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Rare opportunity for community of Landcarers to come together

"Never more important": Costa Georgiadis is MC of the National Landcare Conference.
"Never more important": Costa Georgiadis is MC of the National Landcare Conference.

Landcarers from across the country will gather this August to share knowledge, ideas and plans for the future as part of the 2021 National Landcare Conference.

Rescheduled from last year, the largest knowledge sharing event for the Landcare community will take place from Wednesday 4 August to Friday 6 August at Sydney's International Convention Centre.

For those who can't be there in person there will be opportunities for delegates to attend online with all sessions to be livestreamed and recorded.

Returning as MC for the event, Costa Georgiadis, Junior Landcare ambassador, is excited to be part of this key opportunity for the Landcare community to come together to meet and learn from one other.

"The National Landcare Conference is a timely opportunity for the Landcare community to get together and share ideas, brainstorm and present their experiences in an inspiring forum," he said.

"The Landcare community around Australia brings a wealth of knowledge that has never been more important as we plan for the future during uncertain times. It's an honour to MC the conference and I look forward to meeting all the speakers and delegates."

Stacey Vogel from the Cotton Research Development Corporation.
Stacey Vogel from the Cotton Research Development Corporation.

As well as the inaugural National Landcare Youth Conference, the first day of the event will see local groups and organisations showcasing a number of projects in the Greater Sydney region through a series of field trips. From beaches to the bush, and from mountains to farms, the variety of field trips is sure to offer something for everyone.

Gundungurra man, David King, will show visitors the Blue Mountains region from an Aboriginal perspective including the opportunity to meet with members of Garguree Swampcare and a Welcome to Country at beautiful Echo Point.

Other excursions feature exploration of the coastal lagoons of the Northern Beaches, a ferry trip on the Hawkesbury River where Floating Landcare volunteers work, and an agricultural journey to some of the most fertile and productive farms in the Sydney region.

The second and third days of the event will see delegates spoilt for choice with a huge variety of networking opportunities, keynote speakers and concurrent sessions.

Speakers from the Landcare community will then join government representatives and academics in 40 sessions across the four conference streams: Sustainable Agriculture; Environment and Climate Change; Community Partnerships in Action; and Landcare Impact.

Pip Job from the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
Pip Job from the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

A hugely diverse range of topics will be presented including sessions on empowering rural women, the value of on-farm biodiversity, meeting the challenges of climate change, connecting through online communities, Landcare and Aboriginal cultural heritage and much more.

Special guest speakers participating include ANU scientist and academic Professor David Lindenmayer, while Stacey Vogel from the Cotton Research Development Corporation will discuss their ambitious Cotton Landcare Tech-Innovations 2021 being delivered over three years from 2019-2021.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to attend panel discussions on a variety of topics sure to be of interest to so many involved in Landcare.

Pip Job from the NSW Department of Primary Industries and former CEO for Little River Landcare will facilitate a panel on Wellbeing and Mental Health.

Elsewhere, Peter Pigott from Resilience NSW will facilitate a panel on Bushfire Recovery and Resilience, while Farmers for Climate Action's Lucinda Corrigan will participate in a panel on Landcare Farming and Cultural Land Management.

Farmers for Climate Action's Lucinda Corrigan.
Farmers for Climate Action's Lucinda Corrigan.

A highlight of the National Landcare Conference program is the 2021 National Landcare Awards, taking place on August 5.

An excellent opportunity for Landcarers to come together, the event will play host to 69 finalists from the 2019 State & Territory Landcare Awards.

Winners of nine National Landcare Awards categories will be announced, as well the winner of the Bob Hawke Landcare Award and the winner of the General Jeffery Soil Health Award.

Due to COVID-19, the 2021 National Landcare Conference and 2021 National Landcare Awards will be online-only events.


Peter Pigott from Resilience NSW.
Peter Pigott from Resilience NSW.

The Landcare Conference and Awards are biannual events. This year's National Landcare Conference and National Landcare Awards were originally scheduled to take place in 2020. However, due to the impact of COVID-19 both events are being held in 2021.

But Landcare will also be running the 2021 State and Territory Landcare Awards this year with the finalists going forward to be nominees at the 2022 National Landcare Awards, an event that will be held as part of the 2022 National Landcare Conference.

To check out the full 2021 National Landcare Conference program and info on registering to attend online visit www.nationallandcareconference.org.au

This article features in the May issue of Landcare in Focus. Read the magazine here.

This is branded content for Landcare Australia.