The Burning Conversation with ABC Big Ideas

Australia has long been The Land of Fire, shaped by tens of millions of years of continental desiccation, wildfire, and the rafting of tectonic plates.

But are we on the cusp of a new, unprecedented Age of Fire?

People in Australia have had a close connection with fire throughout history - from cultural fire to land clearing, bushfires and planned burning. We have an intense interest in the landscape fire regime and how both communities and nature respond and are impacted.

These issues are all part of THE BURNING CONVERSATION now facing us as a nation, as individuals and as connected communities.

Two of Australia’s leading fire science and modelling experts will explain the science and the choices that we face in what could be a very different future.

• Trent Penman, Professor in Bushfire Behaviour at The University of Melbourne
• Phil Zylstra, fire behaviour scientist and Adjunct Associate Professor at Curtin University

The discussion will be moderated by writer and oral historian GREGG BORSCHMANN, for the ABC Radio National Big Ideas program.

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Event Program

6:00PM Welcome

6:05PM The Conversation

7:30PM Light refreshments and informal discussion

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