A Big Fix
Radical solutions for Australia’s environmental crisis
The warnings from scientists are urgent and unequivocal – our civilisation is unwittingly stepping in front of an ecological lorry that is about to flatten us. We are using resources future generations will need, damaging environmental systems and compromising social stability by increasing the gap between rich and poor.
As Ian Lowe says, ‘If civilisation is to survive, this century will have to be a time of dramatic transformation, not just in technological capacity but also in our approach to the natural world – and each other. The road we are travelling now can only end in disaster.’ In A Big Fix, this pre-eminent scientist and environmentalist tackles the problem head on and offers far-reaching solutions to our environmental and social crisis. He advocates a fundamental change to our values and social institutions and offers a vision of a healthier society – one that is humane, takes an eco-centric approach, adopts long-term thinking, uses our natural resources responsibly and is informed about the fragility of our natural systems.
135 x 210 mm, 113 pages, paperback.
About the Author – Ian Lowe
Professor Ian Lowe AO is emeritus professor of science, technology and society at Griffith University in Brisbane, an adjunct professor at Sunshine Coast University and QUT, an honorary research fellow at the University of Adelaide and President of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Professor Lowe was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to science and technology, especially in the area of environmental studies. In 2002 he was awarded a Centenary Medal for contributions to environmental science and won the Eureka Prize for promotion of science. His contributions have also been recognised by the Prime Minister’s Environment Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement, the Queensland Premier’s Millennium Award for Excellence in Science and the University of NSW Alumni Award for achievement in science. Professor Lowe was named Humanist of the Year in 1988.
His work
Professor Lowe is the author or co-author of 10 Open University books, 8 other books, more than 50 book chapters and over 500 other publications or conference papers.
From 1983 to 1989 Professor Lowe was a member of the National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Council, chairing its standing committee on social, economic and environmental issues. He was Director of the Commission for the Future in 1988, and chaired the advisory council that produced the first independent national report on the state of the environment in 1996. He is a member of the Environmental Health Council and the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council. He chairs the Queensland Government task force implementing the reform of science education and the Brisbane City Council task force on climate change and energy. He is deputy chair of the Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Group, which advises the State government on energy innovations. He has conducted consultancies for all three levels of government as well as companies and peak organisations in the private sector.
Professor Lowe has been a referee for the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, attended the Geneva and Kyoto conferences of the parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change and was a member of the Australian delegation to the 1999 UNESCO World Conference on Science. He was on the steering group for the UNEP project Global Environmental Outlook, an invited participant in the 2000 and 2002 workshops on Sustainability Science and a referee for both the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program’s 2004 book on planetary science and the Millennium Assessment Report.
Professor Lowe has made countless contributions to newspapers, radio, television and periodicals since 1991 and wrote a regular column for New Scientist for thirteen years. He gave the ABC’s Boyer Lectures in 1991 and has been a member of the advisory group for Brisbane’s Ideas Festivals since their inception. He is a member of the board of Major Brisbane Festivals Ltd and is Vice-President of Queensland Academy of the Arts and Sciences.
