cross University, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. They represented a truly interdisciplinary cohort, and presented on research that encompassed the past and future of coasts, spanned from inland to the land–sea interface to the ocean, and included both highly technical and complex models of coastal change and broad discussions of social trends and theories of change.

The event also included an interactive workshop led by Chris Lee, CEO of Climate-KIC Australia, that involved participants learning how to hack a climate bond. There were also two presentations on career advice for climate adaptation and ocean science, from Dr Johanna Nalau of Griffith University and Dr David Souter of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, as well as a panel in the afternoon chaired by Dr Tayanah O'Donnell of Future Earth Australia, and including Dr David Souter, Chris Lee, and Matt Baldock of Livingstone Shire Council. There was also a presentation by Emeritus Professor Tor Hundloe about the transformation of the Gold Coast.

The book of abstracts from all presentations is available here.