what is biogenesys?
The convergence of peak oil, environmental regulation and the rapid escalation of science and technology as drivers of our way of life will have potentially devastating impacts on Australia and Australian industry. We need a singularity of purpose to capture the benefits of new science, to manage the costs of encroaching environmental regulation and to design our own future.
The Biogenesys Project will give Australian companies access to cutting edge international science and technology and global policy makers. It will provide the strategic framework to enable them to develop their own plans for long-term sustainability. This is an opportunity for Australian industry to drive a new agenda for development.
Food has been the traditional purpose of agriculture for thousands of years. Already in much of the developed world this is no longer the case. The use of the productive landscape is changing as science and technology create the potential for other products that will feed new business models with a far greater capacity to reward participants than the traditional consumer food production system. This is commonly referred to as the bioeconomy.
The main purpose of the Project is to identify the key global factors that are likely to impact the evolution of the bioeconomy in Australia. This encompasses the consideration of potential paradigm shifts and the socio-economic implications arising from peak oil, climate change and environmental regulation, and the rapid pace of knowledge transformation in the biosciences.
We should anticipate the potential for large regional food and water shortages across the globe, as a result of both possible climate change events, disruptions to the supply and the increasing cost of food and fuel, and destructive civil conflicts. There is an urgent need to understand the implications for Australia.
The Project brings together experts from the public and private sectors, from science and business, from Australia and overseas, across a range of professional disciplines, to identify the issues that are likely to arise in addressing the challenges and in designing a framework to allow Australia to capture the gains to be made in the transformation of traditional agriculture to a bioeconomy. It will identify areas where public policy can be effective in removing barriers, encouraging innovation and improving understanding and cooperation among the various stakeholders.
The Project will provide critical IP for all businesses in developing long-term sustainability platforms and strategic priorities for all industries.