The Energy Forum

Please join us for another public forum, this time on the topic of Energy. Following a Welcome to Country offered by Aunty Elaine Magias, the format will again be a panel Q&A with both preset questions and questions from the audience on the night. We look forward to your participation as we deep-dive the many facets of energy. What exactly is it and what does it do? How can it help explain the global predicament we currently find ourselves in? And what does all this mean for our current and future relationship with energy including in our daily personal and community lives in South Australia - such as food, housing, transport, water and waste, and our levels of consumption. A diverse set of panellists will again share their insights and perspectives. As this topic is complex, but profound, we ask that you view an important condensed synthesis contained in this short 10 minute video by Nate Hagens on how energy has shaped our world. Please bring along your questions - it's sure to be another conversation we need to have (please scroll down for additional resources).

Welcome to Country:

offered by Aunty Elaine Magias

Panellists include (as of 20 August):

1. Graham Brookman, The Food Forest, Gawler

2. Andrew Tidswell and members of the Southern Grazers and Growers Permaculture Group

3. Alex Gaut, Team Leader, Environment & Coast, City of Holdfast Bay

When: Tuesday 23 September, 7pm-9pm ACST

Where: St Joseph’s Catholic Church/Brighton Catholic Parish Activity Centre, 24 Strathmore Tce, Brighton 

Bookings: essential (online); limit of 80 persons

Car parking: available on adjacent streets and by the nearby Brighton Railway Station off Commercial Rd. The Parish car park is also available - enter via Old Beach Road:

Public Transport: nearby Brighton Railway Station stop (Adelaide Metro) for train and bus routes (see map below) 

Accessibility: level access, accessible toilets, car parks immediately in front of Church and in the parish car park off Old Beach Road (refer to map above)

Additional Resources:

1. Alexander, S., Voluntary simplification as an alternative to collapse. 2014. foresight, 16(6), pp.550-566.

2. Bejan, A., 2025. Unlocking nature’s secret behind energy and patterns.

3. Hagens, NJ, White, DJ., 2021. Reality Blind (online book) and b) Film on Energy, Environment, and Our Future

4. Hall, Charles AS, McWhirter, Timothy. Maximum power in evolution, ecology and economics. Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences vol. 381,2256 (2023): 20220290.

5. Harari, Y.N., 2014. a) Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. Random House, and b) view TEDx talk here

6. Heinberg, R., 2021. a) Power: Limits and prospects for human survival. New Society Publishers, and b) view book discussion here

7. Rees, William, 2025. a) CaCOR Live Talk: Our obsolescent brains: The climate, overshoot and economic growth and b) read Substack "standstoreeson" articles here

8. Schneider, ED., Kay JJ., Life as a manifestation of the second law of thermodynamics, Mathematical and Computer Modelling, Volume 19, Issues 6–8, 1994, pg. 25-48

9. Tainter, Joseph, 2022. a) Interview on The Great Simplification podcast Surplus, Complexity, and Simplification and b) read publication, Taylor, T.G. and Tainter, J.A., 2016. The nexus of population, energy, innovation, and complexity. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 75(4), pp.1005-1043.

10. Trainer, Ted., 2023. THE SIMPLER WAY: A visit to Ted Trainer's Pigface Point (video)