Sydney Ideas

Young people aged 12–25 are the highest at-risk group for experiencing mental health problems. They are also the group most likely to look for help and support online. Using the internet for social networking is their haven – but is it safe, reliable and helpful? Andrew Campbell from the Faculty of Health Sciences and Tracy Adams from Boystown discuss the issue. A Sydney Ideas event on 10 September 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/andrew_campbell.shtml

Have you ever bought a pain reliever that ‘targets’ specific pain? Can pain relievers really target a part of the body? Are ‘natural’ medicines or supplements always better or safer than prescription drugs? Turns out, a lot of what we “know” about over-the-counter or prescription medicines isn’t true – and in a world where drugs have the capacity to heal or harm us, separating fact from fiction can be life-saving. Professor Andrew McLachlan, a pharmacist and noted researcher with a special interest in the appropriate use of medicines, addresses several important and widely-believed myths about medications. A Sydney Ideas event on 14 October 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_andrew_mclachlan.shtml

Professor Sharon Kilbreath and Ms Sally Crossing have a lot of things in common, but perhaps the most striking is their refusal to accept the status quo. When both women were diagnosed with breast cancer over 15 years ago, they discovered a significant gap in the knowledge and understanding of life after surgery and a lack of a united voice for cancer patients. This spurred them on to become leaders in their respective fields of research and consumer advocacy. In this talk Professor Kilbreath will present her latest research findings which challenge current treatment practices and beliefs around breast cancer rehabilitation. She will particularly focus on lymphoedema, the painful chronic swelling of the arm or chest which can occur post-surgery. Ms Crossing will discuss her own personal journey, and her passion for influencing the influencers to make a difference for people affected by cancer. She will also reflect on the anniversary of 20 years of the cancer consumer advocacy movement in Australia. Professor Sharon Kilbreath is a Professor of Physiotherapy in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney and a National Breast Cancer Foundation Research Fellow. Sally Crossing AM is living well with advanced breast cancer, having been first diagnosed in 1995. She founded and chaired the Breast Cancer Action Group from 1997, and Cancer Voices, the generic voice of people affected by cancer, from 2000. A Sydney Ideas and Faculty of Health Sciences event on 19 November 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_sharon_kilbreath.shtml

How will a changing climate affect global food production and global hunger? What do we know and what needs to be done? In March 2014, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change released the 5th Assessment Report of Working Group II, responsible for considering human adaptation to climate change. The Report presented a sobering, state-of-the-art assessment of how forecasts of climate change might affect global food systems. This is a complex area for future-gazing. Key assumptions about the interactions between climate change, agricultural production and the broader food system remain subject to considerable doubt. The panel will address this important set of issues. PANEL Professor Elspeth Probyn, Professor of Gender & Cultural Studies Associate Professor Bill Pritchard, Associate Professor in Human Geography Dr John Ingram, University of Oxford Debbie Hunt, NSW & ACT State Campaign and Engagement Coordinator for Oxfam Australia A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/food@sydney_series_2014.shtml

At a global level, the people who produce most of the world’s food – smallholder farmers – are also the people who suffer the most food and nutrition insecurity. Why is this so? And what needs to happen to make smallholder agriculture more nutrition-sensitive? In this seminar, three University of Sydney experts from different areas – public health, veterinary science and human geography – review the problem of food and nutrition insecurity among smallholder communities of the developing world. PANEL Dr Alana Mann (panel chair), a senior lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications; Associate Professor Robyn Alders, Faculty of Veterinary Science and the Charles Perkins Centre and a Director of the KYEEMA Foundation; Fyfe Strachan, Food Justice Program Coordinator at Oxfam Australia. A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/food@sydney_series_2014.shtml

Why Don’t we Eat Enough Fruit and Vegetables? This seminar will address the question of why Australians are eating too few fruits and vegetables. National and State governments and NGOs have invested in health promotion programs to increase fruit and vegetable intake over the past couple of decades. However, the most recent national survey shows about half of the Australian population eats their 2 serves of fruit daily but vegetable consumption of 5 serves per day is met by less than 10%. PANEL Dr Brian Jones, Faculty of Agriculture and the Environment Associate Professor Margaret Allman-Farinelli, School of Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science Associate Professor Robyn McConchie, Head of Department, Plant and Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/food@sydney_series_2014.shtml

Too much of the world’s food goes to waste. Wasted food represents a burden on our scarce environmental resources that we can scarcely afford, and loss of product that could (indeed, should) be made available for those in need. The three panellists presented different and distinctive perspectives on why we should treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves. PANEL Associate Professor Bill Pritchard (Chair), Human Geographer, School of Geosciences Dr Brian Jones, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment Alexandra Iljadica, Founding director of Youth Food Movement Ronni Kahn, CEO and founder OzHarvest A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/food@sydney_series_2014.shtml

Lives versus Livelihoods? fumigants, farmworkers, and biopolitics in California’s strawberry industry 23 November, 2015 There’s been great debate over the years about pesticide use in the production of our fruit and veggies. California’s lucrative strawberry industry has been a clear example of where there have been regulatory battles over the use of chemical fumigants - two, in particular, methyl iodide and chloropicrin. One side of the argument, from the activists, is that they would harm the body while industry focused on how no pesticide use would affect its trade. Professor Julie Guthman will discuss these debates and note how farmworkers were notably marginalised. Drawing on her recent research, she will discuss the distinction between lives and livelihood. Professor Julie Guthman is a geographer and professor of social sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Her publications include two multi-award winning books: Agrarian Dreams: the Paradox of Organic Farming in California, and Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism. A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/food@sydney_series_2015.shtml

In recent years, we have seen an explosion in the number of community organisations that orient themselves around the production and distribution of food. These food justice groups often focus on improving the availability and quality of food in urban environments, on reducing food waste, and on building local economies. How, though, does the “justice” of food justice manifest itself in practice? How do groups articulate, value and embody social and environmental justice concerns? And how is it that we can best achieve these goals? This event draws together academic and community perspectives on these questions. Panel David Schlosberg is Professor of Environmental Politics in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, Luke Craven is a PhD student at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Environment Institute. Sharelle Polack, Community Gardens Team Leader at Cultivating Community A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute event in the Food@Sydney series http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/food@sydney_series_2015.shtml

Stranded Down Under: Are fossil fuels bankrupting our nation both financially and ecologically? Numerous industrialised nations are taking to reduce their emissions and shift the world's energy system from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Yet Australia is set to invest over AUD 100 billion in new coal mining developments over the next 15 years. Who is footing the bill for these projects in Australia? All Australians are, through compulsory superannuation schemes that invest in the expansion of the fossil fuel industry. Ben Caldecott, founder of Oxford University’s Stranded Assets Programme and author of the recent report Stranded Down Under? Environment related factors changing China’s demand for coal and what this means for Australian coal assets, sheds light on the ramifications of Australia’s fossil fuel addiction and how individuals can divest in funding this industry. Introduction by Dr John Hewson, chair of The Asset Owners Disclosure Project, an independent not-for-profit global organisation whose objective is to protect members' retirement savings from the risks posed by climate change by improving the level of disclosure and industry best practice. A Sydney Ideas event on 27 March 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/ben_caldecott.shtml