Our speaker for June is Richard Sanders, an ecological economist, futurist, environmental scientist and change agent who has delved deeply into the concept of sustainability for over 20 years. He is a visionary systems thinker who has grappled with the questions of what the sustainable society would necessarily look like in principle (based on ecological and thermodynamic imperatives), the transitionary technical and social pathways necessary to get there, and the democratic political processes necessary to bring about such a transition. Richard has been actively networking nationally and internationally in the quest for sustainability, focusing on the 'big picture' level and on clarifying the sustainability concept as objectively as possible to ensure that people are working in common purpose and not at cross purposes. He founded Quest 2025, an Australian-based non-profit incorporated association on 1 January 2001.The aim of Quest 2025 is to transform our society through informed people power and the democratic process from its current state of ecological crisis into an ecologically sustainable society by the year 2025. Richard will explain to us the rationale for and genesis of carbon "cap and trade" systems.

Our group will then look at Australia?s CPRS (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme), citing excepts from Guy Pearse's Quarterly Essay "Quarry Vision: coal, climate change and the end of the resources boom" published earlier this year.

Date & time: Wednesday 17 June 2009

5.30pm - biscuits, coffee/tea

6.00pm - presentations & discussion

7.00pm - meeting concludes - enthusiastic participants are encouraged to continue discussion over dinner at another venue

Venue: Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology Boardrooms, 134 Whitmore St (Swann Rd end), Taringa. Go to reception (off upper car park) & signs will direct from there.

Parking is available on site (upper car park- anywhere there is a space or lower car parks in the non reserved spaces).There's also plenty of nearby on-street parking (with no meters/time limit) at that time of day.

Who should attend: Any intelligent person interested in the common good.

Cost: FREE!

We invite participation from all members of the public who agree with the medical and scientific principles that we should use evidence, reason and fairness as the primary means to address the issues facing society