Green homecoming

A community leader and Monash graduate who helped inspire thousands of Victorians to reduce their water and energy consumption has joined the University's sustainability team.

Professor David Griggs and Professor John Thwaites

We talk with former Victorian Deputy Premier John Thwaites who will work with new Monash Sustainability Institute (MSI) Director Professor David Griggs to better align research with industry and government needs.

How do you feel about your new appointment as MSI Chairman?

This is an exciting move for me after 15 years in politics and it is great to be back at Monash where I studied (and had a pretty enjoyable time) in the late 1970s. I am convinced that sustainability is the challenge of the century and we will need our best minds to be working together if we are to come up with the right answers.

My experience in government was that most decisions are made with relatively little reference to academic research. Some scientists and academics have had a real impact, like Tim Flannery, UK Chief Scientist Sir David King, and Peter Cullen in water. But given that so many of our most creative thinkers are in universities, we need to do a lot more to link these top university researchers with government and industry.

How does MSI fit into that picture?

MSI will cut across a range of fields and disciplines: climate change, energy, water, biodiversity and transport. It will look at how these issues will affect industry, urban and rural Victoria .

What are the key questions facing MSI?

How can we develop a more sustainable future energy supply? Can Victoria 's massive brown coal resource be made “clean”? What role can biofuels play in both electricity and transport? How can we harness the potential of stormwater to overcome water shortages? What are the next steps in making irrigation much more water efficient and can we help both farmers and the environment at the same time?

What do you see as your role?

I will be able to use the experience I have had in government to help define problems and the types of research and collaboration that will be most helpful in solving them. I will also help to establish partnerships between Monash researchers and other academic institutions, industry and government.

What makes you so passionate about sustainability?

For the first time, human induced climate change means that not just part of the world but the whole planet is threatened. The environmental, economic and social consequences are potentially catastrophic.

For too long we have taken for granted the services provided by our environment – the atmosphere, our rivers, oceans and biodiversity. As our population heads towards seven billion we can no longer do that. The environment is being irreparably damaged.

Sustainability is our best chance for a safe and fair future. It's about doing more with less and making sure we leave something behind for future generations. By using our resources much more efficiently we can continue to live well while maintaining our natural assets at the same time.

Sustainability also provides the opportunity for jobs for Australians and Australian companies who can provide innovative solutions to sustainability challenges that the whole world shares.

See the Monash Sustainability Institute website.

Director Professor David Griggs

MSI Director Professor David Griggs lists research, education and implementation as the priorities for 2008.

Prior to joining Monash University in late 2007 Professor Griggs led the internationally renowned Met Office Hadley Centre, the United Kingdom 's official centre for climate change research.

MSI aims to unite interdisciplinary teams to look at questions relating to sustainability, such as climate, energy, water, transport and biodiversity. Embedding attention to sustainability throughout the curriculum at Monash is also high on the agenda.

Professor Griggs sees MSI as a driving force in implementing sustainable practices at Monash, so that as a community Monash can achieve its goals of reducing its energy consumption, managing its waste and water consumption and improving public transport to campuses.