Climate change demands urgent innovation

Innovation and the development of new technology are not moving fast enough to meet the changing external environment being driven by climate change.

That’s the view of Professor Dora Marinova, from Curtin University’s Sustainability Policy Institute, who is working with Southern Cross University’s Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work in a collaborative project looking at human settlements in rural and remote areas.

Professor Marinova will be giving a guest seminar at the Coffs Harbour campus on Wednesday, December 9, at 10.30am. The presentation will be video linked to the Lismore and Tweed Heads campuses.

“The urgency of climate change means we not only need to build a national system to support innovation, but there is also need for a global green system of innovation,” Professor Marinova said.

“In the past there have been patterns of innovation, such as the steam engine and digital technology, which have been triggered by market forces, competition between countries or the desire to improve quality of life.

“For the first time in history we now have external factors, triggered by the state of the environment, which will drive the development of new technology. But we don’t have time to wait.”

In her presentation in Coffs Harbour, Professor Marinova will be outlining the concept of a global green system of innovation (GGSI) for tackling the challenges of climate change.

“Urgent global policy measures are needed to speed up innovation and technology development,” she said.

“A global green system of innovation that represents community values and encourages sustainable behaviour is needed to encourage the development of institutions and mechanisms within the global community which support and facilitate the required transition towards sustainability.”

Professor Marinova is working with Dr Kurt Seemann, director of research in Southern Cross University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management. They have been investigating human settlements in rural and remote areas and sustainable strategies for rural and remote development.

“We are delighted and honoured to have someone of Professor Marinova's standing to work with us through the Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work,” Dr Seemann said.

“In a time when more and more technologies, social links and resource flow systems begin to interact, the science of network analysis has shown great promise in understanding the form that complexity takes to produce emergent behaviours, foster innovations, and define how our linked up world behaves.”

Professor Kerry Brown, director of the Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work, said climate change was one of the intractable global problems and a looming ‘wicked issue’.

“Collaboration between our research centres on this topic will foster greater opportunity to tackle one of the most significant issues of the century,” Professor Brown said.

The seminar will be held at the Coffs Harbour campus on Wednesday and members of the public are invited to attend. It will be held at 10.30am in MLG13. It is being videolinked to the Lismore campus (U231) and SCU Riverside, Brett Street, Tweed Heads (A223).

Photo: Professor Dora Marinova will be giving a guest lecture in Coffs Harbour on Wednesday.