Irrigation NZ Conference and Expo

Irrigation NZ Conference and Expo, Timaru – April 2-4, 2012
Registrations Close Friday 30th March

Media Release
For immediate release – Tuesday, March 27
Designing an innovative sustainable and prosperous future for Kiwi Irrigators

Twenty-first century success will depend on the mindsets and possible courses of action irrigators adopt rather than technology, costs, or regulatory environments, according to internationally renowned futurist and strategist Peter Ellyard, who will deliver a keynote address at the IrrigationNZ Conference in Timaru next week.

Ellyard is Australia's most prominent futurist, and is a strategist, author and speaker. A graduate of Sydney University and of Cornell University (PhD) with a background on both physical and biological sciences, he spent 15 years as a CEO of public policy organisations including two associated with Environment and Planning, and one with Industry and Technology, and was also Chief of Staff of an Environment Minister in Canberra for three years, before formally becoming a futurist after his appointment as CEO of Australia's Commission for the Future.

He is currently Chairman of the Preferred Futures Institute and the Preferred Futures Group, which he founded in 1991. He also chairs the Sustainable Prosperity Foundation and two start-up environmental companies. He is Adjunct Professor of Intergenerational Strategies at the University of Queensland, and is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators, the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand, and the Australian Institute of Management. He is an elected Member of the International Union of Associations, based in Brussels, which has 45,000 international NGO members.

Ellyard has been a Senior Adviser to the United Nations system for more than 30 years including to the 1992 Earth Summit where he was a senior advisor on both the climate change and the biodiversity conventions. He has also been a senior consultant to the UNEP, UNDP and UNESCO, and advised the OECD for more than 20 years.

He is best known for his unique futurists toolkit which helps people understand and anticipate what the future might bring, and assist them to develop and implement visions and actions to become resilient future-makers . Most of the jobs, products and services of 25 years hence have yet to be invented.

Ellyard has the ability to describe what these products and services will be. He envisages a global society that is prosperous, sustainable, harmonious, secure and just in the year 2050, and narrates what is being done, and can be done, to ensure its emergence. In doing this he is describing the emerging 21st century global economy.

“Before we use foresight to shape the future we also must have better insight about ourselves, our limitations, our potential courses of action, and better hindsight so we most effectively learn from our experiences,” says Ellyard.
“All of us are futurists in that we seek to shape the future. The futurist in-each-of -us actually consists of two people: the prophet – who is the what-will-be part of us, and the visionary – who is the what-should/could-be part of us. And it is important that both prophecy and vision equally inform us”

He says New Zealand farming is progressive and enlightened by world standards. However too much of the Australasian industrial culture, including farming and manufacturing, is influenced by prophecy and fate, and not enough by vision and destiny. As a result New Zealand agriculture is not getting to the future first, which is where it should be if it wants to continue to be successful and relevant.

Success and relevance requires that New Zealand primary producers embody relevant mindsets and values so they can position themselves to become purposeful future-makers of, as well as resilient future-takers in, twenty first century society. If New Zealand primary production achieves this, it can get to the future first by innovating a significant proportion of the 70% of the products and services of the year 2030 that have yet to be invented.
Peter Ellyard's most recent books are Designing 2050: Pathways to Sustainable Prosperity on Spaceship Earth (2008), and Destination 2050: Concepts Bank and Toolkit for Future-Makers (September 2011). His first book, Ideas for the New Millennium (1998, 2001) was an instant best-seller.

Looking to the future of irrigation, its role in food and fibre production, and its interaction with the environment is the key focus of the upcoming IrrigationNZ Conference and Expo.

The SBS Events Centre in Timaru will be host to New Zealand’s largest irrigation event as IrrigationNZ brings the industry together, from April 2-4, to highlight cutting edge information from national and international professionals in fields of practice, policy, and research in a challenging three days of conference and expo activity.

This 2012 irrigation industry event is a must for everyone serious about the future of irrigated agriculture and New Zealand’s economic future. The biennial conference is a key vehicle used by IrrigationNZ to bring together farmers, business and interest groups to debate relevant industry issues. Whether you are an irrigator, industry representative, service provider or resource manager – attending the 2012 IrrigationNZ Conference and Expo is essential in the drive to proactively move business forward.

There is still time to register. Registrations close on Friday, March 30. See website for details.

Farmers trade afternoon

This year there is a farmers’ trade afternoon on Monday April 2. This will give farmers the chance to visit the Expo with over 60 exhibitors bringing all the latest technologies and services available to irrigators. For just $5 at the door farmers are invited to attend the Expo open from 1-5pm.

Check out the full conference programme, more information and register now at www.irrigationnz.co.nz/events/conference

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