February has seen a hive of activity towards the Ecosystem Science Long-Term Plan (ESLTP), with town hall meetings rolling out across the country to enable people to get involved in shaping the future of Australian ecosystem studies.
Coordinated by a range of groups across ecosystem science and management including TERN, the forthcoming ESLTP will identify clear directions for the long-term future of Australian ecosystem science, identifying critical priorities for research, infrastructure, human talent, and uptake to policy and management.
The town hall meetings are a vital element in the collaborative development of the ESLTP, drawing together people from a range of backgrounds and experience across ecosystem science and management to share ideas and develop tangible proposals for shaping the future.
 |
 |
| Town hall meetings (upper photo – Hobart; lower – Adelaide) are enabling anyone with a stake in ecosystem science and management to work collaboratively with their peers to discuss and develop proposals for the future. |
‘It’s been incredibly encouraging and energising to see the broad diversity of people engaging with this process’, says Bek Christensen, Project Coordinator for the ESLTP.
‘People are coming to the town hall meetings with enthusiasm and ideas, and it’s clear that they’re committed to working with their peers to discuss and refine ideas for the future. It’s this enthusiasm and commitment mixed with hard work, that sees us with over 40 concrete proposals for the future already, and we still have more town hall meetings to come!’
Town halls have already been held in Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane, Townsville, Adelaide and Darwin. The outputs and proposals developed at each meeting are contributed to the ever-growing body of potential content for the plan, which will be considered and synthesised by a working group to prepare the final plan document. The first workshop reports are available here, and the remainder will be available soon.
Town halls will be held in Perth, Sydney and Canberra in March. Click here for more details.
Can’t make it to a town hall?
Don’t worry – the ESLTP coordinating team are currently preparing some tools to help you facilitate your own discussions (or perhaps host a ‘mini-town hall’) and submit proposals via the website. These will be ready by the first week of March so keep an eye on the website to take advantage of this opportunity!
Published in TERN newsletter February 2014
