Academic to address International Surfing Symposium in Australia

A leading sustainability and surfing researcher has been invited to deliver a keynote address at the 2017 International Surfing Symposium on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Dr Gregory Borne, Director of the University of Plymouth’s Sustainability and Surfing Research Group (PSSRG), will speak at an inaugural conference designed to celebrate the establishment of the Gold Coast as the 8th World Surfing Reserve.

Being held from March 13 to 17, it will bring together surfing legends, conservationists, environmental and social scientists, the surfing industry and sustainability experts. And it will explore future solutions for surf sustainability, the recycling of surfing products, the removal of plastics, overcrowding and ways of creating cleaner, healthy oceans.

Dr Borne said: “This is incredibly exciting and acknowledges the important role that surfing plays in social economics and environmental dimensions in so many parts of the world. The Gold Coast is an amazing city, the sixth largest in Australia, and owes a great deal of its growth and vibrancy to surfing. The symposium is a great way to celebrate it becoming a World Surfing Reserve and I am very honoured to be a part of it.”

Dr Robert Hales, Director of the Griffith Center for Sustainable Enterprise and a former Honorary Research Fellow at Plymouth’s Sustainable Earth Institute, is the conference convenor. He added: “This conference is a significant milestone in the history of the Gold Coast and we are excited to have Dr Borne as one of the headline speakers. His work has emerged as seminal in highlighting the relationship between sustainability and surfing, and will be a valuable addition to the conference.”

The conference will also coincide with the publication of Dr Borne’s second book focusing on the relationship between sustainability and surfing. Sustainable Surfing, published by Routledge, is co-edited by Dr Jess Ponting, Director of the Center for Surf Research at San Diego State University.

It draws upon cutting edge theory and research to present multidisciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches on the social, environmental and economic components of sustainable surfing. And it includes contributions from some of the world’s foremost figures providing discussions that bridge the gap between theory and practice, exploring topics such as sustainable surf tourism, surf-econometrics, surf activism, governance, the surfing industry and technological advancements.