Presenting profile keynote speakers with the broad theme "Our Future", this years topics will cover the environment, technology, personal wellbeing and ethics. The forum aims to engage, activate and empower people to contribute and make a difference to the future prosperity and peace of this planet. On Saturday afternoon, individual presentations will be made by our Key Note speakers.
Theme: Ethics Topic: Is the future anarchist?
Keynote Speaker: Dr Robert Sparrow
The catastrophic environmental impacts of human activity are on the verge of fundamentally disrupting the planetary biosphere. A social order premised on continuous economic growth, which measures success and happiness according to how much we consume, is running up against the finite limits of this fragile planet. The economic chickens are coming home to their environmental roosts. The nature and scale of the crisis facing us poses the central ethical question "how should we live?" with renewed urgency. An ethics based on solidarity, cooperation, individual freedom and responsibility, localism, and opposition to hierarchy offers the best way of meeting the challenge of living within the limits of the planet's capacity. The fundamentals of this ethics are already apparent in the best aspects of our daily lives and our communities, whenever we cooperate and care for each other without leaders or authority. Recent developments in open-source software, social networking and online communities have offered tantalising hints as to how radically egalitarian relationships might be extended around the world. Given that competition and hierarchy have brought us to the current crisis, it is time to consider the alternatives. The choice we face may turn out to be a simple one: chaos or anarchy?
Biography: Dr Robert Sparrow
Dr Robert Sparrow is an ethicist and political philosopher who works in the School of Philosophy and Bioethics at Monash University. His interests range from the ethical implications of new technology to environmental ethics, just-war theory, and the political philosophy of anarchism. He has been involved in social justice activism, including anti-militarism campaigns, refugee solidarity, and community radio in Melbourne, Canberra, and Wollongong over the last two decades.
Web link http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/philosophy-bioethics/staff/rsparrow.php
Theme: Technology. Title: "All Together Now"
Keynote Speaker: Mark Pesc
What happens after we're all connected? That time is closer than we think - sometime this year half of humanity will own a mobile phone. It's changing us in unexpected ways: we know that the very poorest people in the world can dramatically improve their standard of living - just by using a mobile. We can pool our knowledge (everyone is an expert on something) to create Wikipedia - making every one of us (we hope) more intelligent. We can reach out and put our hands around the world, and work to heal it. All it takes is dedication: the technology is already in place. So - now that we've been given the keys to the family car - how will we work together? What can we make of our common future?
Biography: Mark Pesce
Mark Pesce, one of the early pioneers in Virtual Reality is a writer, researcher, futurist, inventor and teacher. The co-inventor of VRML, he is the author of five books and numerous papers on the future of technology. In the 80s he joined Shiva Corporation, which pioneered and popularized dial-up networking. Pesce's role in the company was to develop user-interfaces. His research in this area would lead him deeper into the questions posed by virtual reality, and in 1991 he founded the Ono-Sendai Corporation, named for a fictitious company in the William Gibson novel Neuromancer. The company's R&D included the development of a key technology for the emerging industry, and earned Pesce his first patent for a "Sourceless Orientation Sensor," which is used to track the motion of persons in virtual environments.
This development spring boarded Pesce into the development of the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), which his name has been synonymous with ever since, and into a career which has included extensive writings for both the popular and scientific press, teaching and lecturing at universities and conferences around the globe, performances, presentations, and films. He is currently an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Sydney, and is a judge on The New Inventors, a nationally televised television program on ABC Australia. He is currently developing a new project called Hyperpeople.
Personal home page: http://hyperreal.org/~mpesce/
Website: http://www.playfulworld.com/
Theme: Environment. Topic: Alternatives to a Global Carbon Dictatorship.
Keynote Speaker: Mayra Vivo Torres
This interactive and participatory presentation will provide an overview of the climate change problem and facilitate a discussion where solutions will be proposed, debated, and hopefully adopted, with a focus on individual action and societal behaviour change. Starting out with the current world situation in regard to energy resources, including projected energy demand, the discussion will try to reconcile peak-oil activists with mainstream reserve estimates, reaching a consensus among participants on a sensible timeframe for action. The science behind 'anthropogenic' or 'man-made' climate change and consequences that each of the current energy sources have for climate change will be compared with different types of renewable energy. As well as issues including 'nuclear' and 'personal responsibility vs. societal involution'. Mayra will facilitate and document different strategies raised by forum participants and distribute post event by email to continue an online community discussion after the festival.
Biography: Mayra Vivo Torres
Mayra is an Energy Economist (B Sc) specialised on the use global social networks to effect change (MA). She has worked for both the public & private sectors and several different NGOs, mainly in the environment and sustainable development fields. She currently runs an EU project on carbon reduction strategies and renewable energy. She has also been introduced to Amazonian shamanic practices and been part of the trance scene since 1997, where she has been raising awareness through talks & AV sets (Boom, Sonica).
Theme: Wellbeing. Topic: Higher & Higher
Keynote Speaker: Jost Sauer
Based on his recent book, Higher and Higher, Jost will discuss a new analytical approach that fuses Traditional Chinese Medicine and Energy medicine, offering a fresh perspective on every aspect of drugs from addiction to repair. Jost will show how to integrate past drug experiences into your life in a positive way and how to reclaim the excitement and exhilaration that drugs once offered through a unique body–mind–spirit workout. Combining case studies with a candid account of Jost’s own journey from drugs to depression, destruction and redemption. This topic shares insights into the human need to feel good, and offers everyone a healthy and sustainable path to the ultimate high.
Biography: Jost Sauer
Jost Sauer is an acupuncturist, therapist and a one-time speed-addict, smuggler and deserter. Born in 1958 in Germany, Jost undertook studies in Social Pedagogics before arriving in Australia in 1981. After many years working in the field of youth drug and alcohol counselling, he completed a Bachelor of Health Science in Acupuncture, an Associate Diploma in Oriental Massage and certification in Sports Injury Management, Structural Balancing and Deep Tissue Massage. He has also studied Rolfing, Reiki and Body Harmony. In addition to his own drug-taking experiences and academic qualifications, his work is based 20 years of spiritual practice. He is committed to health and healing on every level and his current area of research is the impact of recreational drug use on the body, mind and spirit. He has enabled thousands of people to understand drug experiences, both good and bad, and recapture excitement in life via a unique blend of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Energy Medicine, Tai-chi, Meditation, Martial Arts and Western exercises.
Website http://www.jostsauer.com/