Lambsy thinks the type of broadacre farming prevalent here in South Australia is sustainable because there is scope to adapt.

Leroy says we need to manage our water better, stop upstream rice and cotton farming but not build a desalination plant here in Adelaide.

Anne suggests a government buyback of water allocation would be better than costly engineering solutions to get the type of flows back from the Murray Darling basin that the environment needs.

The lobster might not be a water expert but is aware of local shortages and taking personal steps to reduce water consumption. (And gets extra kudos for being a good sport during the bootcamp by taking some some fake harsh criticism to demonstrate comments and trackbacks to the group).

Leighton reckons it is essential that our farmers change the way they operate, and that NoTill is the way to go. There is an interesting response to this assertion that incorporates everything from silver bullets to suburban lawns!

Michael makes an interesting point that regardless of the impact of climate change, the demand for output from crops will increase and that skilled farmers will find ways to adapt, driven by the market.

That IT guy writes about the inevitable evolution of farming practice but is really more interested in pictures than words. (I hope he finds a way to use blogs to share his wonderful images and suggest taking a look at creative commons licensing to make his work more ‘open’ and shareable).

And thanks for introducing me to photobubble – I love the way the help artists make money from physical representations (atoms) of their digital images (bits). The advice in their FAQ on ’stealing art’ is superb. For the record, my favourite is probably your ‘at hells entrance’ shot but I’ve included the image below because it fits with our theme of ‘future chaos’.

Fang – Mike Seyfang

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The talk has been published on blip.tv where you can go to get all the goodness, from files to download and make your own remix to versions you can watch on your favorite device or even stream to your computer.

Alternatively, you can download the half size (20mb) or full size version of the movie from:

• media.mikeseyfang.com/WIA-PostPitchfesMikeSeyfangTalk-Small.mov
• media.mikeseyfang.com/WIA-PostPitchfesMikeSeyfangTalk.mp4

Right mouse, save as the
Download (90mb) movie.

Thanks to all the folk listed in the credits for use of their digital work in the remix, especially Paul and Mark who provide large chunks of content and/or inspiration. Shout out to Mark and Shane and Michael for their surprise inclusion!

Fang – Mike Seyfang

technorati tags:seyfang, mikeseyfang

1. Have your own blog up and running
2. Have set up an RSS reader with some subscriptions
3. Explore blogs, podcasts, youtube, social networking and the wonders of RSS
4. Hook up with a group of other people exploring the same stuff at the same time with a chance to interact together in the weeks after the bootcamp

Details at:

litfuse.com.au/training

Fang – Mike Seyfang

• I should think before launching into ‘those mongrels upstream are wasting our water’ conversations that seem to pop up quite frequently (maybe we should think about taking the high ground of fixing issues in our own back yard – like Adelaide plains groundwater)
• S.A. (driest state, driest continent etc…) has only 1 year’s reserves of water, whereas other states have more than three. We must invest in infrastructure upgrades that spread the risk.
• QLD households currently use 140 litre/person/day, we use around 388.
• We have a good blueprint for action, it’s time to act. C’mon Government, Govern us, show some leadership, choose a Trainwreck and get on with it.

Trying to figure out likely future rainfall reminds me of trying to pick the stock market when only looking at a few day’s figures. Like Global warming, it’s really hard to be sure if our climate is drying up and at what rate. Whenver we get a decent rain it’s tempting to relax and thing she’ll be right. Even if we get several years of good rain we can still be in a long term cycle of dryer climate – which only gets worse with global warming.

Peter presents a rather pessimistic view of future rainfall. So what is the downside of acting too quickly on pessimistic predictions?

• We spend money upgrading infrastructure (that will need upgrading anyway) too soon.

The downside of doing nothing?

• Serious hardship for everybody.

As you listen to Peter you will understand this is a complex issue and there are many things that can and should be done. Cramming these interrelated complexities into soundbytes for the mass media and politicians is one of the factors that contributes to delayed or ineffective action. There is a great opportunity for deep, extended conversation using the tools of new media – blogs, podcasts etc. I am proud to be supporting Dr Paul Dalby as he facilitates such robust discussion through his LitFuse website. Get over there and get involved in the discussion.

www.litfuse.com.au

Fang – Mike Seyfang

technorati tags:seyfang, mikeseyfang

UPDATE: Movie of the PodCast available HERE:

As a follow up to last month’s PitchFest event I took the audience on a rather brisk journey from the world of web sites and e/mail into the unchartered waters of read/write culture. Along the way we looked at the basics of blogs, podcasts and video remix – using information from and conversations about the PitchFest event.

Slides.

Video Mashups.

Audio.

blog post.

Fang – Mike Seyfang

technorati tags:seyfang, mikeseyfang

adelaidefestivalofideas.com.au/podcasts.html  -  search for ‘water’ on that page

Three of my favourites are:

Fang – Mike Seyfang

technorati tags:seyfang, mikeseyfang

The LitFuse website has a page for Water Pitchfest (in the Fusebox section).

We have also created a ‘Yahoo Pipe’ that is filling up with many wonderful things.

Including videos on YouTube and for DownLoad and ReMix.

Fang – Mike Seyfang

Prime Minister John Howard says, if he wins the election, the Government will spend an extra $80 million to help secure Adelaide’s water supplies.Campaigning in northern Adelaide, Mr Howard has promised to spend $40 million to double water recycling efforts in that area.

He has also committed $10 million toward planning for a desalination plant for Adelaide and $30 million toward a waste water recycling pipeline the State Government has announced will be built between Glenelg and the city parklands.

Mr Howard says desalination would end Adelaide’s reliance on water from the River Murray.

Premier Mike Rann says he is deeply concerned that the Prime Minister thinks Adelaide should become independent of the Murray for its water supply.

Fang – Mike Seyfang

p.s. The abc news site is becoming an interesting platform for social debate about news items. Take a look at the tags feature. I think it would be interesting for groups with strong views on certain subjects to experiment with tagging news items on sites like this.

Tags: pitchfest, litfuse, waterweek, adelaide, water, abc