Stories

Ten years of desert knowledge

Nov 05, 2018

Services: Desert Knowledge Precinct, DKA Solar Centre

The Desert Knowledge Precinct celebrates its 10th anniversary in style

2018 marks the 10th anniver­sary of the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct and the Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia Solar Cen­tre (DKASC). Locat­ed on 73 hectares of beau­ti­ful Arrernte land, the Precinct is home to part­ner organ­i­sa­tions Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia (DKA), Batch­e­lor Insti­tute of Indige­nous Ter­i­tary Edu­ca­tion (BIITE) and the Cen­tre for Appro­pri­ate Tech­nol­o­gy (CfAT.)

As the land­lord of the Precinct, DKA devel­ops the prop­er­ty and leas­es space to oth­er organ­i­sa­tions. In 2018, Ter­ri­to­ry Nat­ur­al Resource Man­age­ment, Region­al Arts Aus­tralia, Desert Sup­port Ser­vices, Tan­gen­tyere Coun­cils Land and Learn­ing Pro­gram, Indige­nous Busi­ness Aus­tralia, Mag­gie Kavanagh Con­sult­ing, Indige­nous Desert Alliance, and NT Friend­ship & Sup­port were all ten­ants on the Precinct. The organ­i­sa­tions on the Precinct work across indus­tries and sec­tors, but have shared val­ues and com­mon goal: mak­ing the desert a bet­ter place to work, learn and live. 

The Precinct forms part of a wider desert knowl­edge net­work, includ­ing neigh­bours Geo­science Aus­tralia, Yirara Col­lege, the Arid Zone Research Insti­tute (AZRI), and Ekisti­ca. DKA engages Ekisti­ca to oper­ate and main­tain the DKASC, locat­ed on the Precinct.

To cel­e­brate the Precinct’s 10th anniver­sary, DKA, the part­ner organ­i­sa­tions, neigh­bours and ten­ants worked togeth­er to host a week of events that engaged with a wide range of stake­hold­ers and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers. The events reaf­firmed rela­tion­ships and cel­e­brat­ed the vision, pur­pose and work of the Precinct’s organisation.

arrow
Magnify Bas

Busi­ness at Sunset

Busi­ness at Sunset

29 Octo­ber 2018 

The cel­e­bra­tions kicked off with DKA’s Busi­ness at Sun­set, co-host­ed with Cham­ber of Com­merce NT. Over 75 mem­bers of the Alice Springs busi­ness com­mu­ni­ty attend­ed the event to net­work and learn more about DKA’s pro­grams and activities. 

Batch­e­lor Insti­tute Library Tour

31 Octo­ber 2018

BIITE held a tour of their library, which was recent­ly gift­ed over 10,000 books by ABC. Although the Batch­e­lor library pri­mar­i­ly serves its staff and stu­dents, mem­ber­ship is open to staff of oth­er Precinct organ­i­sa­tions as well as the Alice Springs community. 

Desert Research Symposium 

1 Novem­ber 2018

The Desert Knowl­edge Research Insti­tute (DKRI) will sup­port exist­ing research and iden­ti­fy new research oppor­tu­ni­ties. As an approved researched insti­tute with DGR sta­tus, it can aus­pice fund­ing for oth­er researchers and organ­i­sa­tions. The DKRI will con­duct research of prac­ti­cal val­ue in the areas of peo­ple, place and knowledge.

The launch of the Desert Knowl­edge Research Insti­tute (DKRI) pre­sent­ed DKA with the oppor­tu­ni­ty to con­sult with the com­mu­ni­ty about gaps in desert research and the role DKRI can play in fill­ing those gaps. The Desert Research Sym­po­sium asked pre­sen­ters and atten­dees, Desert research: has it all been done before?’ 

Pro­fes­sor Rolf Ger­rit­sen (Charles Dar­win Uni­ver­si­ty) and Heron Loban (Grif­fith Law School) gave pre­sen­ta­tions which led to ani­mat­ed dis­cus­sions about the poten­tial future direc­tions of DKRI and tan­gi­ble research topics.


The Desert Research Sym­po­sium launched the Desert Knowl­edge Research Institute

Rays of Impact: 10 Years of the DKA Solar Centre 

2 Novem­ber 2018

The DKA Solar Cen­tre is an inter­na­tion­al­ly renowned gem right in Alice Springs’ back­yard, and the sto­ry of its cre­ation and devel­op­ment is fas­ci­nat­ing. Since Octo­ber 2008, the DKA Solar Cen­tre has gen­er­at­ed more than just solar ener­gy: it has export­ed data and knowl­edge to Aus­tralia and the world. At Rays of Impact, guests gath­ered under the shade of the solar arrays to hear reflec­tions from Lyn­don Frea­son (man­ag­ing direc­tor, Ekisti­ca) and DKA CEO Lau­ren Gan­ley. This event was an unprece­dent­ed oppor­tu­ni­ty to cel­e­brate this icon­ic ini­ti­atve and learn about its glob­al impact, sto­ries of diverse appli­ca­tion and future directions.

Read more about the DKA Solar Cen­tre’s 10th anniver­sary


The Twi­light Festival

Sat­ur­day 3 November

A week of the Precinct’s 10th anniver­sary cel­e­bra­tions cul­mi­nat­ed with the biggest par­ty of them all: the Twi­light Fes­ti­val. From 4pm – 7.30pm, the Irrarnte café and sur­round­ing areas were trans­formed into a vibrant fes­ti­val hub with a friend­ly ambi­ence that impressed the Alice Springs community. 

Sev­en food stalls pro­vid­ed deli­cious cui­sine from all over the world; local musi­cians Ceenah, Johan­na Camp­bell and the Wig­gle of Judas enter­tained more than 2000 peo­ple over the course of the evening. Eleven infor­ma­tion stalls were set up to engage with the pub­lic and pro­vide infor­ma­tion about the organ­i­sa­tions. The chil­dren of Alice Springs enjoyed a wealth of enter­tain­ment, rang­ing from face paint­ing, fairy floss, bal­loon ani­mals, a jump­ing cas­tle, a draw­ing com­pe­ti­tion and water pis­tols to keep the sum­mer heat at bay. 

Other DKA Stories

Our Annual Report: Highlights from the 2023-24 financial year

Nov 28, 2024

From advancing social initiatives to bringing more people to the Desert Knowledge Precinct and sharing transformative energy solutions, it was a big year.

Spotted this Spring: Wildflowers at the Desert Knowledge Precinct

Oct 14, 2024

It's been a beautiful spring at the Desert Knowledge Precinct, our buffel management efforts meaning native wildflowers have been thriving and blanketing the site with colour.

Batchelor Institute celebrates new cohort of graduates

Sept 16, 2024

The Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education's inspiring graduation ceremony took place at the Desert Knowledge Precinct, Mpartnwe (Alice Springs) on Thursday.