Victorian Adaptation Forum 2014 - Overview

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The 2014 Victorian Adaptation Forum comes after a year of record breaking heat waves, extreme weather, floods and fires across Australia, and one year after the release of the Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Plan (VCCAP) which will shape the agenda for adaptation action in this state. The forum will explore how greater collaboration and closer engagement with the research sector can strengthen adaptation policy and practice to better equip the Victorian community in the face of a changing climate.

Keynote presentations, round-table discussions, research workshops and parallel sessions are organised around priority areas identified in the VCCAP, from assets and infrastructure to natural assets, from industry to partnerships with local government and community. These will provide local and state government decision-makers, researchers and others stakeholders with knowledge to better prepare for and manage the impacts of climate related events.

The forum aims to demonstrate how greater collaboration and closer engagement between researchers, policy makers and practitioners can strengthen adaptation policy and practice, and support greater climate resilience in Victorian communities and industries.

All forum sessions will be framed by four strategic questions:

  1. How have research endeavours to date been used in capacity building and/or adaptation policy development and practice?
  2. What are the key challenges to using adaptation research for policy development and practice?
  3. When is co-production of knowledge needed to generate research outcomes relevant to policy and practice?
  4. What additional steps are needed to translate research into action?

Forum highlights include:

  • Keynote address by Professor Lord Krebs, FRS, Chair of House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology
  • A private sector corporate social responsibility adaptation case study presented by Olivia Tyler from Treasury Wine Estates
  • Presentations of climate adaptation research and its benefits to Victoria by Dr Paul Hardisty from CSIRO, Neil Plummer from the Bureau of Meteorology, Professor Jean Palutikof of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) and Professor Rod Keenan from VCCCAR
  • Workshops showcasing the latest climate adaptation research in VCCCAR
  • Sessions focusing on priority themes identified in the Victorian Climate Change Adaptation Plan
  • A review and reflection on adaptation research in Australia by Dr Benjamin Preston from Oakridge National Laboratories (USA).