CURF

It has been a busy week at CURF (Canberra Urban and Regional Futures).
On Monday CURF hosted its inaugural seminar, Could Canberra become Australia’s most sustainable city? presented by Romilly Madew, Green Building Council of Australia.
On Wednesday CURF launched its website.
I attended the launch of CURF in November 2010 and have been following its work closely since then. I admire collaborative ventures and think CURF exemplifies the affordances of shared endeavour.
Barbara Norman and Will Steffen are co-directors of CURF. Both are wonderfully placed to explore urban and regional futures and Canberra is the perfect place to explore these futures.

Canberra, as a planned national capital, largely developed since the 1950’s, provides an excellent example of many of the issues facing post World War 2 urban settlements, including being overwhelmingly car oriented and suburban in layout and design. As a city-region on our doorstep, Canberra presents an immediate opportunity to undertake original interdisciplinary research on ‘urban and regional futures’.

It will be interesting to see how CURF develops and how it connects with other initiatives that include OECD Green Cities, and sustainability projects in London, New York and Stockholm.
CURF events this week coincided with the release of an Update Paper on the Science of Climate Change. Will Steffen provided “important input and ongoing advice” for this paper.