The 15th International ACTS Conference "refocus + renew"

SUMMARY

The 15th International ACTS Conference will be held at Deakin University’s Waterfront Campus in Geelong, Victoria from 21-23 October 2015. The theme “refocus + renew” encourages institutions, educators and practitioners to reflect on their achievements, their next steps and the important role they play in achieving sustainability.

The conference will provide learning and networking opportunities for professionals and students working in all areas of sustainability across campus and surrounding communities. Delegates will come together to share new ideas and successes, whilst advancing knowledge of current and emerging themes. The event features:

• Inspiring world-class keynote speakers.
• Professional Development that will have you thinking outside the square.
• The prestigious Green Gown Awards Australasia ceremony.
• Topical Q&A panel on climate change featuring a diverse range of experts.
• A fantastic concurrent program highlighting best practice sustainability of the tertiary education sector.

Don’t miss the sustainability event of the year…register today!

The ACTS Conference is hosted by Deakin University, and supported by La Trobe University, Melbourne Polytechnic, RMIT University and The University of Melbourne.

The 15th International ACTS Conference will be held at Deakin University’s Waterfront Campus in Geelong, Victoria from 21-23 October 2015. The theme “refocus + renew” encourages institutions, educators and practitioners to reflect on their achievements, their next steps and the important role they play in achieving sustainability.

Education institutions face a diverse set of challenges, some specific to our sector; a lack of resources; institution wide restructuring; and being bound by current government policy. Compounding these are the greater issues we share with the world – uncertainty in the face of climate change, environmental degradation, social injustice and inequality.

The ability to refocus and renew in these times of uncertainty urges our institutions to ensure they can maintain strong commitments to the holistic integration of sustainability across the four defining areas of education (our conference streams); leadership and governance; partnerships and engagement; learning and teaching, and; facilities and operations. It also urges us to question how resilient our institutions are as a whole – for example, do we have climate resilience; have we created strong physical and social connections; and are we developing graduates capable of proactively improving, solving and thriving in our brave new world?

By refocusing we can evaluate priorities and revisit past successes, consolidating our knowledge to create a sound foundation for success. Looking forward to renew, we expand our current knowledge and engage in new or diversify existing practices. When we refocus and renew our efforts, our creativity, innovation and leadership for sustainability is limitless!

The ACTS conference provides learning and networking opportunities for professionals and students working in all areas of sustainability across campus and surrounding communities. Coming together under our conference theme, delegates from across Australia, New Zealand and the world, will share new ideas and successes, whilst advancing knowledge of current and emerging themes.

The conference is highlighted by the prestigious Green Gown Awards Australasia ceremony, which returns to the ACTS conference dinner on Thursday 22 October. Held at Geelong’s premier waterfront venue ‘The Pier’ – the location will set a stunning backdrop for this year’s sustainability celebrations.

Hosted by Deakin University, the annual conference goes back to it’s campus roots in 2015. Located an hour south of Melbourne, the university is easily accessible, with the waterfront location providing excellent centralised facilities for delegates. The event is proudly supported by La Trobe University, Melbourne Polytechnic, RMIT University and The University of Melbourne.

Register for the sustainability event of the year!