Open Space

A Space for Your Ideas

The heart of the day will be a couple of sessions in the afternoon where people work through ideas and generate plans for action with other like-minded souls.

This one will be completely led by the summit participants. We’ll supply the space, a bunch of keen and supportive collaborators, some ideas for how the sessions are to run and what kind of outcomes to expect and you do the rest!

We know that people are bristling with ideas on how to move this part of the world towards a safer climate so we’re asking for you to PUT YOUR IDEAS UP NOW.

Email us with your proposal and we’ll post it on this page for all participants to view before the day.

Ideas so far….

Proposals can also be brought along on the day but forewarning gives you a better chance of drumming up support.

Fuller Details

Climate Justice Hunger Strike

As you are no doubt aware, we are facing a climate emergency. Yet while most Australians are aware that the climate  is an issue, there is only a small section of our society that truly understands the urgency of the situation. And it is this lack of awareness which is arguably the greatest obstacle we face as a movement. If we are to achieve the kind of actions which the climate crisis requires, it seems clear that we must somehow find a way to communicate the urgency and importance of the climate issue to the general public.

This is why I and a small group of activists from around Australia are planning to stage a hunger strike later this year in protest against the government’s inaction on climate change. We believe that this could be a powerful communication to everyday people who are aware of climate change as an issue, but who have not yet realized its importance. Such people, we believe, fully expect to see marches, and blockades, and will likely be relatively unaffected by the news of such actions. After all, green groups have been holding demonstrations and blockades for years, for any number of issues, and so can be quite easily assimilated into a world view which holds climate change to be simply one issue out of many in the world. Yet a hunger strike is something new, which does not easily fit in with such a world view. And it is this, we believe, which gives it an enormous potential for manufacturing a shift in the general public’s perception of the climate issue.

To be effective, this action will need careful planning, and a wide range of support, including media advice and management, IT, medical, logistical, and of course as many participants in the strike as possible. It is still very much in the early planning stages, so if you are interested in becoming involved in any capacity, or simply have any queries or concerns, please attend this open session.

Paul Connor

0400777622

Fostering stronger, wider, and more effective sustainability networks

Are you involved in a local sustainabilty group?

If you are, would you like to see it grow and become not only stronger, but also more connected and effective?

If you’re not, or if there isn’t one in your area, would you like to see how easy, rewarding and essential it is to join or create one?

This open space is targetted at people excactly like you and me. The “They” that everyone talks about. We’ll discuss, share ideas, and help each other to make our community based sustainabilty groups more engaged, more fun, more connected, and of course much more effective.

The Power of Beacon Communities Doing it Themselves

While the ‘make the politicians understand and do it properly’ plan of attack is important, I think we need another plan of attack that is about US and what we can do – not about wanting others to do what they don’t understand.  One that is about taking the decision making ability away from a paralysed federal cabinet and making sustainability a fait accompli.

Educators never work with or design for the lowest common denominator (the people who don’t want to get it). Maybe we could forget all about them and create ecologically effective local communities that educate and inspire others to do the same. Communities that are networked globally.  This is the way the world changes. Margaret Mead said it was the only way the world ever changes.  So did Confucius. Paul Hawken is talking about an environment and social justice movement already existing that is 2 million communities strong in every country, class and system. A movement that IS the coming world.  Good ideas, plans, actions, dreaming and projects can travel quickly through this network creating great leaps of change.  How close are we to a tipping point that leap frogs over unsustainable practices to a sustainable world? How many excelling local communities creating positive ecological, economical and social change do we need to tip the rest of the world over?

Education is powerful. I’m convinced that even if short term politicians stuff this now, we can create the change we need over a slightly longer time frame anyway – the next group of pollies will have no choice but to adopt where we’re at. A sustainable world is a better world on every front. Try running for parliament as a ‘yesterdays unsustainable thinking person/party’ in ten years time when fifty communities around the country are on a short path to carbon negative, economically growing, socially connected and strong communities that are linked to thousands of others internationally.

By communities I mean the people: in every business, school and organisation. Business Groups, community groups, universities, social welfare organisations, health organisations and every other mob in town. This movement is a human scale people movement – the people make up every organisation in town.

This path will also bring all the people who are not politically motivated into the fold. The thinkers, dreamers, planters, greywater installers, strategy writers, planners, networkers, etc, etc, etc

This path guarantees success for our communities because it sets us all up on a positive lifelong journey – How many times have we seen community campaigns come together, rise up, mobilise, win or lose and then disperse? This time we cant have the dispersal. The way we used to live (think Hugh Mackay and his idea of the sleeping, disengaged generation throughout the 90s) is not possible anymore.

The French sociologist Alain Touraine spoke of the days of the revolution being over. He thought that society would now ‘transcend itself through social movements’.

 

Winning

How will we actually win the campaign to restore a safe climate around the world? This workshop will presume the technical mechanisms to transform societies and economies to zero carbon exist or are capable of being developed. The real battle is a political one – how can we get the right decisions made by governments in particular, but also business and the community so these mechanisms are urgently implemented , in the light of massive vested interests to not do so. Janet Rice will share her thoughts that we need four key strategies operating concurrently and synergistically. The strategies are mass community education and mobilisation, winning seats in Councils and Parliaments currently held by the old political parties, working globally, and wedging businesses and unions. Janet’s then really keen to lead a vigorous discussion on these and other ways of winning!

Janet Rice is a former Mayor and Councillor with the City of Maribyrnong and was the driving force behind Maribyrnong’s commitment to go carbon neutral by 2015. She is a founding member of The Greens Victoria and has been active in the party since the year dot. Janet is currently standing for pre-selection as the Greens lead Senate Candidate for Victoria. She’s also working on getting a climate action group in the western suburbs – WeCAN – invigorated and active.

Water and climate change

Our reservoirs are nearly empty. Given that water is so basic, there is very little attention given to the energy that is sued to move water around. Rather than fail to supply water, our governments and authorities will use any amount of energy to pump water through long pipe lines or desalination plants.
All our work on carbon neutrality will be ‘blown out of the water’ if we allow major high energy water supply systems to be the only way we secure our water.
Some high energy [high CO2] projects are in here
the alternative is to [1] get residents and businesses to use less water and [2] to insist on a whole range of small scale and local water supply options as the alternative. Convened by Ian Lillington.