Science draws a crowd to Adelaide

More than 1500 emergency service managers, volunteers, researchers and industry representatives were in Adelaide in the first week of September for the annual Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC conference.

With more than 100 presentations and seven professional development sessions over four days, the conference is the largest emergency services gathering in Australia and New Zealand.

Day one was dedicated completely to research, with 460 delegates, a new attendance record, hearing about how the latest Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC research is finding new ways to keep communities safe from natural hazards.

Two days of talks over five streams then covered the latest ways practitioners are working to reduce disaster risk, share responsibility with the community for disaster management, and tackle diversity and culture within emergency services. The program was augmented by a huge trade show, with the 6000 square metre exhibition space featuring more than 100 leading industry manufacturers and research posters.

CEO Dr Richard Thornton said the conference highlighted the importance of relationships between the CRC and its partners.

“To have the connectedness that exists and continues to evolve between researchers and practitioners is fantastic. These critical relationships are increasingly important, and a key aspect of what the Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC is about. People from around the world are looking at how we do things and envious of the success of our sector in building these relationships.

“Another highlight of the week was the quality of the three minute thesis presentations by our PhD students, showcasing their work and the capability that the emergency services will be drawing on in the future,” Dr Thornton said.

The conference was popular on social media, with the conference hashtag trending number one Australia-wide.

All research resources, including the research proceedings, presentations, posters and videos are available. Papers from days two and three can be accessed via the AFAC website.