A month of activity

November was another busy month with the Bushfire CRC with important meetings for the Governing Board, Stakeholder Council, and the Research Advisory Forum. Amidst all this activity we finalised our new website.

An important outcome of the meetings was a change to the Constitution of the Bushfire CRC, which now gives voting rights at Stakeholder Council to partners providing significant in-kind contributions. Further changes have made the Constitution consistent with the new Centre and Partner agreements.

The 6th International Conference on Forest Fire Research took place from 15-18 November in Portugal.  Dr Richard Thornton, Bushfire CRC Deputy CEO and Research Director, delivered a keynote presentation on my behalf on “Australia’s most deadly wildfire disaster and its aftermath.” In addition, David Nicholls a Bushfire CRC researcher and CFA Manager of Research and Development, presented as part of a pre-conference short course on fire safety “Wildfire Management and Safety – an Australian Perspective.”

Late last month I represented the Bushfire CRC at the ceremony for the 2010 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science at the Great Hall in Parliament House, Canberra. The following week it was the turn of the Attorney General to present the Australian Communities Award. It was pleasing to see many of the Bushfire CRC Partners being acknowledged for their innovative achievements in making the Australian communities safer and better prepared to manage emergencies. Last week I presented to theForestTECH Conference in Albury highlighting the many projects within the Bushfire CRC that have delivered research outputs of benefit to the timber industry.

Research forum

The Research Advisory Forum was an important part of the Bushfire CRC governance and communications framework.  The forum provides the opportunity for all stakeholders (research organisations and end users) to get a good understanding of the progress of individual research projects.  The University of South Australia hosted a successful forum this time. Presentations were given by both the researchers and lead end representatives from selected projects, with considerable time spent on questions and discussion.  The next will be held on 25-26 May next year. Details on the location will follow later. There are two forum meetings each year with half of the projects being presented on each occasion.