Students of Sustainability 2004 http://sofs.org.au/

Sunday 11th until Saturday 17th of July

Students of Sustainability 2004 will be held at La Trobe University, Bundoora (Melbourne) from Sunday 11th until Saturday 17th of July, and over 800 delegates are expected to attend. The conference is structured as a series of plenaries, forums, panel discussions, practical workshops and fieldtrips that explore sustainability issues on individual, local, national and global levels.

SoS attracts such a diverse range of participants, including young people, students, activists, community group members, politicians, indigenous people, academics, and members of the general public. This diversity in delegates and speakers allows for a broad spectrum of issues to be addressed: from permaculture to media activism, indigenous land management to sustainable transport, this conference offers delegates an extremely broad insight into environmental issues in Australia and the South Pacific.

Aims of SoS to inspire ecologically sustainable practices as an alternative to current societal values.

to empower individuals and groups to bring about positive social and political change through open forums, skill sharing opportunities and community participation.

to create national and international networks of environmentally-minded people.

to integrate environmentalism with other progressive movements such as human rights and cultural awareness movements.

to create a conference that is accessible to as many people as possible.

History of SoS The conference began in 1991 under the name \x91Students, Science and Sustainabilty\x92. This first conference in Canberra attracted 300 students to discuss matters of sustainability with respect to students and science. Throughout the past twelve years, interest and enthusiasm for the conference has grown, and the number of participants has steadily increased. During SoS in Perth 2002, delegates resolved to change the name of the conference to Students of Sustainability to reflect the increasing importance of community involvement, as we are all students of sustainability.

Conference ethics Every SoS conference serves all organic (synthetic fertilizer and pesticide free), vegan (animal product free) food, with limited packaging involved to minimize environmental impact. All publications are printed on 100% recycled paper using soy-based inks where possible, and recycling and composting facilities are used at the conference.

SoS acknowledges traditional ownership of the land and facilitates the involvement of indigenous people in the conference. Each year, the conference begins with a \x91welcome to country\x92 by an indigenous elder.