The sector is the third biggest producer of renewable energy in Australia yet is poorly understood by the community, stakeholders, investors and government. People don't know what bioenergy is, what it does or why it should matter to them.

Utilising an interactive workshop format, the CEC will shed some light on the number one barrier facing bioenergy in Australia. The focus will be on branding, stakeholder engagement and creating a communication strategy that will put bioenergy, in all its forms, on the agenda.

We can begin to overcome many of the barriers bioenergy faces today with this critical first step.

Facilitating this workshop is Matt Perry from Republic of Everyone.

Republic of Everyone is a team of sustainability strategists and communicators. Famous for creating the Gruen Nation campaign for the Greens, the Garage Sale Trail and the recent Say Yes campaign featuring Cate Blanchett, Republic of Everyone specialises in simplifying the complex world of sustainability so that it can be explained to a mainstream audience.

Matt Perry is a former advertising strategist for some of the world's biggest brands in London, New York, Sydney and Melbourne. He co-founded Republic of Everyone in 2007.

Steve Schuck, Manager, Bioenergy Australia will also be discussing the engagement of CPR Sustainability to assist in the development of Bioenergy Australia's new communications plan. Steve will cover the drivers for the new communications plan, the scope of work, methodology, progress and implementation. The plan is intended to raise the profile of bioenergy.

Liz Hobman, Social Scientist, CSIRO will be discussing the results of a national internet survey that was conducted in July 2011 to investigate current knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of a random sample of the Australian public towards bioenergy (and a range of other energy technologies) and their beliefs in climate change.

The survey is part of CSIRO's Energy Transformed Flagship that has been conducting research to understand public perceptions of low-emission energy sources and related technologies.

Date: Thursday 23 February 2012
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Cost: $200 inc GST for members and $300 inc GST for non-members
Venue: KPMG
10 Shelley Street
Sydney