As we approach 2013, this lecture invites consideration of identifying Canberra not only as national capital but also as a nationally recognised experiment and laboratory for the ecologically sustainable and humanly desirable development of Australia settlements and landscapes. Canberra could be that laboratory, but is not yet. If we accept that we are still settling Australia and learning how to live in Australian environments, what better place to explicitly undertake that learning than Canberra? A young city, with an extraordinary endowment of research and knowledge institutions, a population that should be positively inclined, suitable institutional capacities and planning frameworks, a unique combination of local and state government functions, and a viable mix of urban form and non-urban landscapes. Such a role may even over time reverse the diminished status of the nation's capital in the national public discourse.  For more information please see flier attached. 

Please RSVP to colette.gilmour@anu.edu.au by Thursday 17 May 2012 for catering purposes.

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