AUCTION SUNDAY 10AM 18/2 HASTINGS ST, NOOSA HEADS
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Friday, 15 March, 2024
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Dogs rule the waves The rain last Saturday did little to dampen the enthusiasm from the crowd that covered Noosa Main Beach and spread into the shallow waters for some close up action of the clever pooches and their humans putting on a terrific show at the 2024 VetShopAustralia Surfing Dog Championships. There was tough competition but it the blue English staffy, Bu, with her human Dane and Bu’s aerial antics that clinched the championship this year. Continued page 6
Perfect balance wowed crowd in this sensational surf.
Picture: ROB MACCOLL
Leading the way Noosa’s inaugural Climate Tech forum was held at The J Theatre last Thursday to pose the question: could this region become Australia’s next climate tech innovation hub. Hosted by Noosa Council the event brought together industry leaders and advocates from around the country to network the possibilities and hear from guest speakers including keynote speaker Creel Price, CEO of Greenhouse, Australia’s first climate tech hub in Sydney. “We’ve convened climate entrepreneurs, investors, government supporters and students to start a conversation about how this
area can drive the next wave of innovation in this space,” Mayor Clare Stewart told the forum. “We feel we are uniquely positioned to be leaders in this space given the regions burgeoning tech ecosystem paired with a strong reputation for environmental stewardship.” Noosa Shire is located in the centre of Australia’s only three consecutive biospheres. It has a long history of conservation and protection of biodiversity with more than 40 per cent of Noosa in conservation tenure, and the growth of tech and innovation through the Peregian digital hub has made it the Sunshine
Coast’s epicentre of tech, Cr Stewart said. “The four-hour workshop will hear from national leaders about the state of climate tech and opportunities for Noosa and the wider Sunshine Coast region. Discussions will centre on forward-thinking solutions for the most pressing climate challenges.” “What is climate tech? it’s about the mitigation of climate change impacts, like solar panels, digesting food waste,” event MC Charlotte Connell, from Greenhouse, said. “There’s no greater problem to solve for. We’re going to have to adapt to a changing en-
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vironment. “Technology can be hardware, software or a combination. It’s a broad church, everything from nature-based solutions to the processing of critical minerals.” Some examples of climate tech companies based in Queensland include Floodmap, creators of technology that calculates what streets will flood in a rain event, Circonomy, a group that repurposes office furniture as part of a circular economy, and Fable mushrooms, creating an alternative protein source, Charlotte said. Continued page 4