HOPE Australia has launched a nation-wide Environmental Information Display (EID) campaign to provide information on environmental issues directly to individuals and local communities. HOPE is appealing to local councils and community groups who want to make a difference to assist by nominating possible locations for the displays. EID’s are an effective way of distributing newsletters, brochures and other literature from a variety of community organizations and government agencies. Topics covered are relevant to the everyday lifestyles of Australian householders, and include waste reduction, energy conservation, water consumption, climate change and its impacts on biodiversity, etc.
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) project is building a biodiversity information platform to provide scientists and others with the information they need now and in decades to come. To achieve this, the ALA and its partners are making a wide range of biodiversity data and datasets more accessible and useable online through the ALA website, and developing new tools for research and analysis. Already, users of the ALA website can combine species distribution information with mapping tools, identification keys, photos, names lists, sensitive data service (coming) and published literature. They can create a list and/or map of the species living in a particular area, such as within 5 kms of their home. The Atlas project is a partnership between the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian natural history collections community and the Australian Government.
The purpose of Information Awareness Month (IAM) is to increase public awareness of information and its place in all aspects of daily life. By focusing attention at a number of events during the month of May on the role that information plays in day to day activities, the value of good information practices and policies are highlighted and promoted. The theme for IAM 2011 is Information overload: Finding the tree in the digital forest. This theme is also connected to the United Nations General Assembly declaration of 2011 as International Year of Forests.
The coincidence of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry and Information Awareness Month offers the opportunity to explore how well our urban communities are using information and knowledge in regard to natural disasters. In early January this year the media carried horrific images and stories of the loss of life and damage caused by flooding in the southern Queensland towns of Toowoomba and Grantham and in the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich. Surprise was expressed at how such severe events could have happened. But the reality is that these floods have their predecessors, as explored in the article Queensland floods: information, history and knowledge.
The coincidence of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry and Information Awareness Month offers the opportunity to explore how well our communities are using information and knowledge in regard to natural disasters. The purpose of Information Awareness Month is to increase public awareness of information and its place in all aspects of daily life.
In early January this year the media carried horrific images and stories of the loss of life and damage caused by flooding in the southern Queensland towns of Toowoomba and Grantham and in the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich. Surprise was expressed at how such severe events could have happened. But the reality is that these floods have their predecessors. Read the rest of this entry »
In recent years, knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has introduced as a new strategic development approach for the regeneration of industrial cities. Improving urban amenity and ecosystem services by creating sustainable urban environments is one of the fundamental components for KBUD. In this context, environmental assessment plays an important role in adjusting urban environments and economic development towards a sustainable way. The purpose of the paper An environmental assessment model for knowledge-based urban development is to present the role of assessment tools for the environmental decision making processes of knowledge cities.
The theme for this year’s actKM Conference is ‘Getting Clever about Knowledge’, relating to the question of how can organisations improve the way in which they generate and manage new knowledge. It is estimated that 40 exabytes (4.0 x 1019) will be generated worldwide this year. That is more than the information generated in the previous 5,000 years. Most of our effort has traditionally been in managing the overwhelming volumes of information that flood organisations daily. Perhaps our efforts should be focused on generating new knowledge and seeking better ways to generate value from an organisation’s intellectual capital. To find out more visit 2010 actKM Conference.
We all need to know more about what’s happening in our organisation in order to be productive and fulfilled in our work. Learn how this can be done through knowledge sharing techniques which are simple and won’t break the bank. This workshop will take you through a range of different approaches, ideas and practical ways of using conversation and dialogue in your day-to-day life. To find out more visit Connecting through Conversation: Narrative Techniques for Organisational Knowledge Sharing.