This event hosted former ACT Minister of Environment, director-level executives from federal and local government, industry executives, scientists, ecologists, sociologists, astrophysicists, technology manufacturers, and academia) and was designed to understand and integrate diverse perspectives across various disciplines and were used to converge and define a system’s boundaries and function in regards to Streetlighting
Email sent out to invitees:
Light has been a subject of fascination for humans for as long as we can remember. From its appearance in the heavens to its artificial recreation, it exists in almost every aspect of our lives. Streetlights have played an integral part of our cities and socio-cultural systems since its instantiation. However, we are not the only inhabitants on this planet that rely on natural light in its various forms and rhythms. Furthermore, we are not the only ones that are impacted by its existence and proliferation. From an environmental perspective, not only do streetlights contribute to carbon emissions, but excessive artificial light at night is considered a form of environmental pollution. From the more-than-human perspective, it disrupts the natural physiology and critical behavior for wildlife and plants. While it can provide human safety and productivity, it can also have negative effects to the circadian rhythm that regulates the various intricate systems within our body.
While their physical design has barely changed, their capabilities have evolved significantly. Modern streetlights have within them, adaptive lighting controls, which takes computation abilities of these new dynamic streetlights to control the lighting output based on “need”. The “need” has been the subject of increased conversations over the last decade. On December 5 2023, an interdisciplinary workshop is being held to explore and draw out the “need” to better understand why we light the things and places that we do. So join us, to help build a better framework to understand and address the challenges that surround streetlights and its impact on the environment and our urban space. The workshop will bring together various disciplines and professionals who have experience or shared interest in outdoor light and lighting in our built environment, with a goal to develop a planning scheme that takes into considerations various aspects of how streetlights are used, valued, and understood from the various systems that rely on it. The goal is to use the planning scheme as template to test against a live adaptive lighting project in Canberra between 2023/24, to better understand how we might manage the use of one of society’s most prevalent infrastructures and how it might contribute, impact, and inform our notions of sustainability – and build a pathway to reclaiming the right to a healthy environment, for all and the planet.
There are limited seats, to save your spot, register here or scan the code below:
Workshop details:
Date: Tuesday, 5 December 2023
Time: 8:45am (9am start) – 4:00pm
Catering: This event is fully catered. However, please register and provide any specific dietary requirements.
Post-event: There will be an opportunity for networking after the workshop with light refreshments (4:00pm-6:00pm)
Bio:
Danny Bettay, is currently a PhD candidate at the College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics, at the Australian National University. His research investigates the role of light by examining how it is understood, used, and valued at different parts of a system. Prior to his PhD, he was an executive in the federal government delivering major capital investment projects such as: Australia’s Post-Entry Quarantine Facility , the Western Sydney International Airport (Nancy-Bird), and the Western Sydney City Deal. He is trained as an Architect and Chemical, and has extensive experience in critical infrastructure design, planning, and decommissioning.
| Period | 5 Dec 2023 → … |
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| Event title | PhD research: Interdisciplinary workshop – Lights, as we need them. |
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| Event type | Other |
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