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Editorial: Conferences, information and the rapidly growing need for effective trans-disciplinary approaches

In 1987 levels of interest and concern in the management of natural resources in the agricultural landscape of Victoria, Australia were high in government and the community. The result of this critical mass of interest was a partnership between the Victorian Farmers Federation and the Victorian Government which saw the creation of Landcare (Ewing, 1996). Since that time Landcare, as both a community-based movement and government program, has grown steadily from Victoria into all other states of Australia and now exists in a number of other countries. One of the qualities of Landcare in Australia is the importance placed on the communication of new ideas in conservation and natural resource management. Landcare, through local communities, regional bodies or state and national government programs, often sponsors information and education events that range in scale from local workshops through to international conferences. The papers presented in this special issue of Landscape Research are mainly drawn from papers presented at ‘Landscapes, Lifestyles and Livelihoods’, the third international Landcare conference. This important event held in Melbourne, Australia, in October 2006, was attended by over 2000 people. It represented a healthy mix of landholders, researchers and policy-makers. Conferences, particularly international conferences such as ‘Landscapes, Lifestyles and Livelihoods 2006’ can be under-valued and under-utilised as opportunities for the landscape disciplines to talk across the divides of language and institutional separation. A well-planned conference allows a level of quality in the exchange of ideas and knowledge—a quality that is often only possible through face-to-face discussions between professionals. As the calls grow, particularly under the mounting imperatives of a changing climate, for effective trans-disciplinary approaches to understanding land, water and biodiversity (for example, see Fox et al., 2006; Quinlan & Scogings, 2004) it is the wisely designed regional or international conference that provides the two or three day temporary ‘safe house’ in