海角社区

About

The climate of South Australia is undergoing profound changes. Rising temperatures and declining rainfall are just the beginning. We are experiencing longer, more intense heatwaves, increased fire weather, and heavier rain events. Coastal areas are facing the daunting reality of rising sea levels. These changes will not only impact our environment but will profoundly affect our communities, industries, and infrastructure.

As urban planners, you play a critical role in shaping the future of our cities and regions. It’s imperative that we recognize the urgent need for adaptation strategies that address these climate challenges. The projections are clear: the climate will continue to shift in ways that will require every sector of society to adapt.

Understanding Climate Risks

The first step in adapting is understanding the risks we face. Heatwaves can exacerbate health issues, while intense rainfall can overwhelm drainage systems, leading to flooding. Coastal communities are at risk of losing not just land, but livelihoods and heritage. By comprehensively assessing these risks, we can begin to formulate effective responses.

Strategic Planning for Resilience

To build climate-resilient communities, urban planners must incorporate climate considerations into every aspect of development and strategic planning. This includes:

1. Implementing Green Infrastructure: Utilize permeable surfaces, green roofs, and urban forests to manage stormwater and reduce heat.
2. Enhancing Emergency Preparedness: Develop robust emergency response plans that account for extreme weather events and ensure community safety.
3. Promoting Sustainable Land Use: Prioritize development in areas less susceptible to climate impacts and protect natural buffers like wetlands and dunes.
4. Engaging with Communities: Foster community awareness and participation in climate resilience planning to ensure local needs and knowledge are integrated.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to join our experts—Diane Favier, David Bills, Darren Ray, and Tom Victory—as they delve into the science behind climate change and explore strategic planning and risk assessment methods. Together, we can address the risks posed by natural hazards and work toward improving climate change resilience in our communities.

As urban planners, you have the power to shape sustainable, livable environments for future generations. Let’s embrace this challenge and lead the way in building a climate-resilient South Australia.

Session Presenters

Diane Favier - Manager Climate Change Policy and Strategy, Department of Environment and Water

Diane Favier has extensive experience in addressing complex policy challenges in climate and water for South Australia, and has led climate change and water management projects of state and national significance.

Di and her team lead on the development of climate change mitigation and adaptation policy for the South Australian Government.

David Bills R海角社区 - Manager Low Carbon and Circular Economy, City of Adelaide | 海角社区 SA Vice President

David is a trusted and highly skilled senior practitioner with extensive knowledge and expertise in both public and private sectors.

David is renowned for his pragmatic, determined and collaborative approach across a wide range of strategic and statutory projects. In addition to working in SA, David has provided planning advice for projects in Victoria and the NT and overseen land development projects in the ACT.

His background in planning and design means that he understands how best to communicate across multi-disciplinary projects.

Tom Victory - Project Lead, Department of Housing and Urban Development, PLUS

Tom is an urban planner with 20 years’ experience in State and Local Government. He has worked in assessment, policy and strategic planning and is currently a Project Lead in Department of Housing and Urban Development - Planning and Land Use Services (PLUS).

A part of this role is representing and coordinating PLUS’ involvement in relation to cross-government climate change initiatives.

Darren Ray - Principal Climate Change Analyst, Department of Environment & Water

Darren Ray is well known across South Australia for his work as a meteorologist and climatologist from 2002-2019 with the Bureau of Meteorology, and as DEW's Principal Climate Change Analyst since 2022.

In 2020 he established Atmospheric Australia as an applied consulting climatologist, to bridge the gap between weather and climate science and datasets, and the end user and their decisions. In his research at the University of Adelaide, he uses palaeo-reanalysis - the combination of climate modelling and palaeo proxy records such as tree rings, ice and coral cores, to produce robust reconstructions of Australian last two thousand year hydroclimate.

Learning Outcomes

Explore the basic climate change concepts and current trends, including climate hazards and impacts, resilience and adaptation;

Be aware of South Australia's policy and decision-making framework for strategic planning and development involving climate change and natural hazards;

How to plan for climate change resilience as part of strategic planning and development assessment to avoid or reduce risks from natural hazards; and

How to play an effective and active role in planning and development processes involving climate change.

Accredited Professionals

You can apply your CPD points for this course towards the following Accredited Professionals mandatory category:

• Performance Based Planning
• Decision Making in Development Assessment

For more information on the Accredited Professionals Scheme, .

Event Details

Date
Thursday, 1 May 2025

Time
10.30am - 2.00pm

Venue
Online via Zoom
Zoom details will be forwarded closer to the event

Cost
$235.00 海角社区 members | $335.00 Non-海角社区 members

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