Stewardship of Country from the Royal Societies of Australia: Webinar 1

“Stewardship of Country:
The Common Ground –
A Convergence of Traditions”

Presented jointly by the
Royal Societies of Australia and
Inspiring Australia Victoria

Date: Wednesday, 24 February, 6.00–8.00pm AEDT
Video presentation: Facebook video
All are welcome

Stewardship of Country, presented by the Royal Societies of Australia and Inspiring Australia Victoria, is a series of three webinars that aim to generate a discussion of landscape and environmental stewardship bridging Indigenous, scientific, economic and social perspectives with supporting ideas for practical action and public good. This initiative represents a fruitful collaboration between the Royal Society of Victoria, the Royal Society of Queensland and the Royal Society of New South Wales with support from the CSIRO.

Stewardship describes a deep relationship between people and place. In modern Australia, it is increasingly proposed as the next step of transition for a culture emerging from its colonial, extractive relationship to the landscape. The transition to stewardship may require we reorganise around the unique characteristics of the country, undertake significant regeneration of damaged ecosystems and deprioritise constant economic growth in favour of an enduring sufficiency gathered from a prosperous and biologically diverse environment. This series poses a fundamental question – who are we becoming as Australians faced with an increasingly unpredictable and challenging future?

Webinar 1: The Common Ground — A Convergence of Traditions focuses on the convergence of knowledge traditions, acknowledging the capacity for traditional European farming practices to adapt, the remarkable advances in the ecological sciences based on European classification systems, and the complex Australian Indigenous knowledge systems developed and maintained over a truly astonishing stretch of time, offering a deep cultural understanding and relationships with "country" to help us determine our common future in Australia.

This event will feature four presentations by:

• Adjunct Associate Professor Mary Graham of The University of Queensland (Keynote)
• Professor Peter Bridgewater of the Australian National University, the University of Canberra and Beijing Forestry University
• Mr David Pollock of Wooleen Station
• Mr Justin O’Brien, Dr Chris Brady and Mr Peter Christopherson of Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation.

with panellists:

• Dr Mark Stafford Smith, CSIRO Honorary Fellow
• Ms Verity Morgan-Schmidt, Gheerulla Creek Consulting
• Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, Deakin University.

Stewardship of Country will be conducted online as a Zoom webinar. Each event will be livestreamed on the Societies Facebook page free of charge; paid registration is open to those who would like to submit questions and engage in the session as audience members.