Beyond Zero interview Luke Taylor from the Sustainable Living Foundation

Beyond Zero's Matthew Wright speaks to Luke Taylor from the Sustainable Living Foundation about the Sustaianble Living Festival, held annually in Melbourne.

Beyond Zero speaks to Luke Taylor

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Matthew Wright: Hello and welcome to another edition of the Beyond Zero show, broadcast around Australia on the community radio network, podcast on the internet, all from the studios of 3CR Melbourne. Beyond Zero is produced by the Climate Solutions Thinktank, Beyond Zero Emissions, you can check out our website at BeyondZeroEmissions.org we always podcast and transcribe these shows, that's available to you after we've gone to air.

Today we're eager to get on with the show and speak to Luke Taylor, Luke is the director of the Sustainable Living Foundation; the Sustainable Living Foundation puts on an amazing annual event and it was probably the first of its kind or the first significant sized living festival of its kind, its run out of Melbourne's Fed Square and it's been running I think for 12 - certainly the foundation has been around for 12 years now, we'll find out how long the festival's been running, we'll see if we've got Luke there, Hello Luke...

Luke Taylor: Good Morning Matt!

Matthew Wright: How many festivals have there been?

Luke Taylor: This is our 12th festival this year, we passed the decade mark two years ago and had the big birthday party and this year's festival really marks an opportunity for us, not just, I heard in your intro there this festival's thinking not only inside the square this year but also outside the square, so there's a whole range of events and activities occurring right across, throughout Melbourne and even beyond; right around Victoria and some interstate events as well. So the festival really has, over that decade and for those 12 years really grown now into a significant event and I think it just shows the mood in the community and the fantastic work that's around; we love showcasing it every year!

Matthew Wright: It's at Fed Square, some people might already be eager to write down how they can get there, it's at Federation Square Melbourne and what are the dates - this is the inside the box bit I'm talking about.

Luke Taylor: Yeah, look the big weekend kicks off today, in a couple of hours time, I'm just down on-site now at Federation Square and in the neighbouring events park, Birrarung Marr where we've got a lot of events as well, so it's not just in Federation Square, it's right across the whole events park here and it's really shaping up, the weather at the moment is looking ok and we hope it stays that way for the rest of the weekend, so it kicks off today and runs right through to Sunday Night, we've got evening events, we've of course got the great debate on tonight with visiting scientist and activist David Suzuki who's in town, which is great; we've got the Green Gig which kicks off tonight in our new venue; we've created a new venue here Matt which I think you're doing a bit of presenting in later on in the weekend as well, the Green House it's called, so

Matthew Wright: The Green House

Luke Taylor: So come on down tonight to the Green House, the Festival Club bar is down there as well so people can come down and kick off their weekend with a great evenings entertainment.

Matthew Wright: So the Green House, is that backing onto the river, down by the Birrarung Marr, or?

Luke Taylor: Yeah just by the Yarra river there, we've set up a new festival venue, some listeners might be familiar with the old festival format with the micro tents, this year we've pulled those together into a much larger tent and it's called the Green House and it's in town for three days for the festival weekend, right next to the Yarra river, in fact overlooking the Yarra river, between the City and the Yarra, along the promenade from Fed Square, so a great location for the weekends activities.

Matthew Wright: It is a great location to get to; Melbournes transport hub is across the road at Flinders St Station, pretty easy for everyone to get to, you've got a bit of a transport plan in terms of how you consider the best ways to get to the show.

Luke Taylor: Oh absolutely, I mean one of the central factors in choosing this as a location is not only the public transport access, obviously Federation Square and this area is amazing, you've literally got Flinders St Station on your doorstep, but it's also linked to all the major bike trails around as well. We have set up a bike valet, our regular bike valet service as part of the festival down here so you can ride your bike along the major bike routes into the city and park your bike at the bike valet, so cut down on all those emissions, come in zero emissions style and enjoy the weekend!

Matthew Wright: Now you've talked about on-site activities, we'll go back to a few of those shortly, but I know you've had a few events already, I guess you could re-cap on those and then also let us know what else is on off-site, if there is anything.

Luke Taylor: Well the festival kicked off on the 12th, which was last weekend and there was a lot of regional events across Victoria, up in the Macedon Ranges Sustainable Living Festival they held their own mini-festival up in Mount Macedon, that was a great start to the festival. And then we've had numerous events right across Melbourne for the last week; we had a major forum on Wednesday, how to feed and clothe the world in 2050 presented and hosted by Fran Kelly; last night we had another forum which we presented as part of the Melbourne Conversations Forum series which was Cool It, working towards the City of Melbourne Zero Emissions by 2020 Plan and councillor Cathy Oke was presenting.

So look it's been a feast already and it certainly starts to hot up again tonight with the festivals Great Debate, whicih will be broadcast I should mention as well to the mainstream at Federation Square; it is unfortunately a book-out, so we can't sell any more tickets, we've crammed as many people into the show as possible, but the Festival's Great Debate this year is the motion put forward that Environmentalism is failing and we have Professor Ian Lowe, David Suzuki, Clive Hamilton, hosted by Julia Zemiro, so it's going to be a pretty entertaining night and a very informative one as well and a quite provocative title and we're looking forward to it.

As I said before, the event will be broadcast out to Federation Squares main screen as well, so if you missed out on tickets come down and don't miss it, because it's going to be an absolutely brilliant event.

Matthew Wright: There's huge capacity there and I guess and advantage is it's a lot bigger and easier to see on the big screen, so there's almost an advantage to watching it outside.

Luke Taylor: Definitely. And it will be broadcast on ABC Big Ideas program, the ABC are coming down to record the session as well, so there's great opportunity for people to see the content, both at Federation Square and online.

Matthew Wright: Now just a couple of plugs for what 3CR and BZE are up to while we're at it; we'll be interviewing David Suzuki, at 12:30, 3CR will be doing a live broadcast, I think it starts at 9:30 and goes through to 1, and we've got 4 or 5 programmes going live to air from the festival, you can come down and watch us present, or tune in on 3CR Radio and later we'll be broadcasting that on the community radio network as a pre-record at another time, so if you're listening to that now and you're on a syndicated station, this is obviously a pre-record from our Melbourne studio.

Now Luke, just going through some of the highlights, the Zero Carbon Housing forum on at 11am on Saturday, can you tell us a bit about that gig?

Luke Taylor: Well look, Zero Housing Carbon, there's a real focus this year on the festval's theme, which is emissions safe climate, which I sure many of your listeners would be aware that the real game at the moment in terms of sustainability is to bring the restoration concept back into the central direction and there's a lot of talk obviously about adaptation and mitigation, the concept of restoring safe climate conditions is something that the festival is really interested to bring to light, with many of the leading groups around that are focusing on zero emission solutions, so we've got a really complimentary program there of activities and events, obviously yourself, Matthew and the Beyond Zero Emissions team have got involved in the festival quite heavily this year which is fantastic, and there's a really great show of events that are focussing on, whether it's housing or transport, in those zero emissions fields, so the festival is really exploring what's the latest and the greatest attempts in finding zero emissions lifestyles and we're getting such a great response, it's obviously quite a new concept for people and we're trying to bring that to a mainstream audience, and so far the audience is really responding very well to the concept of going to a zero emissions lifestyle.

Matthew Wright: And I'm wondering now how you got such great guests; I'm looking at one of the pages of the festial guide, which I guess you can pick up around town or you can get the guts of it from the SLF website at slf.org.au, the Murray Darling, Crossing the Great Divide, you've got Rob Oakshot, he's one of the kingmakers, one of the greens along with the two independents obviously after June 20 will have the balance of power in the Senate, you've got Rob Oakshot there, can you give us any insights into that event?

Luke Taylor: I think that's going to be a really interesting one, we've got Rob, of course, and Environment Victoria are involved and some representatives from some regional farming communities, it's going to be a great session, one definitely not to miss. Look, I think in answer to your question, we have got some higher profile people who are participating in the event this year, I think it just really shows their interest in the subjet matter obviously of sustainability and wanting to come out and really talk to people and educate people about the solutions that we need obviously to get moving with.

As I said before, the festival's theme is Mission: Safe Climate, and the mission really starts to represent that sense of urgency of action and we know that we need to get moving fast, and the next ten years is really critical for action, and I think that sense of urgency now is stepping up and we've been overwhelmed at the response really that we've had from many speakers and participants in the festival this year, so it's a really great show of support certainly for the festival but for sustainability and I think for the concept of zero emissions.

Matthew Wright: And how do you balance information and education, entertainment and a good day out?

Luke Taylor: Well I think it's quite easy really, in a sense, because we've got such a community here in Melbourne that are champing at the bit to get out and talk to people, to create that dialogue that's desperately needed around sustainability. So the event is showcasing a representation of the strong sustainability community that we've got here in Melbourne, but also broader beyond Melbourne and Victoria and across Australia.

I think there's a strong creative culture as part of the environment movement, there's the educational aspect, there's the technical, and the festival is really a representation of that diversity, and it's always been really important for the success of the festival that you have really good diversity in the program. So, sure, the education information gets across, but we know that when you blend that with entertainment and make it fun, attractive, inspiring, you can get really good results. Really, it's the people that come and participate, like Beyond Zero Emissions, like many of the groups that are around in melbourne that really bring life to the programme.

So we just create the stage, Matt, then we invite people to come and present - so we certainly can't take credit for the amazing amount of information that comes out every year, year after year; it staggers me, I've been involved for ten years in the festival and it always just staggers me each year, you know groups really step it up and present better and better quality information every year.

Matthew Wright: And it all just coalesces around Mid Febuary. Now we're with Luke Taylor, director of the Sustainable Living Foundation, who run the annual, the 12th annual Sustainable Living Festival and we're talking about all the wonderful events and just looking at the guide, it's one hive of activity. In terms of some really interesting international guests, we just mentioned before David Suzuki and he's got a moonlight cinema screening on Sunday the 20th Feb, but of course you can catch him in the debate tonight at Fed Square on the big screen. Well, what can you say about Michael Reynolds, he's another international guest coming in, doing a bit of an Australian tour and obviously kicking that off at Fed Square.

Luke Taylor: Well, some people might remember the garbage warrior which was a film that screened a couple of years ago now and really brought out David's work, pioneering work as a quite a renegade architect, and obviously also pretty famous for the Earth Ship concept and we're really honoured to have Michael out here as part of his Australian tour and participating in the festival. He lands in Australia on Saturday and we quickly walk him on to the stage on Sunday for a big forum at the Edge, as part of our Sustainability at the Edge programme.

He's going to talk about the art of zero emission housing and living and, look, we're really interested, we're not quite sure what he's going to say, but you can be sure that it's going to be great content, and he's got certainly a lot of support here for his Garbage Warrior fame and he'll also go on beyond the big weekend here at the Edge and do a whole range of workshops; he has CERES involved, he's going up and doing some work with Kinglake community, post-bushfires, to look at how he can help to support some of those Victorian communities in rebuilding post-Black Saturday.

Matthew Wright: You're down there on site now at Federation Square, can you tell us about the hive of activity? I know you're probably chomping at the bit to get back into it, but can you tell us what's happening on site?

Luke Taylor: It's all happening, I have to say I am a little distracted - I'm juggling a few things at the moment, I've got a hay bale on the end of one of my hands at the moment,

Matthew Wright: Laughs

Luke Taylor: but it's certainly all happening, there's stalls that are just warming up, it's a typical Friday down here where we're just getting the last bits of signage and exhibitors, doing some sound checks, so it's got that early morning event buzz and it's going to shape up pretty soon when our first event kicks off at 10 o'clock and all of the stall holders open as well. Come down, even today, it's a great day, Friday is a great day because it's our first day and all the exhibitors are nice and fresh; we've got some great events that are kicking off today and of course, later tonight, we've got the Green Gig, which is our big music event which is happening in the Green House, so if you've missed out on getting tickets for the debate, don't worry, come down to the festival club bar, it kicks off at 7 o'clock tonight, so don't miss out.

Matthew Wright: So that's on at the same time, so you can either watch the big screen or go to the Green Gig.

Luke Taylor: You can, it's all happening down here, you can come down to the Festival Club Bar to check out the Green Gig or head up to the square and look at the great debate, so lots of events happening over the weekend that will be simultaneous, so people will have to make tough decisions at times, but that's the way it goes at a festival!

Matthew Wright: Tough decisions at the Sustainable Living Festival. Now when was the last time that you slept, and when are you planning to sleep next?

Luke Taylor: The last time I slept, I think it was last Tuesday, and I'm hoping that on Sunday night, or probably Monday morning at 2am I might be able to crawl into a little corner somewhere and get some sleep before we pack up on Monday and Tuesday!

Matthew Wright: Power sleep at a power event! Now, 8:30 tonight, No Impact Man, opening the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Luke Taylor: Yeah look there's a great couple of films showing, obviously the David Suzuki premiere, which people should definitely go to, I think there's still tickets available for the moonlight cinema screening, but in addition to that we have a screening tonight on the main stage of No Impact Man, and this is a great story of a man in the US who decided that he wasn't going to make any impact on the Earth, and he was going to record his story and his relationship with his family as he went on this mission, it's a fantastic film and really shows how far you can take things and the success you can find when you push those limits.

Matthew Wright: Now, if you can't get down tonight for entertainment, kicking off at 4pm on Saturday, I think almost overlapping with the tail end of my big talk, which is 100% Renewables - More than a Big Idea, which people can come down and see me and Mark Jacobson from Stanford, at 3:30; Mark Jacobson will be on a live cross which I'm heading down to Fed Square to test straight after the show this morning, from 3CR Studios. After that, at about 4, we've got the Zero Carbon Concert - can you tell us a bit about tomorrow night's entertainment?

Luke Taylor: Yeah, look come down to the main stage tomorrow night and check out the fantastic line up of bands which are all there to support the push for 100% renewables. This has obviously been part of campaigning that many groups have been doing now for certainly the last 6 to 12 months, is the big push, after the BZE report went out and obviously showed people the technical capability and potential of 100% renewables here in Australia.

The Saturday night is really dedicated to that and we've got representatives from both the 100% renewables campaign and Zero Carbon Plan, and it's a fantastic night of entertainment on the main stage of Fed Square, we'll have speakers from both of the campaigns as well that will be talking up obviously the campaign and how people can get involved to support the plan, and at the same time get down to the main stage to enjoy some fantastic music and following that we've also got another concert which is running which is Salt Water Rhythms which is...

Matthew Wright: That's indigenous...

Luke Taylor: Which is supporting indigenous communities that are threatened by the impact of climate change, another great line-up there.

Matthew Wright: That's indigenous Salt Water Rhythms, featuring King Kadoo, Andrew Manok and Joe Geia and that's Saturday at 8pm, so that almost follows on from the Zero Carbon Concert doesn't it?

Luke Taylor: It does, it follows straight on from the Zero Carbon Concert, which is being powered by a pedal-powered power station, so all events on the main stage have drawn their power from power that we'll be pedalling over the course of the festival, we've set up a big bike rig where people can actually jump on and help us to generate power which we're feeding back into the grid and then we're drawing back on that power to power the lights and the PA's so obviously trying to walk the talk here at the festival, it's part of our mission as an event to make sure that we can walk the talk, whether it's the green power that we use or the pedal powered machines or our waste on site, there's a number of aspects that we really try to promote across the event that really help us, as an event, to reduce our impact which we think's really important.

Matthew Wright: Just, before I ask the next question, I'll just go back to the Zero Carbon Concert, it's featuring Alexander Gow, Oh Mercy, the Orb Weavers, Dick Diver and Acequia. I can't even pronounce that last one! Now the progression of the festival, starting 10 years ago, your experience, what the feel was, how rusty it was, what got learnt and how it's growing, can you tell us a bit of the chronology of an evolving Sustainable Living Festival, a trailblazer, now they've got these commercial equivalents trying to take your space, but what's been happening at the original Sustainable Living Festival?

Luke Taylor: The festival itself kicked off in regional Victoria Matt, in 1998 was the first event and I was lucky enough to be at that first event and for many people still involved today, everybody remembers the first time. A lot of the environment movement came together to get on the front foot I guess and present solutions and celebrate solutions with the community. It was held just outside of Daylesford, in Musk, right in the middle of the forest and it was such an amazing experience to be there, to see so many people from again, that diversity of different parts of the environment movement come together and really showcase their events and ideas and activities, and that spirit, we really hope that we've continued to bring to the festival, year after year, despite the history that it's had, from coming from Daylesford, going to Hanging Rock which was the next year in 1999, we then brought it to the city of Melbourne for the first time at the Alexandra Gardens in 2001, and then across the river over to the Federation Square in 2003.

So it's moved around a bit in its early years, we have stayed at Federation Square for a decade now, or so, or nearly a decade, and it's meant that the access to the audience here at Federation Square has been quite large, we have up to 120 thousand visits to the festival each year, which we hope will continue again this year. So the access to the audience is quite significant and that's really allowed us obviously to get out a lot of information out to many many people. In terms of what's happening around other spaces and other states and territories, we have seen sort of an explosion particularly over the last four years that many local councils now are running their own sustainable living festivals and events which is fantastic to see.

Now there's almost a network of sustainable living festivals and events, not only in Melbourne Victoria, but even interstate. I should even add as well, we've been looking at the many different events that are happening internationally and there are literally thousands of sustainable living or sustainability type events or festivals.

Matthew Wright: Now, just quickly...

Luke Taylor: So there's been quite a bit of work on looking into strengthening that network, if you like, of events, so that we can share ideas, resources and information and link up in more of a consolidated way. So I think that's really exciting. You've got a strong mix of both commercial events, but the community events, local communities taking control of their own events and putting them on, whether it's at their local park or libraries, it really shows how many people are involved.

Matthew Wright: Now Luke, sorry I'm just going to have to interrupt you there, just a quick question because we've got to go now, will you be videoing many of the events, will there be accessibility, because we've got a listening audience around Australia and whether they'll be able to catch some of the highlights.

Luke Taylor: Sure, if you stay in tune with the festival's website and check out the latest and the greatest of what we've been able to capture over the weekend, we will have some video crews around with thanks to Plug In TV, and so check out the website post-festival and we'll be uploading as many recordings of the sessions as we can capture over the weekend.

Matthew Wright: Great, great, thanks for that Luke, that's Luke Taylor from the Sustainable Living Foundation, running the Sustainable Living Festival, kicking off at Federation Square, 10am this morning, events all weekend, check it out at www.slf.org.au, they've got a festival link there and you can get the whole program. This is the Beyond Zero Show, thanks from us; gotta go, we've run out of time and you can check out Beyond Zero Emissions at BeyondZeroEmissions.org and we'll be down at the festival. Thank you.

Transcript by Luke