Tweed Shire Council is the host of this year’s highly-regarded NSW Coastal Conference to be held from 8 to 11 November at Twins Towns Clubs and Resorts at Tweed Heads. This is the 20th year of the conference, a milestone reflected in this year’s theme: 20 / 20 Vision for the Coast – lessons learnt and looking toward future improvement.
The annual conference attracts around 280 delegates who are interested in, or working in, the field of coastal and estuary management research, education, service provision and policy. Delegates include representatives from government, universities, private sector, user groups and community volunteer organisations.
Council’s Natural Resource Management Coordinator Jane Lofthouse is a member of the conference organising committee.
“The conference program will focus on the lessons learnt from the past 20 years and how that experience can be used to shape our response to challenges in the coastal zone over the next 20 years,” Ms Lofthouse said.
The Committee is seeking a range of high-quality papers to share at the conference on topics such as: how managers are increasing the resilience of estuarine and marine ecosystems; how well we are planning for the future and what are the impacts of economic pressures and drivers; and examples of research contributing to better management.
“We looking for case studies to show what has worked and what has not; and, what the community and their partners are doing out there on the ground to improve resilience of a coast we all value,” she said.
The Conference is a three-day event which comprises of plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, workshops, field trips (addressing some of the local coastal, estuary and marine management issues), networking events and the Annual NSW Coastal Management Awards.
The Annual NSW Coastal Management Awards are presented to publicly recognise and acknowledge the contributions of individuals, groups, organisations and agencies toward the ecologically sustainable management of the NSW coastal zone. The Awards will be presented on the evening of Thursday 10 November at the NSW Coastal Conference Dinner.
This year’s major sponsors include the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.
Further information is available from the Conference Managers on (02) 6650 9800, email coastal@eastcoastconferences.com.au or online at www.coastalconference.com
