Landscape on the Edge: Challenge and Opportunity – 11-13 November 2022

Tasmania is often described as being at the edge of the world due to its location on the southern tip of the Australian continent, with vast oceans to the east, south and west. Despite its remoteness, Tasmania was one of the first areas in Australia colonised by Europeans; it has a long landscape and garden history.

As a remote penal colony, Tasmania was viewed during the 18th and 19th centuries as being at the edge of the civilised world and society for both convicts and settlers. Tasmania also marks the edge of Aboriginal occupation and cultural landscapes.

Cut off from the mainland some 12,000 years ago, Tasmania has a landscape that in parts is distinctly different from the rest of Australia. Like the mainland, it is now on the edge of increasing and unpredictable weather patterns: sometimes drier, sometimes hotter and sometimes wetter. Its natural and gardened landscape is on the edge of this unpredictability.

The conference theme will allow speakers to canvas:

• the geology of Tasmania and its impact on our natural landscape
• the landscape of Aboriginal Tasmania
• the colonial landscape and how being on the edge of society shaped the people who created our gardens and built landscape
• how climate change is impacting on this landscape and what changes it may bring in the future

Conference Brochure

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