Local Futures
June 21, 2012
I heard a flash about ‘Refugee Homestay’ as I flicked through TV channels last night and followed it up. The Australian Homestay Network has started up a Community Placement Network (CPN) with the goal of offering short-term, homestay accommodation to […]
June 11, 2012
Giles Parkinson of Renew Economy writes that the greatest barrier to the rapid deployment of solar in Australia will not be about cost or a lack of demand – it will be the ability to get connected. A Common Theme […]
June 11, 2012
Is our $921 billion capital investment project pipeline real or is it a pipe dream in our purportedly high-cost, low-productivity nation? A new report from the Business Council of Australia requests a conversation about a workplace relations system that: (i) […]
June 11, 2012
The Fairfax Herald/Age Wellbeing Index indicates that despite ‘temporary stumbles and confusing contradictory trends’ there is solid evidence for optimism about our future as there has been 2% ‘good growth’ in the value of Australia’s human capital. The Index Findings […]
June 11, 2012
The not-for-profit, non-governmental International Association for Community Development (IACD) is the only global network that works towards social justice through community development approaches. It connects people and makes the world a bit smaller. Members think globally and act locally. Local […]
June 7, 2012
VicHealth and other state government agencies are finding that sharing information when developing an app can save money, writes Liz Tay. Cross-jurisdictional Discussions CeBIT Conferences/Trade Shows showcase digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environments and at the […]
June 6, 2012
Our powerful supermarkets and their ‘be big, be cheap’ thinking is pushing food production into remote areas. Craig Pearson from the Sustainable Society Institute at Melbourne Uni writes that we need urban agriculture as well as bulk farming in remote […]
May 25, 2012
Marita Cheng is passionate about engineering. She was raised in far north Queensland then went to Uni in Melbourne where she established Robogals. She is doing exactly what our Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb, is exhorting Australian parents and teachers to […]
May 25, 2012
Yesterday Ally Moore’s 774 morning Talk Show covered a wide range of opinions on Victoria’s TAFE system, given its significant loss of funding and the possible loss of 2000 teachers. The views of John Buchanan, director of the Workplace Research […]
May 15, 2012
Neuroscientists at the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute (QBI) have made a major breakthrough in the fight against dementia, finding the chemical process that causes the growth of new nerve cells. The molecule fractalkine may be key to halting early […]
May 15, 2012
A hugely interesting use of Social Media by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, recommending Facebook users become organ donors, has attracted many comments. Mark Zuckerberg’s Organ Donor Idea For Facebook The new Facebook tool announced recently has the potential to save […]
May 15, 2012
Jo Bumbak, from Carnarvon, WA, hates waste. For years Jo, mother of three, watched tonnes of fruit and vegetables left to rot. Apparently 40-60% of a crop can go this way if it is ‘imperfect’ – although perfectly edible – […]