Understanding ecological threats, resilience and peace

To commemorate Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions – and SDG 13 – Climate Action, the United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) Victorian Young Professionals are partnering with the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) to deliver a webinar on Thursday 17th November.

This webinar will uncover some of the global hotspots that are exposed to higher risk of ecological events, the trends of ecological threats across regions and countries, and the resilience of countries from a positive peace and systems theory perspective. We will look at the ecological threats Australia is exposed to such as the Australian bushfire crisis, and discuss the country's capability to recover and how that relates to its ranking in the Positive Peace Index. This webinar will explore the importance of peace and how it is related to achieving SDG 13 - Climate Action.

Guest Speakers: 

Charles Allen is the Director of Partnerships with the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). These partnerships are strategic and grassroots partners inclusive of governments, non-government organizations, education organizations, service groups, and other institutes. Through partnerships,Charles is activating IEP’s Positive Peace framework globally.

Glen Klatovsky has been involved in environmental and climate advocacy for over 25 years. Glen is currently Strategist at Climate Action Network Australia. Previously, Glen has been Director of the Places You Love alliance, Director at WWF-Australia, National Campaigner at The Wilderness Society and National Carbon Business Manager for Greening Australia

Anna Parle is the Director of the Countering Violent Extremism Unit at the Department of Justice and the former Victorian Chief Resilience Officer at the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Throughout her career Anna has worked with both state and federal governments to develop policies and strategies to effectively prevent all forms violent extremism, build social cohesion and strengthen community resilience. Anna has in-depth understanding of the online environment and the relationship between the dynamics of violent extremism and digital technologies. Anna is also a member of the Commonwealth Countering Violent Extremism Sub-Committee (CVESC) and sits on the Resilient Melbourne Steering Committee. Anna was appointed a non-executive Director to the Board of BioAutism in 2017.

Deborah Hart, is an arts-focussed environment and social justice activist and writer from Melbourne, Australia. She is the author of Guarding Eden: Champions of Climate Action (Allen & Unwin, 2015), co-founder and director of ClimActs (featuring the Climate Guardians, 2013), as well as CLIMARTE (2010), and founder and director of LIVE (Locals Into Victoria’s Environment, 2006)

To learn more about the Institute of Economics and Peace you can visit their website: https://www.economicsandpeace.org/

Other relevant Links:

• UN75 2020 and beyond https://un75.online/ 
• Ecological Threat Register: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ETR_2020_web-1.pdf

IEP Ambassador Hub http://ambassadors.economicsandpeace.org/