Citizens’ Forum to discuss climate change
In a first for the Ballina Shire, 20 residents, selected from an initial group of 2000, will work with the council this week to come up with local ways of responding to the impact of climate change.
They will meet with Council staff on the 27-28 August to listen to presentations from some of Australia’s experts on climate change and discuss different aspects of climate change and the implications for the shire.
The Council’s Civil Services Group Manager, John Truman, said this was the first time the Ballina Council had organised such an event.
“The Council has an obligation to plan for the future and one of the major issues identified by the NSW and Federal Governments is climate change,” Mr Truman said.
“The NSW Government has recently released information setting out the likely changes to our climate into the future. It is important that Council determines the extent of its planning and delivery programs in response to this risk.
“Council is also aware that this is an issue that is important to many people in the community. Thisprocess will allow Council to more fully understand that level of interest and the response required by Council to address those concerns.
“The process is called ‘deliberative democracy’ and it is a form of public participation where a cross-section of the community comes together to talk about issues and solutions to an issue, which in this case is climate change.
“It’s an exciting project for the community and the staff, who will work together to come up with a range of recommendations which will be handed to the elected Council.”
The forum will be held on Friday 27 August and Saturday 28 August 2010 with a brief information session on Thursday night.
“Given that we have some of the country’s experts on climate change speaking at the forum, we are expecting participants to find the process extremely worthwhile,” Mr Truman said.
“The outcomes of the forum will therefore be very important in assisting the elected Council determine how we, as a community, respond to this issue.”
The recommendations from the Citizen’s forum will be used in the development of the Council’s Climate Action Plan and other Council policies.
Citizens’ Forum program
Below is the citizens’ forum program, with the full list of speakers and panellists.
DAY ONE Thursday 26 August 6.30pm – 8:30pm
TIME DETAIL
6:30pm Arrival and greeting of participants
6:45pm Welcome from Ballina Shire Council
7:00pm Introductions / icebreaker
7:30pm Introduction to deliberative democracy
7.45pm Young person’s perspective on climate change
8:00pm Networking/discussion and snacks
8.30pm CLOSE
DAY TWO: Friday 27 August 8:30am – 5:00pm
8:30am Arrival
8:45am Introduce people unable to come on Thursday night; run through agenda for the day; roles of
staff
9:00am Speaker on climate science – Dr Andrew Pitman, University of New South Wales
9.45am Questions and discussion following presentation
10.30am Morning tea
11:00am Panel discussion – sea level rise, coastal issues and flooding:
• Richard Sharp – flooding, Ballina Island and floodplain issues
• Craig Witt – coastal hazards, storm surge effects
12:00pm Questions and discussion following presentations
12:30pm LUNCH
1:00pm Impacts of climate change
• Insurance and legal issues – Samantha Kelly
• Health impacts – Annie Kia
1:40pm Questions and discussion following presentations
2.15pm Impacts of climate change
• Colin Creighton – impacts on agriculture
A speaker on ecology and environment was sought, but this was unsuccessful.
3:00pm AFTERNOON TEA
3:20pm Questions and discussion following presentations
3.50pm Deliberation – capturing ideas from the day
4.20pm Reflections; what is expected for next day
4.30pm CLOSE
DAY THREE: Saturday 28 August 9:00am – 4:30pm
TIME DETAIL
9:00am Icebreaker
9:20am Outline of what is required from deliberations
9:30am Summary of ideas generated on Friday with main topic areas
9.45am Group deliberations – capturing ideas within main headings, adding more if needed
11:00am MORNING TEA
11:20am Reminder of task
11.30am Development of preliminary recommendations
12:30pm Report back on initial recommendations
1.15pm LUNCH (work over lunch to consolidate recommendations)
2:00pm Refining of recommendations and development of consensus
3:00pm AFTERNOON TEA (practice presentation)
3:15pm Report of recommendations to Council representatives
3:45pm Feedback from Council
4:00pm Final reflections and evaluation
4:30pm CLOSE
