Submissions are now being called for the International 'Balance-Unbalance 2013' conference to be held at  Central Queensland University in Noosa, Australia  from May 31 - June 2, 2013.

You are invited to submit abstracts for papers, posters, transdisciplinary activities/panels, installations/performances and virtual presentations. Full papers to be included in the conference publication (which will be double-peer reviewed), should also be submitted by this date. CALL FOR PAPERS CLOSES 20 NOVEMBER 2012. Please make your submissions via Easychair. 

Balance-Unbalance is a major International Conference designed to use art as a catalyst to explore intersections between nature, science, technology and society as we move into an era of both unprecedented ecological threats and transdisciplinary possibilities. The previous events held in Argentina in 2010 and Montreal in 2011 provided a powerful platform for reflection, debate, and ideas leading towards Balance-Unbalance 2013, hosted in the UNESCO designated Noosa Biosphere Reserve on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. The 2013 conference theme, 'Future Nature, Future Culture[s]' is aimed to provoke discourse around what our elusive future might hold and how transdisciplinary thought and action could be used as tools for positive change.  Balance-Unbalance 2013 is being held in the beautiful resort town of Noosa, in parallel with the 'Floating Land 2013' Green Art festival and just prior to the ISEA 2013 (International Symposium on Eletronic Art) conference in Sydney, so participants can maximise their time in Australia by attending all three events. For more information see our website on www.balance-unbalance2013.org

by Anne Lawrence

On the northern end of the Sunshine Coast, nestled amongst a picturesque blend of dense eucalypt woodland, lush rainforest and rugged foreshores that overlook the Pacific Ocean, lies one of the most ecologically significant regions in the country – yet most people think it is just a holiday town.

Long revered as one of Australia’s most iconic tourist destinations, Noosa also has a nobler, yet far less well-known, claim to fame.

In 2007 the region was designated Queensland’s first biosphere reserve and is now one of 564 such sites across 109 countries worldwide, including another 13 in Australia, recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as exemplars of responsible and sustainable development.

The Noosa biosphere reserve covers approximately 150,000 hectares of terrestrial, freshwater and tidal areas and includes four national parks, nine conservation reserves, four forest reserves and eight nature refuges. Home to more than 300 bird and 1300 plant species, many of which are protected by Commonwealth and State legislation, the biosphere reserve also hosts an abundance of frogs, reptiles, mammals and fresh and saltwater fish.

Yet Noosa also has a bustling economy and business sector, productive agricultural land, a thriving tourism industry and is supported by the infrastructure a modern region requires. It is a picture of what can be achieved by a community with a strong sustainability ethic and a genuine commitment to creating harmony between the natural world and human activity.

Noosa Biosphere Ltd is an organisation that was created in partnership between the local community and the Sunshine Coast Council to further the aims and objectives of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere program, namely: Sustainable Development; Conservation; Communities; Education and Research.

The biosphere projects reach far and wide, including all the way to University of Georgia USA, where over 300 students pay to travel to the region to undertake real-life sustainability education.

With both education and research being two of the core foundations of a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve, it is no wonder that the Noosa Biosphere team of volunteers consider their region to be a ‘living laboratory’.

For more information about Noosa Biosphere Ltd go to www.noosabiosphere.org.au

Welcome to the Balance-Unbalance 2013 website! We will be updating this website over the coming weeks so please check back soon for updates on the international call.