WOMADelaide - The Planet Talks

The Fight for the Bight Against Big Oil - WOMADelaide 2019

SPEAKERS: Peter Owen, Bunna Lawrie and Jodie Rummer

HOST: Clare Press

Peter Owen (The Wilderness Society), Bunna Lawrie (Mirning Elder and Coloured Stone frontman) and Jodie Rummer (marine scientist, James Cook University) represent a large and growing movement of concerned people, councils, businesses, industries, environmental and scientific organisations opposing the proposed drilling by Norwegian oil company Equinor in The Great Australian Bight.

It’s a David versus Goliath battle in one of the most pristine and diverse ocean environments left on Earth. On one side, Equinor’s supporters point to jobs and economic benefits for the state, while the other highlights oil-spill modelling that shows catastrophic consequences for fisheries and tourism industries worth over $1.5 billion collectively per annum. The risks are real and battle lines are drawn. Find out what the future holds for oil drilling in the Bight.

Adani, Coal Wars, and the National Interest - WOMADelaide 2019

SPEAKERS: Quentin Beresford and David Ritter

HOST: Deb Tribe

Our Prime Minister recently declared the need for “fair dinkum power" when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. But can this “fair dinkum power” be good for the planet, leaving the 90 per cent of the nation’s coal reserves in the ground estimated for Australia to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement?

Join Prof Quentin Beresford (author of Adani and the War on Coal) and David Ritter (Greenpeace CEO and author of The Coal Truth) as they discuss the Adani saga and the power behind our government’s passion for coal over a 100% renewable energy future.

Less Meat, Less Heat: Is the elephant in the room a cow? - WOMADelaide 2019

SPEAKERS: Angie Plummer, Cecile Godde, Matthew Evans and Andy Lowe

HOST: Deb Tribe

Can we really tackle climate change without addressing our relationship with meat consumption and the livestock industry? Ditching the snag on the BBQ and shifting to a more plant based diet is a demand-side solution but only half the consumption / production equation. What needs to be done to change a livestock industry that contributes 15% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions? That’s even more than the transportation sector.

Inaugural Director of Food Innovation at the University of Adelaide, Andy Lowe, Less Meat Less Heat CEO Angie Plummer, CSIRO food systems scientist, Cecile Godde and farmer/SBS TV food documentary maker, Matthew Evans have a few thoughts on where to start, even if you don’t want to become a vegan.

The Magic of Mushrooms: A mycelial path to saving the planet - WOMADelaide 2019

SPEAKERS: Gavin McIntyre, Brian Pickles, Alison Pouliot and Mike Hornblow

HOST: Robyn Williams

Fungi preceded trees and animals on the Earth by hundreds of millions of years, and they’ll be cleaning humanity’s mess long after we’re gone. But can the humble ‘shroom help us save the planet right now? Bioneer Gavin McIntyre from ground breaking New York biofabrication company Ecovative Design, mycologists Brian Pickles and Alison Pouliot, and interdisciplinary designer Mike Hornblow are certain they can.

Fungi are saving the planet daily by energy cycling ecosystems, decomposing organic matter and feeding plants and animals. Now, scientists are also harnessing their mycelium – the root structure of mushrooms – to save the planet. They’re growing incredible sustainable materials to replace the use of wood, foam, bricks, leather, and plastics. They’ve even discovered fungi that eat plastic, clean up petrochemicals, absorb radiation, filter wastewater and treat a range of illnesses and immune-mediated conditions! Here’s to a fungi future.

The Party Room podcast: Live! - WOMADelaide 2019

SPEAKERS: Fran Kelly, Patricia Karvelas, Senator Penny Wong and Minister Simon Birmingham.

Radio National’s brilliant politics podcast The Party Room comes out of the studio and into the Park for the first time. Join two of Australia’s most respected journalist broadcasters, Fran Kelly and Patricia Karvelas, plus special guests Senator Wong and Minister Birmingham as they analyse and interpret the latest issues from Canberra affecting our world.

Can Trees Talk, Think and Heal? - WOMADelaide 2019

SPEAKERS: Brian Pickles, Monica Gagliano and Alex Gaut

HOST: Robyn Williams

Join pioneering scientists Brian Pickles and Monica Gagliano alongside Nature Connection guide, Alex Gaut as they discuss the fascinating world of tree communication, plant cognition and the healing powers of forest bathing. Gagliano’s bio acoustics research in plant cognition and Pickles’ work revealing a mycelium communication network dubbed “the Wood Wide Web” has exposed an incredible hidden world where plants and trees share, trade, care for family, display altruism, wage war, and even think!

And the connection between trees and humans and is just as fascinating. Originally established with Japanese government support because of its measurable health benefits, tree bathing has become widely popular in Japan, Europe and the US as a mind-tree-body therapy.

Tim Flannery Keynote with Robyn Williams - WOMADelaide 2018

Internationally celebrated environmentalist, scientist, explorer, writer and 2007 Australian of the Year, Professor Tim Flannery will open the Planet Talks with a keynote address and conversation about our sustainable relationship with the planet joined by the father of Australian science broadcasting, the legendary Robyn Williams.

Currently Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and chief councillor of the Australian Climate Council, Australia’s largest and most successful crowd funded organisation, Tim Flannery has published over 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers and named 25 living and 50 fossil mammal species. His 33 books include his latest publication is ‘Sunlight and Seaweed’ and the award winning “The Future Eaters” and “The Weather Makers”, which has been translated into over 20 languages. He has made numerous documentaries and regularly reviews for the New York Review of Books.

Climate Justice & the Human Face of Climate Change - WOMADelaide 2018

Speakers: Kathy Jetnil Kijiner, Ursula Rakova, Julian Burnside, and Tim Costello

Host: Ben Doherty

While the world’s richest countries talk about climate change, many of the poorest nations are experiencing its devastating effects right now. Climate justice activists, Ursula Rakova (Carteret Islands) and Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner (Marshall Islands) are the human face of climate change. Their homelands are the first nations of people being forcibly displaced due to manmade global warming. Ursula Rakova and Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner are joined by Julian Burnside and Tim Costello to explore our responsibilities and the human face of climate change.

Techtopia LIVE - WOMADelaide 2018

Speakers: Genevieve Bell, Kristin Alford and Toby Walsh

Host: Bernie Hobbs

Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Machines represent the most significant social and organizational challenges since human civilisation emerged 5000 years ago. How humanity engages with these technologies today is the key to ensuring that the future development of these tools benefit both society and the environment.

Joining Bernie Hobbs for a live discussion exploring the ramifications of technologies set to disrupt our sustainable relationship with the planet will be three of Australia's brightest minds - cultural anthropologist and former Adelaide thinker in residence Genevieve Bell, futurist and Director of .MOD, Kristin Alford and one of the world’s leading scientists researching Artificial Intelligence, Toby Walsh.

Is Plastic Pollution as Great a Threat to Humanity as Climate Change? - WOMADelaide 2018

Speakers: Vaughan Levitzke, Vivian Sim, and Anne Sharp

Host: Deb Tribe

An estimated five trillion plastic items - mostly less than five millimetres in size - are currently circulating the surface of the world's oceans and scientists cite microplastics (particles less than 5mm) entering our food chain as a potential toxic ticking time bomb. Let that sink in for a minute... ('scuse the pun).

Three experts in waste, microplastic contamination research and consumer behaviour, Vaughan Levitzke, Vivian Sim, and Anne Sharp sit down with the ABCs Deb Tribe to discuss the scale of the world's addiction to plastic and the possible solutions.