Program for the 2023 Darwin Living Lab Symposium

Time 

Session 1 – Welcome and sharing knowledge on heat mitigation and liveability across northern Australia

8:00

Registration and arrival tea and coffee 

8:30 

Welcome to Country  

·        Lorraine Williams Larrakia Elder

8:40

Introduction and housekeeping

·        Amy Hetherington (Event MC) Amicable Communications

8:50

Opening address

·        Hon Eva Lawler MLA, Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics

8:55

Opening remarks

·        Hon Kon Vatskalis, Lord Mayor of Darwin

9:05 

An Introduction to the Darwin Living Lab and purpose of the symposium 

·        Dr Chris Chilcott, Deputy Director in CSIRO Environment and the Research Leader for Northern Australian Development

9:10

Keynote: Urban Greening: The Mackay Experience

·        Aletta Nugent, Director Development Services Mackay Regional Council

9:25

Keynote: A Cool, Clean and Green City

·        Simone Saunders, Chief Executive Officer City of Darwin

9:40

Keynote: Building the case for an Arid Zone Living Lab: Collaboration across borders and climatic regions

·        Jimmy Cocking, Chief Executive Officer Desert Knowledge Australia

9:55

Keynote: Designing tropical cities on a hotter earth

·        A/Prof Lisa Law, Tropical Urbanism and Design James Cook University (Cairns)

10:15

Questions to speakers

10:30

MORNING TEA – break and networking

11:00

Facilitated plenary discussion – Opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing on tropical design and heat mitigation for improved liveability and adaptation across Northern Australia

Session 2 – Navigating change and water for cooling

11:20

Darwin Living Lab: progressing a cooler and thriving city

·        Dr Tim Muster, Principal Research Scientist from CSIRO’s Adaptive Liveable Cities Team

11:30 

Living Water Smart 

·        Joel Spry, Manager Water Demand Power and Water Corporation

11:40

Government Leadership on Water Efficiency

·        Ben Littlejohn, Senior Policy Officer Office of Water Security Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security

11:50 

Botanic Gardens water use and associated issues

·        Bryan Harty, Director George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security

12:00

Panel discussion Q&A 

12:15

A prosperous future, within the planetary boundaries: the story of the Netherlands 2120

·        Dr Ingrid Coninx, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands

12:30

LUNCH BREAK 

Session 3 – learning from community and Indigenous ways of improving heat-related health and liveability  

13:15 

Keynote: Health impacts of greening strategies to cool urban environments

·        Dr Mahsan Sadeghi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow CSIRO Energy

13:30

Healthy patients, workforce and environment: coupling climate adaptation and mitigation with wellbeing in healthcare

·        Dr Mark De Souza, Chair, Sustainable Healthcare Committee for NT Health and Senior Staff Specialist in Emergency Medicine, Royal Darwin and Palmerston Regional Hospitals

13:45

Larrakia-led survey of biodiversity values of Darwin

·        Dr Adam Liedloff, Research Scientist CSIRO Environment

14:00

Thermal comfort and adaptation strategies of home occupants in Darwin

·        Dr Shokhida Safarova, graduate of the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods CDU

14:15 

Releaf in Sight: High-resolution Mapping to Track, Value, and Restore Darwin’s Urban Tree Cover

·        Dr Ray Marcos Martinez, Senior Research Scientist CSIRO Environment

Interactive session – Identifying areas undergoing change in Darwin and implications for future adaptation and community wellbeing

14:45

AFTERNOON TEA 

Session 4 –   Measuring sustainability progress

15:00

Interactive session (cont.)

15:15

NT Government’s climate change response 

·        Kenneth Baulch, Senior Policy Officer Office of Climate Change Northern Territory Government

15:30 

Towards net zero carbon: the role of urban buildings

·        Dr Natthanij Soonsawad, Research Scientist CSIRO Environment

15:45

Workshopping session on identifying opportunities for supporting the transition to net zero in Darwin

16:00

Liveability and Smart Cities

·        Keith Whannell, Manager Digital Innovation City of Darwin

16:15 

·        Reflections around the room and people to complete evaluation

·        Closing remarks 

16:30 

Close