Hope at the coalface — can this coal town thrive in a post-Carbon future?

Big Ideas

Join Natasha Mitchell and guests in a coal country heartland. Communities in Muswellbrook and Singleton in the NSW Upper Hunter are living at the coalface — quite literally — of the vexed debate over Australia's slow transition to a post-Carbon future. Australia's oldest coal-fired Liddell power station {"Lady Liddell") was shut down by AGL last year, AGL's Bayswater Power Station will close within a decade, coal mines are being closed, others expanded, and now the Coalition is proposing a nuclear power station for the Liddell site, but AGL has other plans.

This event was organised by Arts Upper Hunter as part of the LIDDELLWorks exhibition and artists' residency, and held at the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre.Speakers:

Professor Glenn AlbrechtEnvironmental philosopher Creator of the concept "Solastalgia"Author, Earth Emotions: New Words for A New World.Associate Professor Hedda AsklandFutures anthropologistLeader, MyMuswellbrook research project

Rob CooperCorporate and community affairs manager (Liddell and Bayswater power stations)AGL

Fiona LeeArtist and climate activistOne of the 16 artists shown in the LIDDELLworks exhibition

Further information:

Liddell: Layers of Language in the Landscape (essay by Glenn Albrecht as part of the Liddellworks project)

Artworks story on Fiona Lee

Liddell and Bayswater Power Stations, including Liddell demolition pans

Information from AGL about 500MW battery development at Liddell site

Hunter Energy Hub HyResource background

Information on solar recycling proposal at Liddell site

Hunter Renewal Community Blueprint