TropEco News - Eleventh Edition

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Find out about: Ÿ Sustainability Club Ÿ JCU Permaculture

Ÿ Conservation Volunteers Ÿ Community Gardens Ÿ Revegetating Atika Creek Ÿ JCU Bicycle User’s Group (BUG) Ÿ Bird watching on campus

um Symposiium Ÿ 2014 Sustainability Sympos Ÿ Solar research - Green Sunshine

Issue 11 January - June 2014 100% recycled paper

Letter from the Editor

Sustainability Symposium 2014 Friday April 11 This is a free event & everyone welcome Fair: Cairns 10 am - 3 pm Townsville 11 am - 2 pm.

The Symposium: 10.30 am - 7 pm.

The War of Waste Issue 11 January - June 2014 Editor: Adam Connell Sub Editor: Suzy Keys

Contents 3. What’s happening?

4. Students Restore Atika Creek

by Alana Valero & Samantha Forbes 5. Sustainability Club by Lucy Graham 6. Crescente Luce by Michael Oelgemöller and Matthew Bolte 8. Community Garden Update by Adam Connell 10. Birds Count by Suzy Keys 11. Conservation Volunteers Australia 12. Sustainability Symposium by Meg Collis & Lania Lynch

Contribute to TropEco News If you have a sustainability related story or event you want to talk about, please send it to tropeco@jcu.edu.au with relevant pictures and we may put it up on the TropEco Facebook page or publish it in TropEco News.

TropEco News is published on 100% recycled paper and is also available online. Limited copies are printed to minimise resource consumption.

Front Cover: Looking after the environment is no laughing matter. It’s a serious business for birds like the iconic Laughing Kookaburra, one of many birds that pass through or inhabit the Townsville and Cairns campuses.

Revegetation is a great way to encourage healthy bird populations and TropEco is proud to support student and staff initiatives that create and increase bird habitats on campus. Photo: Suzy Keys.

Welcome to a New Year and one that promises to build considerably on our efforts toward a sustainable JCU. In 2013 we saw some wonderful achievements at JCU, such as winning the ACTS Award of Excellence for Sustainability at the Green Gown Awards Australasia, the first Sustainability Symposium and Fair (which will now be an annual event), and the formation of the JCU Sustainability Club in Cairns, of which its members have been extremely active in taking on projects to improve JCU's sustainability.

We've also seen the JCU Permaculture Society in Cairns continue to build its profile and run the weekly local food market on campus in conjunction with the Real Food Network, bringing much needed community spirit and support for our local farmers to campus.

Much of the success of these groups has been due to the Bachelor of Sustainability course, which will produce its first graduates in 2014. This multi-disciplinary course has been responsible for some of the most active students on campus in many years.

In Townsville we've seen the success of the JCU BUG bike workshop, with students and staff provided free bike servicing throughout the year (thanks to Josh and Joe), along with the Green Bike Fleet, where second hand bikes have been given a new life and sold to students at affordable prices. We've also see the community garden at Rotary evolve into a highly productive exemplar of urban food production that is accessible to the wider community.

These programs will continue to build in 2014 and we encourage more students and staff to get involved.

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Indeed sustainability is about lots of people taking small steps, engaging in meaningful conversations and actions, and adjusting their lifestyle to one that promotes community collaboration, establishes strong local economies and ensures diverse and healthy ecosystems.

This is what we are trying to encourage through TropEco but we need YOU to join us on the journey.

So what will your next step be?

Will you sign up to be a TropEco Sustainability Intern and take on a project that you're passionate about while gaining recognition for your achievements?

Will you start riding your bike to Uni, or help out at the community garden and gain important knowledge on how to grow your own food in a productive way?

Will you source local products and minimise your waste production or cut out plastic from your life?

Will you attend the next TropEco movie night and learn about the importance of bees to our survival or will you get involved with the JCU Sustainability Club or Permaculture Society?

There's many ways you can start reducing your impact on this earth and the journey starts now. So whatever you choose to do, get out there, tread lightly and experience it.

Adam Connell, Manager, Environment Estate Office, Division of Finance and Resource Planning, James Cook University, Angus Smith Drive, Douglas, Qld.4811 P: +617 4781 5060 Mobile: 0459 097 253 E: adam.connell@jcu.edu.au

What’s happening?

Cairns Bicyle Users Group-BUG for short.

2014 will be an exciting year for the recently formed Cairns BUG as they set up their own GreenBike Fleet with the assistance of TropEco. By Hansley Gumbaketi, President of JCU Cairns BUG. Townsville has had one for a few years and now James Cook University in Cairns is set to get our own Bicycle Users Group.

It started with a bountiful big breakfast during the annual Ride-to-Work/Uni last October attended by almost 20 ridersstudents, staff, and public. Our purpose?

connect with us through the following.

Facebook: jcu cairns BUG Email: jcucairnsbug@gmail.com

FREE Bike Workshop Townsville TropEco

Rock band ‘Queen’ was succinct when they sang “I want to ride my bicycle”, because at the end of the day, that is what this group was formed to do. Just ride and make sure that anyone who wants to ride can do so without prejudice.

2014 is set to be an exciting year with the goals that we have set ourselves, least of which involves setting up our own “green” bike fleet with the assistance of TropEco. If you would like to be part of our journey this year, join the club through our signup sheet at the JCU Student Association or

Remember The Women’s Cycling Clinic will be held at Cairns campus in early 2014.

Let your friends know and register your interest for the next one by emailing lania.lynch@jcu.edu.au

provides free bike servicing for students and staff (parts not included). If your bike isn’t running quite right, drop in and see Josh at the workshop and he’ll get you on the road in no time.

Where & When?

The workshop is located at the creek end of the library. Hours of operation will be posted on the workshop door once at the start of semester.

TropEco, James Cook University, Tropical Queensland, Australia 3

Students restore

Atika... one seedling at a time

Alana Valero and Samantha Forbes In 2013, Masters students Samantha Forbes and Alana Valero proposed and planned an onsite restoration project titled “Restore Atika ”to improve the health of JCU Cairns Campus’ major natural asset, Atika Creek.

This project was designed to highlight the need for and begin the long-term rehabilitation and restoration of the highly degraded riparian zone within the Cairns Campus. With a primary focus on local ecological features, Restore Atika assists the presence and resilience of onsite regional ecosystems including the endangered regional ecosystem 7.3.12b.

After months of planning, proposals, organization and preparation, the initial “Restore Atika Planting Day” was set for November 9th 2013, with approval to restore two degraded sites within the JCU Cairns Campus. With the in-kind assistance and continued support from the Cairns Regional Council, preparation for planting couldn’t have been easier.

Making light work for Samantha and Alana, Dave Lloyd, Terry Genver and Russel Wild from the C.R.C Stratford Nursery generously provided: Invaluable project advice; a bobcat, auger and machinery operator for digging holes; 500 delivered seedlings; and 6 truckloads of delivered mulch.

Three months on and the planted seedlings are growing with tremendous strength and beauty, with some species more than tripling in size. Of the 500 seedlings planted, Samantha and Alana reported a minimal 1% seedling mortality rate in the first 4 weeks with no major post-planting weed concerns.

500 seedlings planted with love

Not only have the aesthetic values of the two sites greatly improved, but the ecological values of the Atika Creek riparian zone are expected to increase exponentially as time continues after planting. Samantha and Alana are now in the planning stages of a string of subsequent plantings and projects to extend upon and compliment the “Restore Atika” 2013 project, and to furthermore increase the health and quality of ecosystems existing within & surrounding the JCU Cairns Campus.

Funded by TropEco, the Restore Atika Planting Day was a great success. With a volunteer planting team of 30 JCU staff and student members (and their enthusiastic children), an impressive 500 seedlings were planted with love, wateredin and mulched across the two sites.

Although the volunteers were willing to sweat it out for the sake of re-creating a healthier riparian ecosystem, TropEco kindly rewarded the hard-working planting team with cold organic juices and a delicious selection of fresh lunchtime treats upon completion of planting, both earned and enjoyed.

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If you want to get involved please contact: Alana.valero@my.jcu.edu.au Samantha.forbes@my.jcu.edu.au

Sustainability Club - Cairns campus

Sustainability Club members are implementing and supporting projects that increase their understanding of what sustainability means for them and the community. By Lucy Graham Sustainability is becoming an important element in today’s society, and as it grows, a variety of students studying different degrees require sustainability subjects. Sustainability is a word which is still very ambiguous to the everyday person. Even those studying the undergraduate degree at James Cook University (JCU) can find the subject very expansive. So to further the understanding of sustainability, how it can be implemented and what it looks like in action, the JCU sustainability Club was formed.

In 2013 presenters included the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre, who spoke about the sustainable projects that they are implementing in the community and how the club members could become involved through volunteering.

Terrain presented the multiple natural resource management projects that they are running and how future graduates can contribute to that field of work.

The Cairns Action For Sustainable Transport and EnviroCare also presented their efforts as a community groups, showcasing that sustainability is a whole community effort.

The JCU Sustainability Club was founded by Johanna Kloot at the beginning of 2013. In it’s first year of existence, the club has been a great success. James Cook University is working to be a leader in Sustainability and has fostered an environment in which the Club has prospered.

These are just some of the fantastic presentations the club held in 2013.The club also received excellent opportunities to participate in workshops initiated through TropEco and other university initiatives.

The Sustainability Club has attracted students from many different courses and members of the Cairns community and therefore has a wide range of intellect and ideas. The Sustainability Club works to empower students and community members to become active in sustainable projects.

Club members participated in the Strategising For Change Workshop by Kerryn O’Connor and From Sitting on The Couch to Changing the World by Professor James Arvanitakis. The club has implemented and supported many projects throughout campus and the community.

Each week the Sustainability Club hosts an event, usually a presentation from a member of the community, a related film or workshops to enhance the skills of members.

On campus the sustainability club provided integral support to the Atika restoration project, the student association’s Green Switch Program and the Safer Together Forum.

Within the Cairn’s community we have volunteered with CAFNEC on the Solarhub project, with EnviroCare’s restoration, frog monitoring and green corridor projects, participated in local rallies towards sustainable futures and worked with the Tropfutures program.

At the annual TropEco Awards Ceremony the Club received two awards in recognition of their efforts towards community and cultural engagement.

Receiving the TropEco Community Award Highly commended and the TropEco Culture Award Highly commended. The Sustainability Club is looking at furthering their action and strengthening community engagement into 2014.

The weekly presentations will continue and the club is looking at having 11 ongoing projects for the year. For any student whether studying Sustainability or not, the club provides a hands on experience.

Sustainability is a lifestyle, an everyday practice and something that is integral to our ongoing existence, the club provides an opportunity to gain experience and work before you graduate or even as a community member who wants to learn and be involved. https://www.facebook.com/groups/12955 1637238199/

TropEco, James Cook University, Tropical Queensland, Australia 5

Crescente Luce Light is ever increasing in the Applied and Green Photochemistry research group at JCU

By Michael Oelgemöller and Matthew Bolte

Figure 1: JCU's Armorial Ensigns with the university motto embedded.

JCU's motto is crescente luce which means ‘light ever increasing’ and this is exactly what members of the Applied and Green Photochemistry group at JCU are doing.

Figure 2: Associate Professor Michael Oelgemöller (left) and Matthew Bolte (right) with some solar fragrances.

Developed by Professor Robert Liu at the University of Hawaii, these simple devices use natural water systems as heat-sinks.

At JCU, this technology is coupled with solar driven equipment for aeration, which makes this the first solar-powered, solarchemical application. The device is independent from any electrical power or cooling water supplies, which makes it especially interesting for environmental applications. Recently, the group has also become interested in harvesting solar heat. This novel research stream aims at the production of natural insect repellents that can help to protect us from insectborn tropical diseases.

The Technology

The Chemistry

Typically, reactions are first optimized indoors using lamp-driven reactors before being transferred to outdoor conditions.

The group is well equipped with a variety of solar reactors that range from a few hundred milliliters to dozens of liters in scale. Demonstration- to production-scale reactions are conducted in custom-made 1 m2 flatbed reactors (<8 L) or in a commercially available 2 m2 Compound Parabolic Collector (CPC; <50 L).

Oxygen-transfer reactions (photooxygenations) are especially suitable for solar applications. They are also industrially relevant in the fragrance and flavor industry. These reactions are catalyzed with the help of organic dyes, most commonly Rose bengal, which gives the reaction mixtures the distinct deep red color.

Natural sunlight can be a very effective reagent for stimulating chemical reactions.

With over 300 days of sunshine, Townsville receives plenty of solar radiation and this sustainable energy can be harvested for free.

As part of their 'Solar Chemicals from and for the Tropics' initiative the research team at JCU is using this natural resource to generate valuable commodity chemicals and pharmaceuticals of interest to the tropical region.

The Team The group in the Discipline of Chemistry is led by Associate Professor Michael Oelgemöller and assisted by Matthew Bolte. The team brings together graduate, undergraduate and internship students and research volunteers from within JCU and across the world.

This multidisciplinary and international environment has created a creative and energetic research group that is recognized globally for its work on solar photochemistry.

The team has successfully realized several kilogram-scale syntheses of valuable fragrances as well as herbicides. Located near the coast, the research team is furthermore investigating applications of 'solar floats'.

6 TropEco, James Cook University, Tropical Queensland, Australia 10 TropEco, James Cook University, Tropical Queensland, Australia

These dyes are activated by sunlight and transfer this access energy to molecular oxygen that is supplied by bubbling air into the reaction mixture. This energy exchange creates an activated oxygen species known as singlet oxygen (1O2).

This species can react with a variety of chemical groups within a molecule, thus incorporating oxygen into the product structure.

Figure 3: Matthew with the demonstration-scale solar CPC reactor and Ines Stock (insert) with a solar float.

The targeted chemicals examined within the Applied and Green Photochemistry group are of particular interest for the local economy in Northern Queensland. The sugar industry, for example, offers a steady access to bioethanol and furfural, a compound obtained from sugarcane bagasse. The solar transformation of furfural in ethanol yields a compound known as hydroxyfuranone. A potent herbicide on its own, it can be further converted into novel fragrances or pharmaceuticals.

The team at JCU has made this versatile material successfully on kg-scales within days. Likewise, the solar conversion of essential oils into valuable fragrances or organic insect repellants offers a range of new and 'green' products for the local essential oils industry. A representative example is the industrially relevant conversion of citronellol into the important fragrance rose oxide. At JCU, the threestep process incorporating its solar keystep was performed successfully on largescale within a week. The amount of final product was enough to cover the annual demand of a small perfume manufacturer.

The research group is currently investigating the solar-thermal synthesis of the powerful insect repellent paramenthanediol (PMD). Compared to common petrochemical-based repellents, PMD has a very pleasant odor and is produced sustainably from renewable biomass.

The group is also expanding its activities to the synthesis of pharmaceuticals for tropical diseases such as malaria. This important work has recently received funding from the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM).

In conclusion, JCU's location in tropical North Queensland offers excellent solar conditions and vast biomass resources.

The Applied and Green Photochemistry group has embraced these abundant natural resources for the sustainable production of high-value chemicals of economic importance to the region.

Together with other solar research activities at JCU, solar photochemistry can help to create a new Green Chemical Industry in the region.

References M. Bolte, K. Klaeden, A. Beqiraj, M. Oelgemöller “Photochemistry Down Under – Solar Chemicals from and for the Tropics” EPA Newslett. 2013, 84, 79-83.

E. E. Coyle, M. Oelgemöller “Solar Photochemistry – From the Beginnings of Organic Photochemistry to the Solar Production of Chemicals”; in: CRC Handbook of Organic Photochemistry and Photobiology, 3. edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton 2012, Chapter 10, pp. 237-248.

M. Oelgemöller, C. Jung, J. Mattay “Green photochemistry: Production of fine chemicals with sunlight” Pure Appl.

Chem., 2007, 79, 1939-1947.

Copies of these articles and more are available via ResearchOnline@JCU E-Mail: michael.oelgemoeller@jcu.edu.au Homepage: http://www.jcu.edu.au/phms/chemistry/staf f/JCUPRD1_059861.html

TropEco, James Cook University, Tropical Queensland, Australia 7

Community garden Update

Shade house

The Sunshine Edible Garden at Rotary International House continues to expand and has seen several productive crops harvested since its first wicking beds were constructed during September 2013.

The Sunshine Edible Garden at Rotary House in Townsville survived 4 weeks of hot weather and little rain thanks to the wicking beds designed by Bret Pritchard itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still looking great and producing food. Adam Connell reports on its progress.

A large range of plants have been grown to date, ranging from traditional crops such as tomatoes, eggplants, chillies, pumpkins, corn, watermelon, rocket and a variety of popular herbs, to lesser known varieties, often suited to our tropical environment, such as loofah, arrowroot, cassava, kangkong (water spinach), tree spinach, vietnamese mint, rosella, perennial coriander, brahmi, mushroom plant, and bitter melon.

Under the expert eye of Brett Pritchard, the garden has expanded to include 9 wicking beds with different designs and materials being trialled. The community garden is being used as an example of how to design high quality, productive systems for urban back

E-wood beds

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yards and showcases several designs for different budgets and garden sizes.

spinach, loofah, rosellas, arrowroot and loads of herbs.

E-wood sleepers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a new product made from recycled printer cartridges - is one of the materials being trialled, along with beds made from ACQ treated pine and CCS treated pine (all from plantation forests). ACQ treated pine is considered a safer alternative to the more toxic CCS treated pine, and is used in kindergartens and pre-schools, however the CCS wicking beds are lined with plastic and painted with bitumen to ensure there is no chance of toxins leaching to the soil.

The new shade structure, made from disused trampolines, is a great place to escape the hot sun and the cucumbers and watermelons are winding their way through the frame to provide additional shade and food.

Some of the wicking beds are being designed as multi-level beds, to cater for the needs of various plants and to make them more attractive. Some plants are water loving and like to have their roots constantly wet whereas others like it a little less moist.

The multi-level herb cube is a good example of how to cater for different plant needs in one wicking bed and is compact, cheap to build and would look great in a small backyard.

The large worm farm is finished with the worms recently introduced to their new home.

Workshops in 2014 Workshops will be held regularly in 2014 at the garden with both residents and the general public and we expect these to commence during O-week. We'll be raising more seeds and planting some seedlings over the coming weeks in preparation for the Rotary residents to return to their productive garden.

If you would like to be kept up to date of any future workshops or would like to see the garden for yourself you can check out the TropEco Facebook page or email tropeco@jcu.edu.au to be added to the garden mailing list.

Smart Start 100 Finding 100 savings for JCU Does leaving the lights on bug you? Are your colleagues leaving their computers on overnight? Is there a leaky tap in your tea room? Is the A/C too cold in your office?

The JCU Estate Office is running the Smart Start 100 program in 2014, which aims to identify 100 ways JCU can reduce energy, water and waste. But we need your help!

If you see something that isn't quite right or you have a suggestion on how something can be improved to make it more efficient, please let us know. By working together to reduce our energy, water and waste consumption we can help the environment and save money that can go to more important areas, like learning, teaching and research.

Please send your suggestions to tropeco@jcu.edu.au and help us make a difference.

Herb cube

The Christmas break saw the garden left to fend for itself for four weeks with very hot weather and virtually no rain. Some plants took a bit of a hammering but most are still thriving thanks to the wicking bed design. Apart from a few casualties the garden is still looking great and there's plenty of produce ready to be harvested such as cucumbers, butternut pumpkins, chillies, rocket, tree

Worm farm

TropEco, James Cook University, Tropical Queensland, Australia

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Birds count

A healthy habitat is not a joking matter for these Laughing Kookaburras.

Photo by Suzy Keys

Revegetation is not just about aesthetics, soil erosion, carbon sequestering, shade etc.

It’s also about creating healthy and appropriate habitats for birds, animals and insects.

Suzy Keys takes a quick peek at the birds on our campuses.

Cairns campus is blessed with the Boathouse from where nature can be observed from the deck close up in the adjoining rainforest along Atika Creek.

This rainforest was planted about 20 years ago by JCU students who formed a Landcare group to undertake the revegetation of what was formerly a cane field and is now home to goannas and a variety of butterflies, insects and birds.

Recently, TropEco News Editor Adam Connell and I were on the deck discussing the next edition, when a bird flew into the nearby trees. "What bird was that?" I asked Adam, but we both failed to get a good look and the bird disappeared into the greenery.

I suggested that we start looking at whether there was a list of birds that call the Cairns campus home. I found an extensive list on JCU’s website of birds, plants, animals, fungi etc. which does not list them for each campus, so it’s a time consuming job to search the list of 100 plus birds individually to find out which birds are on each campus. I stopped after the Laughing Kookaburra and

thought it would be great to have a separate list for each campus. Any volunteers for the job?

The Townsville campus is much bigger and has a much drier climate than Cairns, with different habitats that attract different species of birds.

Further research revealed that JCU hosted the 6th Biennial Australasian Ornithological Conference in October 2011 at the Cairns Campus, chaired by Brad Congdon from the Cairns Campus.

The first plenary paper presented was on ‘The Importance of Birds in Australian Ecosystems’. Brad spoke about his research into the Cassowary and it's seed dispersal impacts in the rain forest.

One that caught my eye, was by Dr. Ayesha Tulloch from UQ into biases of volunteers when collecting bird data, considering that a huge amount of data is collected by volunteers. It appears that the choice of habitats and regions that volunteers choose to collect data from, can and does, skew the data.

I wondered if TropEco can enlist some

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volunteers to collect data about the birds on the Cairns campus. It might be worth reading some of the extracts or papers on this subject before getting started.

The names and emails of JCU researchers are also included in the conference papers. Happy hunting.

Some birds from Cairns campus Azure Kingfisher Australian Brush Turkey White-breasted Woodswallow Bush Stone-Curlew Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo Brush Cuckoo Pheasant Coucal White-rumped swiftlet White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Pied butcherbird Spangled Drongo Willy wag tail Laughing Kookaburra Programme and Abstracts www.birdlife.org.au/documents/AOCCairns2011.pdf List of birds on JCU campus www.public.jcu.edu.au/discovernature/an imals/birds/index.htm

For more information, visit: www.conservationvolunteers.com.au / www.conservationvolunteers.co.nz

www.facebook.com/CVAustralia Contacts: Townsville - Ph. +61 (0)7 4721 4077 Mob. 0409 934 263 E. wwillcox@conservationvolunteers.com.au

TropEco, James Cook University, Tropical Queensland, Australia

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Meet your NEW

Sustainability Officer Hi JCU! My name’s Meg - I’ll be your Sustainability Officer for Cairns this year while Lena Taylor takes time out with her new bub. I’ve been working at JCU for 2 years now, primarily coordinating FSE’s engagement with local schools and developing a sustainability schools’ network for our region.

We’re lucky here at JCU to have an excellent team working in many different areas to make the university a more environmentally - friendly, sustainable and enjoyable place to be. If you have never been involved with any sustainability activities, make 2014 the year, ‘cause I promise you, you’re missing out!

TropEco regularly runs fun events in conjunction with other groups (e.g. free Ride-to-Uni breakfasts). Keep an eye out for details of the Sustainability Club's weekly social events, which will kick off early in Semester 1 (If anyone in Townsville is reading this and feels jealous, contact me to start a branch of the club. We'd love to help!).

This year you can look forward to the second annual Sustainability Symposium and Fair, more clothesand-stuff swaps, free healthy lunches, movie nights, and the opportunity to gain experience through the Sustainability Internship and professional development programs; to name a few.

I'm lucky to have the opportunity to work with such a fantastic group of committed and enthusiastic people this year. I hope you'll join us, for all or part of the journey. I'd confidently bet the lovely office plants Lena left in my care, that the sustainability folks you'll meet are friendly, so don't be shy!

If you have an idea for a sustainability project or want to get involved with any of the activities mentioned above contact Meg on (07) 4042 1084 or meg.collis@jcu.edu.au

2014 Sustainability Symposium and Fair:

The War of Waste Mark Friday the 11th of April in your diary - the Second Annual Sustainability Symposium and Fair is coming! This year we will be tackling the increasingly real problems of consumerism and waste, with an exciting lineup of local and international speakers.

Consumerism has been defined as “a social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever-greater amounts”; an ideology that has clear implications for our finite global resources.

This year we are lucky to have Kim Humphery, author of Excess: AntiConsumerism in the West, presenting both the keynote and public lecture in the evening. Humphery has developed an international reputation for his work on the history, theorisation and politics of consumption and consumerism.

If you find yourself short on time at the event be sure not to miss the TED-style sessions, where a number of different approaches to consumerism will be presented in quick succession.

You'll learn about the implications of rising consumerism in China and India; what it's like to live without spending a cent for six months; how 'voluntary simplicity' may soon be made redundant by the need for involuntary simplicity; and how social media has been used to spark large scale protests such as the Occupy movement.

Photo:Suzy Keys. Rubbish collected from Cairns Esplanade beach in 1 morning.

2014 will see the program expand to include a fair in Townsville, with all presentations available on both campuses.

Speakers include: Kim Humphery, author of 'Excess: Anti Consumerism in the West', The Simplicity Institute’s Mark Burch, alternative lifestyle practitioner Linda Cockburn and JCU's Dr Maxine Newlands, Dr Hongbo Lui and Dr Breda McCarthy.

Times: Fair: Cairns 10 am - 3 pm Townsville 11 am - 2 pm .

The symposium: 10.30 am – 7 pm.

This is a free event and everyone is welcome.

For more information visit http://alumni.jcu.edu.au/2014SusSy mpFair