Community

The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of human settlements and the basic right to adequate shelter for all. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

INTECOL's theme is: Ecology in a Changing Climate. Two Hemispheres - One Globe. The Congress will be hosted by the Ecological Society of Australia in partnership with the New Zealand Ecological Society. This is the first time that an International Congress of Ecology will have been held in the southern Hemisphere. Ecologists from around the world will explore how global climate change has impacted, and will further impact, ecosystems and their vital services to human communities. They will explore unique features of ecosystems in the southern and northern hemispheres but look for common elements in a search for solutions to this looming problem. Symposia will represent all scales of ecology from individual organisms to landscapes, and report on a diversity of ecosystems from marine to freshwater aquatic systems and terrestrial ecosystems from arid to rainforest and from polar to tropical. The meeting will bring expert ecological commentary on a range of vital processes including land and water use, sea level change, restoration of ecosystems, biotic invasions, changing water patterns, urban ecology and fire ecology. It will include discussions on long term monitoring of ecosystems, on incorporating ecological knowledge into policy, on integrating indigenous knowledge into conventional science, and on communicating ecological information to a broader community.

The theme for NVW is “Volunteers change our world”. The NVW website will provide you with all the information you need to celebrate NVW whether you are a volunteer, volunteer organisation, or a corporate organisation seeking ways to help recognise and thank employees who are also volunteers.