Think: Sustainability

While many fret over their calorie intake or whether or not their food is certified organic, others are struggling get dinner on the table. There are many barriers to food, but it's the motivations behind food distribution pushing vulnerable communities even further into food distress. In this episode, we unpack what these motivations are and why Australia as a nation is failing to address food security. This is part one of a series exploring the classism of the environmental movement. Featuring: Teresa Davis - Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Sydney. Sara Wilkinson - Associate Professor in the School of the Built Environment at the University of Technology Sydney. Tanya Lawlis - Assistant Professor in the Discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Canberra. Matt Daly - Research Consultant from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney.

Virtual reality immerses us in artificial experiences of the real world with research also showing VR can create empathy with the environment you're experiencing. But how far does this empathy go? Featuring: Ryan Watson - Head of Community Engagement at New Horizons. Catherine Maree Smith - Ambassador for Parallel Parks. Glenn Albrecht - Retireds Lecturer in Sustainability at Murdoch University. Jeremy Walker - Lecturer in Environment, Culture and Society at the University of Technology Sydney. Producer: Cheyne Anderson. This program originally aired on Think: Digital Futures.

When City of Melbourne launched the Urban Forest Visual strategy to gather data on the city's 77,000 trees, something happened they didn't plan for. In an attempt to engage the community in the data collection process, they added an email function so residents could notify the council if a tree needed help. Instead, the council received an outpouring of love letters, drawings and tributes to the urban environment. So they decided to write back... Featuring: Councillor Cathy Oke, City of Melbourne. Jeremy Walker - Lecturer in Environment, Culture and Society at the University of Technology Sydney. Producers: Cheyne Anderson, Miles Herbert. This program originally aired on Think: Digital Futures.

With the public consultation period for the Sydney Marine Park ending today, Marine Ecologist Dave Booth discusses the future of the park and how the scrapping of sanctuary zones could endanger fragile marine ecosystems. You can have your last minute say by following this link to the Marine NSW website.

There are currently more than 10 million refugees worldwide and approximately every minute 24 people around the world are forced to flee their homes. Living conditions within the refugee camps displaced people settle are often characterised by limited resources. But typically, the environmental considerations are put aside while refugees deal with the healthcare deficiencies caused by this global refugee crisis. Even though these humanitarian concerns are linked to the environmental ones. Featuring: Professor Abbas El-Zein - University of Sydney. Professor Roberta Ryan - Institute for Public Policy and Governance at the University of Technology Sydney.

The superannuation scheme was introduced in Australia to ensure people have the money they need when they reach retirement. But some 26 years after the scheme was sworn in, at what point did your retirement savings become a means to fund a renewable energy future? Featuring: Michael Bones - Head of Engagement at Future Super. Glen Klatovsky - Deputy CEO of 350 Australia. Stuart Palmer - Head of Ethics at Australian Ethical. Dr Scott Dwyer and Dr Yohan Kim from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney.

The rise of artificial intelligence has as many anxious as it does excited, with people concerned that autonomous technologies could automate them out of a job. But as technology continues to make huge leaps forward, there's very little in the way of policy to ensure these innovations don't disrupt people's working lives and contribute to a more unequal society. Featuring: Nicholas Davis - Head of Society and Innovation, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum. Nik Dawson - PhD Student in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies at the University of Technology Sydney.

The International Seabed Authority has issued 29 exploration licenses for deep sea mining. But with the deep sea falling under the protections of outdated international agreements and largely remaining a mystery, how can we be sure mining the ocean floor won't bring about ecological destruction? Featuring: Ngenge Sasa - Local Level Government President in Balopa LLG, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea and Member of the Alliance of Solwara Warriors. Elsa Dominish - Senior Research Consultant at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney. Duncan Currie - Legal and Policy Advisor to the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.

Two climate engineering technologies have been inscribed into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report outlining they'll be crucial in ensuring we don't exceed 2 degrees of global warming. However, with little evidence as to how these technologies work in the field, is this just another attempt to stall more proactive climate action? Featuring: Jonathan Marshall - Future Fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Kerryn Brent - Law Lecturer at the University of Tasmania. Steven Siems - Professor in the School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University.

Warfare is destructive and absolute, but when conflict ends there is often surplus of weaponry. However, in burying or dumping these munitions when they're no longer needed, we've threatened the fabric of fragile ecosystems. Featuring: Stephen Billings - Geophysicist with GapEOD (Gap Explosive Ordnance Detection Pty Ltd). Julie Konzuk - Principal Environment Engineer with Geosyntec Consultants. Dr Megan Phillips - Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at Head of PhytoLab at the University of Technology Sydney.

Thanks to overpopulation and man made climate change, global food stocks are running low. Enter 'future foods' - the gross, weird and wonderful things clickbait articles tell us will be on our dinner plate in ten years time. But as Think: Digital Futures host Cheyne Anderson finds out, there's more to this debate than just eating worms. Featuring: Jacqui Newling - Colonial Gastronomer at Sydney Living Museums. Dr Janice McCauley - Research Fellow in the Climate Change Cluster at the University of Technology Sydney. Judy Friedlander - Researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney. Olympia Yarger - Insect Farmer with Go Terra.

The practice of pastoralism in Mongolia is unlike any other agricultural practice around the globe. But as pastoralists face growing climatic uncertainty, and ongoing socio-political pressures, are the mobile herders of Mongolia at their end of days? Featuring: Enkh-Amgalan (Enkhie) - Manager of the "Green Gold" Pasture Ecosystem Management Project. Dr Jane Addison - Research Fellow and Social-Ecological Systems Scientist from James Cook University. Bronwen Dalton - Associate Professor in the Management Discipline Group at the University of Technology Sydney Business School.

We have entered the age of personalisation where algorithms filter and feed you your digital experience. But as the power of the algorithm has grown, why are they filtering out the environment? Featuring: Dr Jonathan Marshall - Future Fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Cheyne Anderson - Host of Think: Digital Futures

The data we collect via satellite informs almost all climate research today. So why do half of the earth monitoring satellites currently in orbit restrict the use of climate data? Featuring: Alfredo Huete - Distinguished Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Mariel Borowitz - Assistant Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology and author of Open Space. Rachel Licker - Senior Climate Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

It's being called the biggest infrastructure project in human history, the likes of which Planet Earth has never seen before. And up until now, the disastrous environmental implications of the Belt and Road Initiative have gone unrecognised and underreported. In a special Think: Sustainability update, you'll hear exactly what this environmental damage looks like and the forces pressing infrastructure over ecology. Featuring: Bill Laurance - Distinguished Research Professor and Director for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science at James Cook University. Producer: Jake Morcom.