Law Honours student Natasha Chin is raising awareness about the importance of sustainable practices in higher education. Through the Student as Change Agents Program at Murdoch, Natasha is embodying our values towards creating a more sustainable future. 

The ‘Sustainability Conference in Higher Education’ conference, hosted and organised by Natasha, will explore how sustainability fits within higher education and how different disciplines can embed sustainability into their curriculum. The conference is the first of its kind at Murdoch University and in the State. 

This is a hybrid event (in-person and online attendance available). Ticket price covers catering costs and event registration.

PROGRAM: 

• 8:30-9am: Registration
• 9-9:30am: Welcome to the Country and Openings
• 9:30-10:20am: Keynote - Dr Kimberley Beasley
• 10:20-10:50am: Morning tea (catered)
• 10:50am-12:30pm: Showcase presentations
• 12:30-1:30pm: Lunch (catered)
• 1:30-2:35pm: Immersive Sustainability Bites, Student Panel Roundtable Discussion 
• 2:40-3:30pm: Keynote - Dr Sandra Wooltorton
• 3:30-3:40pm: Closing Remarks
• 3:40pm onwards: Sundowner and networking at Northern Plaza (catered)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Dr Kimberley Beasley (PhD, M.Phil, B.Ed) is a Researcher and Lecturer in Early Childhood and Primary Education at Murdoch University. She completed her PhD in Education with a focus on native plant knowledge in early childhood education in Australia. Dr Beasley is passionate about the intersection between natural playspaces, botany and education. She has successfully implemented Sustainable Community Education Programs as assessment components in her units at Murdoch University. As Founding Director of ‘Childscapes’, she has put her research into practice through the design of natural play spaces for children. Dr Beasley is internationally recognised for her contributions to botany research and nature pedagogies. As a Keynote at the Forum, Dr Beasley will share her experiences moving her teaching out of the classroom and away from PowerPoints to teaching in bush and garden spaces through more multimodal, sustainable and creative teaching methods.

Dr Sandra Wooltorton (PhD, M.Ed, BA (Hons), B.Ed) is a Professor and Senior Research Fellow with the Nulungu Research Institute at the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Broome Campus, and an Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for People Place and Planet, Edith Cowan University. She is a trans-disciplinary researcher, with a background in cultural geography and education. Professor Wooltorton is passionate about applying place-based philosophy to generate solutions to problems of society and environment. She is interested in prefigurative cultures for co-constructing the world we want to live in; or living the change we want to see. Some of her research explores how leadership supports the interests of Aboriginal and multi-species justice, and how to learn biocultural co-stewardship. As a Keynote at the Forum, Professor Wooltorton will share updated research from her paper, Learning Regenerative Cultures.