Rural areas are where the global uncertainties of the 21st century will be addressed: climate change, population, natural disasters. They will bear the pain disproportionally. That’s why we need leaders who understand rural space and emerge from this space, but to get there we need to improve rural education. That’s Margaret Alston with the first Sidney Myer Rural Lecture.
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DOWNLOAD AUDIO: Margaret Alston: Rural Education…Shaping Leaders for the Future
ABC Radio National: Big Ideas
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The first Sidney Myer Rural Lecture was presented by Professor Margaret Alston OAM on Wednesday 28 March 2012. Professor Alston is the Director of the Gender, Leadership and Social Sustainability (GLASS) Research Unit and the Head of Department- Social Work at Monash University. In 2010 Margaret was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the community, social work and to rural women. She is current Chair of the Australian Heads of Schools of Social Work (ACHSSW).
Margaret drew upon her extensive research and publications, as well as her firsthand knowledge of rural life, to clearly set out what needs to be done to ensure that education in rural Australia (and elsewhere) is shaping leaders for the future.
Professor Gawne’s talk entitled, ‘The implications of climate change and its challenges’, will discuss the current conditions of the Murray Darling Basin, and future challenges for the ecosystem and the management of the Basin.
