The Workshops.
The workshops at this year's SOS are based around several key themes:
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Monday - from 5pm
Welcome Dinner @ the Marquee
Come to a special welcome shared dinner at the marquee at ANU. Following the dinner we will have a introductory session followed by some icebreakers, fun times and maybe a film screening.
Tuesday – 2pm start
Mainstream and Margin
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-2.50
Jeanette De Foe
This is a workshop about group dynamics and approaches to conflict. Doesn’t sound like much but you might just have a life-changing epiphany during it (the facilitator did the first time she came across these concepts). Recommended for anyone new to concepts of privilege and oppression. A good primer to [all the other anti-oppression workshops at SoS].
Introduction to Campus Divestment
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 2.00-2.50
Isaac Astill and Tom Swann
The movement for fossil fuel divestment is booming around the world, and right here at Australian universities. Join us to learn about the ‘fossil free’ movement and get inspired to join a campus campaign - or start your own. This session is sure to get you fired up, featuring a short history of divestment, case studies from here and afar, and an update on where Australia’s divestment movement is heading.
From Bentley to the Pilliga: Updates on anti-CSG Campaigning
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 2.00-2.50
Bentley is the new poster child of blockade activism in Australia. Opposition to coal seam gas exploration in the Northern Rivers has been growing exponentially over the last few years, with communities and local councils against the development of the industry in the region. So when over 1000 community members blockaded exploration at Bentley, and the NSW Govt threatened to send in 800 police to break it and support Metgasco, it looked all over. But what unfolded instead will go down in folklore...
Introduction to Feminist Theory and Practice
Room: Pot (JD102) – 2.00–3.50
Clo Schofield and Ruby Laginha
So what’s up with gender? Why do we say “feminism” and not “equalism” or “humanism”? How does the societal and institutionalised power of patriarchy affect the lives of wom*n identifying persons and others? How does patriarchy intersect with capitalism? This workshop will focus on how patriarchy affects us, how we can work to circumvent the insidious operation of this sinister structure and how we can avoid reproducing gendered hierarchies within our working, learning and changemaking spaces. We hope to leave this workshop better able to engage in future, more advanced workshops, inspired to destroy sexism, and empowered to be more sensitive to the experiences of those around us.
The Global Food Sovereignty Movement and the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 2.00-3.50
Nick Rose (Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance)
Embracing 300 million + people in 80 countries, Food Sovereignty is very likely the world’s largest social movement. And one of the most radical. It aims to transform the global food system, from one that mainly serves profit needs of corporations, to one that serves human and ecosystem well-being. With the food system responsible for up to 50% of all GHGs and a primary driver of biodiversity loss as well as the obesity pandemic, there is no social or environmental task more urgent. This workshop will explore what Food Sovereignty looks like in Australia and strategies to help it spread more rapidly through our towns and cities. Together we want to reclaim control of the food system. The work starts now!
Uranium, Weapons and Waste: Nuclear In Australia, a mini-plenary
Room: Spoon (HA G040) - 2.00-3.50
This session brings together a collection of people with a collective history of resisting nuclear projects spanning decades and spreading right across Australia. This won’t be a debate on nuclear energy but it will be a discussion about the shape of the nuclear beast; uranium mining, Aboriginal land, radioactive racism, waste dumps, nuclear war and the connections that lie between. Where have we come from and where are we going?
Featuring: update from the campaign that very recently WON to keep Muckaty, NT, free of a radioactive waste dump.
Speakers:
Mitch is an Aranda Luritji woman from Alice Springs who has been opposing radioactive waste dumps in the Northern Territory since the beginning. Mitch has been blowing minds and talking truth at SoS for 8 years.
Sue Wareham is a Canberran doctor working with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Medical Association for Prevention of War to challenge militarism and ongoing horror of nuclear weapons.
Marcus Atkinson has walked all over the world for peace and against the nuclear industry and is currently the nuclear free campaigner for ANAWA (Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia)
Special guest: the 7-year fight of the Muckaty Traditional Owners resisting a radioactive waste dump has very recently been WON! We’re planning a special guest by Skype to hear all about it.
Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes
[N.B. - THIS WORKSHOP HAS BEEN MOVED TO FRIDAY 4PM]
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - Friday 4pm
Mitch
See who holds the power when it comes to people of colour, see why it’s happening and why you let it happen.
Radical Art and Creative Activism - a Facilitated Discussion
The Canvas – 2.00-3.50
Nick Carson and Cat (ASEN)
An introduction to radical art and creative activism followed by an open discussion about the implications of both for the projects, groups, actions and collectives we’re involved in.
Installing an Exhibition: The Final Steps
The Studio - 2.00-3.50
Richilde Flavell + SOS Artists
Half of SOS’s static artworks will be installed in a session on Monday; the other half now, in a participatory session involving the artists themselves.
Tuesday – 3pm start
Introduction to the Science of Climate Change
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 3.00-3.50
If there’s one thing that climate change isn’t, it’s simple. The complexities of our earth systems and the impact that human activity is having upon them are enormous, and understanding these is an important step to knowing how to keep our planet a safe place to be. Come on down to get schooled, in the science.
Community Engagement: A Critical Factor in Your Campaign’s Success or Failure
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 3.00-3.50
Sophia Christoe
Activism often gets a bad rap when its perceived as a bunch of outsiders coming into a community they know nothing about and trying to impose their values on it. There’s a growing shift in Australia back to genuine grassroots campaigns organised by the communities themselves. Let’s discuss recent Australian campaigns and social movements (such as Lock the Gate) that are placing community engagement and development at the centre of their campaign strategy. Why are they proving so successful, and what can we learn from them for our own activism and campaigning?
What is the Australian Student Environment Network? (ASEN)
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 3.00-3.50
ASEN
Wait, was this massive ideas and arts festival entirely organised by volunteers? Holy shit! Come find out who made SOS happen, and what else they’re up to. ASEN is the collective of Environment Collectives: a decentralised network of people from around Australia who collaborate on campaigns for a more socially and environmentally just society. It’s non-hierarchical, anti-oppressive, and awesome. Come find out what it’s like now, because you can be apart of making it what it will be tomorrow.
Tuesday – 4pm start
But What Can I Do? Praxis and You
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 4.00-4.50
Liam Oakwood
Praxis is the process by which ideas become reality. In a world beset by multiple catastrophes competing for our attention, it is easy to become overwhelmed and lose sight of what we can do to make a difference. This workshop will explore the inherent skills and resources of individuals and communities for bringing our visions of the future into the real.
Introduction to Critical Race
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 4.00-5.50
Bridget Harilaou and Justin Pen (Sydney Uni Autonomous Collective Against Racism)
This “Introduction to Critical Race” workshop aims to centre the experiences of people of colour (poc), and share them. It will be an educative space for issues of race and race consciousness. This workshop will examine race and racism as a “cultural construct… with sinister structures and causes” (George Lipsitz). As such, we will also be looking at the “systematic efforts from colonial times to the present to create a possessive investment in whiteness” (George Lipsitz) and how this intersects with gender, class, sexuality, ability, Indigeneity, etc. It will be an interactive space with activities in which White people can identify their own White privilege, and explore how White privilege systemically advantages and disadvantages people in the spaces we move through.
The Fight for Australian Forests: National Campaign Update
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 4.00-5.50
Miranda Gibson (Still Wild, Still Threatened)
This workshop will feature forest activists and campaigners from around Australia, providing an update on what’s happening in our forests, current threats, campaign developments and what you can do to get active and help defend Australia’s native forests.
What does it mean to be an Aboriginal Ally? Potentials and pitfalls
Room: Pot (JD102) – 4.00-5.50
Aboriginal Elders and SOS Organisers
Standing alongside and supporting First Peoples’ struggles in Australia is an important part of environmental and social activism. But what does this look like and how can it be done in a manner that does not perpetuate systems of inequality and marginalisation? Come along and learn what it means to be an Aboriginal Ally.
Caring for Soils and Landscapes with Rotationally Grazed Cattle
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 4.00-4.50
Sam, from Boxgum Grazing
Boxgum Grazing employs Allan Savory’s method of Holistic Management to improve soil health, nourish cattle and people. As such we consider the cattle herd as a large single “mowing -munching–scuffling-trampling-dunging” tool to recycle carbon and invigorate the biology of the soil. They graze an area at high density for a short period of time, a few days at most, before moving on. The pasture is then given time to fully recover before the next grazing. This “pulsing” strategy is tremendously powerful in stimulating biological activity, capturing carbon and shifting the grassland towards perennials and away from annual species and weeds. Come on down to learn more about the theory and practice of caring for landscapes, people and animals.
The Philosophy and Practice of Facilitation
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-5.50
Jeanette De Foe
Sometimes when we’re facilitating it feels like we’re making things up as we go along. But what if we had a set of core values to fall back on that provided a foundation for all our facilitation decisions? This workshop will look at some core principles behind facilitation and explore how they apply to the most challenging facilitation situations we find ourselves in. Come and share your own challenges, skills and experiences with others. A somewhat theoretical, somewhat practical workshop. Come along to this one plus ‘The Nuts and Bolts of Meeting Facilitation’ for basic meeting-facilitation skills.
What are Co-ops? // Co-op Tour
Meet@The Marquee 4.00-5.50
Altin and Regan (Monash Wholefoods and Borderlands Co-op)
We all would like to live in a society that is more democratic, just and sustainable. But what can we do to bring such a society into being? We all know our current economy is unjust and broken. But how do we fix it? This workshop will explore how co-ops can be an answer to these questions. Co-ops are member-owned, democratic organisations that provide housing, sustenance, employment and other services to their members and the wider community. They are the building blocks of a new economy based on solidarity and cooperation instead of profit and greed.
The Nyoongar Tent Embassy and Aboriginal Sovereignty
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - 4.00-5.50
Nicole and Preston Culbong
Nicole and Preston Culbong will discuss the Nyoongar Tent Embassy and its significance in struggles for Aboriginal Sovereignty.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP I]
The Canvas – 4.00-5.50
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshop series (running over several days) will culminate in an interactive performance on the final day. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Environmental Communication through Artistic Practice
The Studio - 4.00-4.50
Come with a willingness to observe, to be ready to wander, and to take a shared journey responding to the inspiration that surrounds us. Suitable for beginners to advanced practitioners of art and life.
Tuesday – 5pm start
Introduction to Capitalism and Ecology
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 5.00-5.50
Clo Schofield and Tim Boston (ASEN)
Is our economic and social system in the process of destroying itself? Yes. Not just the emissions of certain companies or fuel sources, nor just our ‘Western lifestyles’ are to blame, but the fundamental organisational imperatives of the entire system. Sorry, but once we realise this, we can get on with fixing things.
In this workshop we’ll look at the history and emergence of capitalism, and investigate what exactly lies at the root of today’s crisis. Designed for people who have never thought about this before, but are curious!
Saving the Planet: The Solutions to Climate Change
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 5.00-5.50
Adrian Whitehead (Save the Planet)
We are currently on track for catastrophic climate change which if not reversed, will result in human civilisation being brought to its knees and 90% of the world’s species will going extinct. However we can still avoid this future if we act soon. This workshop explores the technical and social realities of an emergency speed transition to a negative emissions economy. Key background information for any climate activist or person wanting to Save this Planet.
Life Drawing [WORKSHOP I]
The Studio – 5.00-5.50
Jackson Gable
Need a break? Try something new and join us for a fun and relaxing, untutored Life Drawing session! Open to everyone and perfect for complete beginners and enthusiasts alike this session will be a calming and accessible way to take some time out and explore your creative focus. We will be drawing a nude model so please come on time as doors will be closed while modelling is underway.
Wednesday – 11.30am start
Intro to Queering Gender and Sexuality
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 11.30-12.30
USyd Non-cis Male Queer Collective
Continuing on from the question of “What even is gender?” tackled in yesterday’s Intro to Feminism, in this workshop we will explore notions of a spectrum of gender and sexuality, discuss why it is that folk who transgress heteronormativity or binary gender roles are socially, economically and physically disciplined, and think about ways to ensure that our spaces are as free from discrimination against the gender and sexuality diverse as we can make them. Please come along if these are ideas that you are interested in and less familiar with than you’d like to be! Educating each other is a vital part of creating the change we want to see in the world.
What’s Wrong with the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Intellectual Property, the Environment, and Climate Change
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 11.30-12.30
Dr Matthew Rimmer (ANU College of Law)
This presentation will consider the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a secret trade agreement, spanning a dozen countries in the Pacific Rim, and covering a score of subjects. This talk will highlight the Intellectual Property chapter leaked by WikiLeaks. It will examine how resource companies have used investor-state dispute settlement to challenge regulations in respect of the environment, biodiversity, and clean energy. The talk will also examine the Environment Chapter revealed by WikiLeaks. It will discuss the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership upon environmental governance.
Participatory Dialogues about Food Systems and Non-Human Animals
Session I: Animals, Landscapes and Capitalism
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 11.30-12.30
SOS Organisers (feat. Javed de Costa)
Decisions about catering at SOS this year have been difficult and controversial. Like all food choices, they brought us into relation with landscapes, non-human and human animals, via the ecological processes which sustain all three. All of these organisms are under threat from their subjection to the strange logic of capital accumulation. Without a doubt, the unconscionable suffering of animals in the meat and dairy industries is the most violent and shocking symptom of this problem. But can cutting animal products from our diets solve everything? What might healthy, sustainable agro-ecologies actually look like, and can consumers qua consumers bring them about? How can we imagine crossing dietary divides and working together, not just with each other, but with other species, even with soil? Come along to discuss these complex questions, with an open mind and respectful voice.
Coal Campaigning 101
Room: Pot (JD102) – 11.30-12.30
Sonya Duus and Josh Creaser (ANU Fenner School)
Join Sonya and Josh in a discussion circle to explore the history of campaigns against coal, contemporary campaigns and the intersections between various stakeholders and interests. We will look at the financial viability of current projects and particularly will look at the significance of the Maules Creek and Galilee campaigns.
The Nuts and Bolts of Facilitation
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 11.30-12.30
Jeanette De Foe
“Who wants to facilitate?” someone asks and everyone looks awkwardly round the room... If this scene is all too familiar, this workshop is for you! This workshop will get down to basics of how to facilitate meetings well. What are the key skills we need to learn? How can we prepare for the unexpected and guide groups through tough decisions? A short and snappy workshop. For a more in-depth look at facilitation, as well as a chance to practice those skills, come along to ‘The Philosophy and Practice of Facilitation’.
Colonisation and Exploitation: Two Historical Versions of the Same Project
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 11.30-12.30
Rebeca Furtado de Melo & Valentin Arechaga
The workshop will be delivered by a Postgraduate student in Philosophy from Brazil and a architect from Argentina. It attempts discuss some of the aspects of the colonization comparing the reality of South America with Australian one. Once in South America we had a similar historical “invasion and total disregarding” to the people that already lived there it claims that some comparative approach could help to understanding better what means to this countries theirs colonization history. It claims that we should understand many of ours current social-economic-racial problems from a holistic perspective that recognize the colonization project as a project of exploitation of the Land (and the Earth/environment) and the people. It will be supported using some theoretic insights from Fanon and Sartre. It expects to discuss yet what means sustainable architecture regarding different cultural and socio-economic realities.
Protest Choir Practice
Meet @ the Marquee - 11.30-12.30
Come along this fine morning and learn to sing out against social injustice! We’ll be holding a few practice sessions with the choir, learnings songs of protest old and new, and on Saturday night, we’ll perform what we’ve learned at the SoS Afterparty!
West Papua Flag Raising Ceremony
Aboriginal Tent Embassy - 9.00-11.00
Stand in solidarity with the peoples of West Papua who are undergoing violent repression at the hands of Indonesian forces by raising the Morning Star flag at the Tent Embassy.
...and from 11.30 at ANU First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - Introduction to campaigning for West Papua:
A presentation on campaigning to free West Papua by Anthony Craig DLP Lithgow and West Papuan representatives.
Wednesday – 2pm start
Smashing Girl-Hate in Alternative Communities
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-2.50
Stono River Caves (DEQY)
Girl-hate thrives in tight-knit communities that can sometimes be ignorant to their own in-built social hierarchies. This talk will shed light on how sometimes internalised misogyny can be insidious and hard to identify within progressive circles and why it is dangerous to permit this kind of behaviour. More importantly, we will discuss ways in which girl-hate can be abolished to make way for more inclusive spaces.
The Fossil Fuel Resistance
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 2.00-2.50
Dr Matthew Rimmer (ANU College of Law)
Dr Matthew Rimmer will discuss international debates over civil disobedience, identity correction, hoaxes, impersonation, climate activism and culture-jamming. This presentation will discuss Bill McKibben, 350.org, civil disobedience and the fossil fuel resistance. The talk will also examine Greenpeace’s creative confrontations; the battle between The Yes Men and the US Chamber of Commerce; the litigation by the Koch Bros against the Youth for Climate Truth; the imprisonment of Bidder 70; and the case of ASIC and Jonathan Moylan.
The Importance of Empathy for Social Change
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 2.00-2.50
Heather Hill (QUT)
Research has shown that empathy fosters people’s participation in social change (Loeb, 1999), promotes social cooperation (Singer & Steinbeis, 2009), and increases civic involvement (Astin, 2000). This workshop hopes to discuss the implications of instilling empathy in the political, social and environmental areas with the group, as well as run exercises that will build participant’s empathy.
Media and writing a press release: with the Maules Creek Media Team
Room: Pot (JD102) - 2.00-2.50
Helen War
Dealing with media can be tricky, but knowing what to expect and how to best write media releases makes activists more well-equipped to spread the message of a campaign. An important skill to have, we’ll workshop writing a media release, how best to speak to media and deal with “curve ball” questions, and if there’s time, touch on social media strategy.
Including:
- Process of writing a release, when to send it out, who to call, what to expect
- Speaking with media, interviews - Workshop in small groups to write a press release
- Social media and the best portals to use; what posts gain traction, etc.
There is no Environment: Critical Perspectives on Nature and the Anthropocene
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 2.00-3.50
Louis Klee and Tim Boston
The ‘Anthropocene’ is a geological periodisation that describes the present epoch - an epoch in which the benevolent climatic conditions of the Holocene have come to an end and in which humanity has become a geological force on the planet. The Anthropocene is troubling and compelling metaphor because it demonstrates how the history of human industry has become intertwined with the geological history of the planet, thus placing many of our traditional notions of agency, history, humanity and nature into crisis. Yet to what does this ‘Anthropos’ refer? Is the great mass of humanity the cause of this crisis, or its victim? Are we part of the very ecological systems that are falling to pieces? Answering these questions will not just help us to understand where this crazy world came from; this point, of course, is to change it.
Strategy to Save the Planet: Deep Green Resistance
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 2.00-2.50
Kim Hill (Deep Green Resistance)
The modern environmental movement has existed for over 50 years, yet the biosphere continues to decline rapidly. 200 species a day become extinct, and 99% of old growth forests are already gone. A movement to stop the destruction of the planet needs to do better than sign petitions, make banners and recycle. It needs to be strategic, and organised, and we need to win, not just make our voices heard. Deep Green Resistance is a strategy to stop the destruction, using tactics that are decisive, rather than symbolic. We’ll discuss of how the industrial system works, identify its weaknesses, and plan what we can all do to defend the planet that is our home.
Excursion: Tree Climbing!
Meet @ The Marquee 2.00-3.50
Learn basic climbing skills and hang out with some of the greats of the Australian forests movement, including Miranda Gibson, who lived in a treesit in Tasmania for more than a year, as well as a whole host of other amazing climbers and activists. Note: This event is an excursion which will take place off campus, on public land. All participants get involved at their own risk.
Aboriginal Women’s Business
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) – 2.00-3.50
Tjanara Goreng Goreng (Foundation for Indigenous Recovery and Development)
Inviting all women to share, learn and enjoy culture, Law, dance, song and ceremony in this Women’s Business workshop. Tjanara is a Songwoman, ngunkari and teacher of culture Law and facilitator of ceremonies for those wishing to engage in learning and experiencing Aboriginal Law, culture and heritage. For women only we will dance, sing, talk, share, make a special ceremonial band and have a smoking ceremony and cultural bestowal ceremony for women.
Nyoongar Cultural Heritage and Preservation
The Canvas - 2.00-3.50
Marianne Mackay
A big, collaborative art project. Everyone can paint something significant from the area that they come from, whether they are aboriginal or not!
Radical Art - A Hands-On Skillshare
The Studio - 2.00-3.50
Do Your Own Screenprinting, Graffiti, Stencils, Patches, Banners, Flags and Everything in Between!!
Wednesday – 3pm start
The Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association – Fighting Government Corruption and Big Mining
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 3.00-3.50
The tiny town of Bulga in the Hunter Valley has been standing up to big coal and has been winning. Hear the story of how the local community took on Rio Tinto’s plans to expand its Warkworth Mine and led to the first decision ever made to reject a NSW Govt approval for a mine. The courage of the Bulga Milbrodale’s court case has also paved the way for other communities to take their struggles to court across Australia against big coal.
Confronting Sexism as Profeminists
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 3.00-3.50
Liam Culbertson
An introduction for male-identifying people who would like to learn about and discuss what sexism and patriarchy are, how we may incidentally be perpetuating them and how we can challenge them as allies to an autonomous feminist movement.
Environmental Discourses Informing our Campaigning
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 3.00-3.50
Amelie Mareva (ASEN)
Movements with ‘environmentalism’, whether intended or not, are framed according to values, theories change and foregrounded messages. As seen through a recent history of environment discourses, from survivalism to economic rationalism, and from deep ecology to environmental justice, how groups frame their movement is integral to which allies are given space for inclusion, and who is omitted. Are the messages strategic or convoluted? Have they shifted through time? And to what success? Which aspects do we agree with, and which would we endeavour to overcome in our activism? This workshop is two-fold. Firstly I’d like to tease out some theory behind this discursive history, linking its origins with contemporary Australian examples. Finally, we will practically apply some of these concepts to framing our own campaigns in order to build the movement we wish to see.
Time, for a Democratic Society
Room: Pot (JD102) – 3.00-3.50
Rory Knight
A presentation and discussion on using time as part of a system for democratic distribution of labour, power and wealth.
Nature Conservation in the Climate Change Era
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-4.50
Serra Hancock and John Sneddon (The Wilderness Society)
In an era where the impacts of climate change are undeniable we must take a new approach to the conservation of nature. The Wilderness Society have been protecting Australia’s natural environment for almost 40 years, however with the increasingly destructive forces of climate change The Wilderness Society are changing the way we conserve our natural environment. The Wilderness Society calls Australia to keep our fossil fuels in the ground, through movement building, blockades, shareholder activism, divestment and community mobilisation. We are at a critical point in history to start shaping a new story for our country and our impact on global climate change.
Wednesday – 4pm start
How do we Live with Ourselves?
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 4.00-4.50
Phil Harrington (pitt&sherry)
Phil has been climate policy advisor, manager, consultant and activist for 28 years. Over this time the planet has gone from ‘we can make it if we try’ to ‘too little too late’. Tens of thousands of species are already doomed for extinction, and yet the world clings desperately to the fossil fuel development model. At some level, awareness of the deep unsustainability of the economic system that supports our lifestyles is what drives all climate change denial - we know and yet fear to know the truth - denial is easier for most to live with. Drawing on eco-spiritual and psychological literature and his own life experience, in this workshop Phil will invite the participants to explore the question ‘How do we live with ourselves?’ not as rhetoric, but in terms of shared stories of individual and communal practice. What practices, thought-patterns and strategies can and do provide us with the hope and resilience that we need to continue our work? The aim is a practical one - to sustain the planet, we first have to sustain ourselves.
Biosensitivity, fairness and a Just Transition for social change
Whisk (HA G052) – 4.00-5.50
Catherine Gross (Frank Fenner Foundation)
In a (future) biosensitive society, human communities understand their origins in nature, their place in the environment, and the imperative for human decisions and actions to consider both the health of the environment and the health of humans. But how do we get there? This workshop proposes a framework that brings together the idea of biosensitivity, key principles of fairness, and the concept of a Just Transition. We discuss how these can be incorporated into activities such as environmental movements, government policies and philanthropic goals.
Where’s my Hoverboard? Opportunities and limitations in science for creating social and environmental change
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 4.00-4.50
Jason Ray (ASEN)
Vaccinations, genetic modification, fluoride in water, chem trails, climate change. What do all these things have in common? For better or worse they are areas of scientific and public contention. Some more than others have and are changing the fundamental fabric of society and even the planet. What happens when research findings are poorly communicated or co-opted? Can there ever be pure and objective science or is it a process which is intrinsically linked to social and economic activity? Who actually benefits from scientific research? Can science be ethical? Can science save humans and the planet as we know it?
Tofu Is Not Vegetarian II – Zine Launch
Room: Pot (JD102) – 4.00-5.50
Jeanette De Foe
If you were at SoS in 2011 you might be familiar with a zine called ‘Tofu is Not Vegetarian’. It was a critique of veganism and vegan culture in activist spaces that was largely based on the experiences of “Azn omnivore, Jeanette De Foe”. From the many conversations that we have had since that first zine comes ‘Tofu is Not Vegetarian: Volume 2’. This second zine is a collaborative effort between a bunch of people involved in activism and is an in-depth exploration of the philosophies, cultures, environmental impact, and health considerations surrounding food choices.
Sobriety for Radical Non-Sober Folks
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) - 4.00-4.50
Nick Carson
For those who are curious about hearing or sharing ideas around sobriety and how it relates to different folks’ experiences of the world we live in.
Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-4.50
Kim Hill (Deep Green Resistance)
Renewable energy is claimed to be a solution to climate change, yet is entirely dependent on mining, fossil fuels and a global industrial system. Production of wind turbines and solar panels requires land clearing, causes greenhouse gas emissions, and air and water pollution, and they often end up as toxic waste in landfill. An exploration of the environmental, social and economic impacts of wind and solar power.
Diversity and Working in Solidarity
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - 4.00-5.50
Millie Telford
Key to building a movement is a unified community taking action together. We know that the impacts of climate change are not exclusive to their targets and we know our movement can not be exclusive either. We need to be prepared to step outside our comfort zones, to have the tough conversations and we need to go places that we haven’t been before. This is crucial to our success! This workshop will let you explore the moral as well as strategic importance of working in solidarity amongst communities in Australia(and beyond). Amelia Telford, from Bundjalung country, will also reflect on stories working with and in Indigenous communities through her work supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to take action on climate change with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP II]
The Canvas – 4.00-5.50
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshops will culminate in an interactive performance. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Art and Activism
The Studio, Wednesday 4.00-5.50
Fern York
Stories from the First National Tribal Dance Festival - Khajuraho in India and from Kathmandu, Nepal.
Wednesday – 5pm start
Sustainability and War, from the ANZAC Myth to the Military Industrial Complex
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 5.00-5.50
Connor Drum and Benjo Keaney
A critical look at the environmental impact of militarism, the historical narrative of ANZAC through to the social impact of military production, with a discussion on the possibilities of different activist approaches in the lead up to the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings in 2015.
Eco-Feminism
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 5.00-5.50
Alana West and Basil Byrne
Ecofeminism means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Come along to share, learn about and discuss the various understandings of ecofeminism and how it can help us in our quest for a less anthropogenic and more equal and inclusive society.
Saving the Tarkine
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 5.00-5.50
Scott Jordan (Save the Tarkine)
Save the Tarkine has over the past year challenged the approval of mines in the Tarkine. With two case currently being heard, and the case against the Shree Minerals Nelson Bay River mine being returning a finding that the approval was unlawful and set aside, Save the Tarkine is well placed to discuss the role of litigation as part of a campaign strategy.
Campaigns to Stop the Galilee
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 5.00-5.50
Josh and Sonya
This workshop will discuss the various community, financial and media tactics being used to try and bring the Galilee development to its knees, including:
- landholders opposing the State Development Area
- Lock the Gate’s engagement with landholders, providing information and avenues to become active
- divestment campaigns targeting potential investors
- links with Great Barrier Reef coal port campaigns
- stigmatisation campaigning
- Bimblebox campaign
Towards an Apiarian Lens: Bees and the Challenges of Interdisciplinarity
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 5.00-5.50
Nicholas Mortimer (ANU Apiculture Society)
This workshop aims to bring together a range of perspectives towards the development of an ‘apiarian lens’ – an applied interdisciplinary studies approach to socio-environmental systems. Workshop participants will engage with philosophical, metaphorical, phenomological and practical questions to think about what kind of frameworks are able be constructed, and what different knowledges are produced through a focus on bees.
Thursday – 11.30am start
How can we cool our climate?: Soils
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 11.30-12.30
Walter Jehne (Healthy Soils Australia)
The workshop will discuss the science and implications for communities arising from;
1. Our climate reality and consequences under business as usual in the next decades.
2. Why 50 years of evidence and politics has failed in addressing this imperative.
3. Why our past sole focus on just reducing future greenhouse emissions can’t prevent climate chaos.
4. Why we need critical local community action to build resilience and cool climates.
5. Our sole remaining safe natural option of regenerating bio-systems for doing this.
6. The practical reality and scientific basis of how we can do this if we change current approaches.
7. Plans to Regenerate Australia to extend grass roots community action to buffer and cool climates.
8. The politics of catalysing the needed changes in urban, rural and global communities.
The Politics of Software
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 11.30-12.30
Jeremy Murphy and Basil Byrne
Explore the political landscape of software in this participatory, non-technical workshop that seeks primarily to lift the veil on the nature of software and how it impacts our freedom. We’ll consider how capitalism affects a wide range of aspects of software such as privacy, accessibility and environmental impact. We’ll look at how to apply our existing ethics to something new and unfamiliar like software. Lastly we’ll plan what steps we can take to overcome the capitalist software market.
End Operation Sovereign Murders: Strategies for the Refugee Movement
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 11.30-12.30
ANU and USyd Anti-Racism Collectives
Abbott and Morrison are waging war on refugees. They have already spent over $7.2b expanding their offshore torture camps. They have the blood of Faili Kurdish asylum seeker Reza Berati on their hands. Building a grassroots movement is the only way to win a pro-refugee mandate. The refugee campaign under Howard showed that when refugee supporters mobilise they could shift public opinion and break bipartisan support for refugee bashing by making it an electoral liability. There are student groups across the country committed to building the broader movement outside of parliament that demands humane refugee processing and resettlement. This session will draw on successful strategies from the past and discuss how we can apply these under Abbott to truly tear down the fences and free all refugees.
Mining Watch Melanesia
Room: Pot (JD102) – 11.30-12.30
Dan Jones
Focused on lessons from Panguna mine in Bougainville...also Deep Sea Mining in the Bismark Sea, Ok Tedi, Freeport McMoran at Grasberg West Papua, PNG LNG, Solomon Isands Gold Ridge... also focusing on Indigenous sustainability and development solutions other than mining. includes films, presentation, recruitment and discussion.
Veganism: A Choice for the Future
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 11.30-12.30
Rowena and Jacky (Vegan ACT)
This workshop will explore the ethical, health and societal benefits of a vegan lifestyle and outline the steps that people can take to make the transition to a compassionate lifestyle.
Strategy vs Tactics - Campus Divestment
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) - 11.30-12.30
Tom Swann
What is strategy? What is a tactic? Using campus divestment as an example, this workshop will cover some helpful frameworks for getting clear on your strategy and using it to drive your tactics, not the other way around. We’ll also cover campaign escalation, making the most of moments, power-mapping.
Riff Raff Radical Marching Band
Meet@The Marquee – 11.30-12.30
The Riff Raff Radical Marching Band is an activist band which brings the musical love and rage to rallies, protests, fundraisers, community events and the odd marriage proposal. Come learn about what we do and how you can replicate it on any scale in your hometown. Bring instruments and we’ll teach you how to play our favourite EASY tunes! And by “instruments” we mean anything that makes noise.
Badge Making
The Canvas - 11.30-12.30
Make a badge and stick it to yourself or the system. Your call because you get to make it. Make a badge.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP III]
The Studio – 11.30-12.30
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshops will culminate in an interactive performance. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Thursday – 2.00pm start
Grassroots Action for the Galilee
Plenary Room – 2.00-3.50
Ben Pennings (Generation Alpha)
This workshop will outline the urgent importance of stopping coal mining in Queensland’s Galilee Basin and how grassroots activists can contribute through creative and strategic direct action.
Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan): Eyewitness report on climate catastrophe and resistance
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-2.50
Chris (Green Left Weekly)
Visiting the Philippines last year, activist Tony Iltis witnessed the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) (the strongest storm to make landfall in recorded history), the ineffective response from corrupt government authorities and foreign NGOs and the contrasting grassroots initiatives by Filippino activists of people-to-people solidarity. He also witnessed poor communities in Metro Manila struggle to defend their homes and livelihoods from developers. So far climate catastrophe has mainly affected poor communities in countries that have created the least greenhouse gas emissions. In this multimedia presentation, drawing on material mainly from the Philippines, Iltis will argue that and that it is the David-and-Goliath struggles of these communities against global capitalism that have the potential to save the rest of humanity from the coming apocalypse.
Growing Your Group - Campus Divestment
Room: Whisk (HAG052) - 2.00-2.50
Isaac Astill
Want more people in your campus divestment group? Who doesn’t! Come along and learn how to move someone from apathy to oh-yeah-thy! Run by Bob Brown Young Environmentalist of the Year and poor wordplay extraordinaire, Isaac Astill.
Living Streets Canberra: Why don’t we all walk, cycle or use public transport?
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 2.00-2.50
Leon Arundell (Living Streets Canberra)
We all believe the world would be a better place if fewer people drove cars and more people travelled on foot, by bicycle or by public transport. But most of us continue to travel by car and aeroplane. If we want other people to make more sustainable travel choices, we can start by examining what it would take to convince us to make those same choices. If we understand what influences our choices to drive and fly, we can change those influences, to make it easier for everyone to decide to walk, cycle or use public transport.
Fearless Summer Meeting
Room: Pot (JD102) – 2.00-3.50
Fearless Summer
Everyone is welcome to attend this national meeting of the Fearless Summer network, and get involved in the grassroots movement to defend Australia’s forests. The network was formed at the end of last year during the national forest skillshare. This meeting will be a chance for those already involved and any one interested or curious to get together and talk about what’s happened so far and brainstorm ideas for what we can do this year to build the movement and protect Australia’s native forests.
The Green Bans: Tales of the Movement that Saved Sydney
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 2.00-2.50
With Jack Mundey and Pat Fiske
Seriously, wait for it: you get to sit around in a room and chat with Jack Mundey and Pat Fiske. Jack and Pat were both involved with the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF), a union which in the 1970s actually saved huge parts of Sydney from being cleared for development, including the Sydney Botanic Gardens, which were due to be turned into a carpark, and the historical Rocks area, which would have become a whole lot of high rises. By striking, or putting ‘Green Bans’ on certain projects, these builders and labourers were able to stop developers doing everything from woodchipping in Tasmania to kicking low-income people out of inner-city areas. Jack, who was the secretary of the BLF, is now of a very venerable age, and has made a massive effort to join us in Canberra. This is very likely the last time he’ll appear in public, and you could meet him. He’s a historical figure. Seriously.
Generating Dynamic, Interdisciplinary Outcomes for Sustainable Synergy in a Globalised World
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 2.00-2.50
The PRACCP
In fast-paced globalised markets, innovative and strategic NGOs need to think outside the box. In this workshop, we’ll discuss multi-stakeholder techniques that push the envelope on leveraging sustainability issues.
Excursion: Parkour!
Meet @ the Marquee - 2.00-3.50
Urban Exploring skills. Beginners to advanced welcome. Spots for this course limited to 20. Meet at the Main Marquee. Note: This is an excursion and will take place off ANU’s campus, on public land.
Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - 2.00-3.50
Mitch
See who holds the power when it comes to people of colour, see why it’s happening and why you let it happen.
How to Make Glue and Influence People: Paste-up and Postering Skillshare
The Canvas - 2.00-3.50
Lachlan Type
Home economics for the propagandist. We’ll skillshare poster design, printing on the cheap, glue making and wheatpasting pro tips followed by a practical demonstration for those so inclined. Bringing your own thing-on-which-to-design-posters would be sweet.
Yarn Bombing
The Studio 2.00-3.50
Learn skills from scratch, or enhance and share your crochet and knitting-knowledge with others and start a yarn bombing project to decorate the festival and greater spaces.
Thursday – 3.00pm start
Universities, Corporations and Emerging Technologies
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 3.00-3.50
Jeremy Tager (Friends of the Earth Nanotechnology Project)
A workshop examining how Universities are becoming the engine room for a suite of new technologies that are serving corporate not public interests. We will look at nanotechnology, geoengineering and synthetic biology and the ways in which these technologies are developing, what interests are driving them, how they are regulated (or not), why we should be concerned and what we can and should do about the technologies and the corporate influences that are promoting them.
Campus Divestment: A Space to Network and Share Ideas
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 3.00-3.50
Vicky Fysh (350.org Australia)
If you are already part of a campus divestment campaign or looking to get involved, make a beeline for this workshop! The workshop will be a semi-structured space for folks to meet each other, make plans and figure out ways to collaborate.
Dealing with Spy Infiltration
Room: Sieve (HAG053) - 3.00-3.50
Helen War
A frank discussion of the experience of living and doing actions with corporate spies, and the aftermath of this in camp Wando. Currently a hot topic in the media; we invite questions, and a discussion about moving forward in the Maules Creek campaign after trust is broken.
Masculinities in Activism
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 3.00-3.50
Liam Culbertson
What is hegemonic masculinity? What is patriarchy? How can we as activists challenge oppressive masculinities in a constructive way? What should be the role of male-identifyers in challenging their own behaviours? What would a world without oppressive masculinities look like? Just some of the questions we’ll be discussing…
Inspiring University Gardens: A Communal Workshop + Meet and Greet
Spoon (HA G040) – 3.00-3.50
Jackson Gable (Melbourne Uni Community Garden)
Keen to learn more about gardening or permaculture but can’t seem to find anyone on campus to share enthusiasm with? That is a big sad shame... but your among friends here, let’s do something about it! Come be inspired by stories of success as communal gardeners from newly sprouted university lots across Australia recount how they won their space, and the obstacles they faced along the way. Then join us in the second half for important milling about over tea and cake where we will likely muse together on exciting ideas (or a good therapeutic laugh about cabbage moth) Either way!
Thursday - 4pm Start
Digital and Campaign Strategy
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 4.00-5.50
Glenn Todd (ActionSkills)
This will be a fast paced session without computers or projectors and will run through:
• different areas of digital activism
• why they are valuable in core campaigning
• what you will need to learn to master it
• how to learn the skills without formal education
Glenn has been building websites for over 14 years for groups like Friends of the Earth, Australian Ballet, Bob Brown, Stereosonic, Beyond Zero Emissions, Greens, Quitcoal etc. http://glenntodd.net
Cultivating Empowerment and Change with Food
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 4.00-5.50
Sophia Christoe
Let’s consider food as medium through which radical social transformation can occur. ‘Food’ here is shorthand for the activities and processes of growing, preparing, consuming, sharing and savouring what we eat and drink. We’ll use system thinking to look at food through individual, social, political and ecological lenses. We might talk about: what are the critical elements of food that give it such power? How do we empower people through food? How can we, as activists, use growing, cooking, eating, sharing and enjoying food as seeds to cultivate and spread sustainable values? How can we support empowered individuals in their communities on their social changemaking journeys?
eConvenor: An activist-built web service to help your group be better organised
Room: Sieve (HAG053) - 4.00-4.50
Laura Campbell
Activist groups often struggle to be well organised. Tasks assigned in meetings aren’t done because no one follows up on them. People come to meetings unaware of the background to complex agenda items and it takes valuable meeting time to get them up to speed before the in-depth discussion can begin. Important decisions are forgotten over time because meeting minutes are unclear and stored who-knows-where. Two Melbourne activists have built a free web service called eConvenor which helps with problems like these and makes the work of convening a group less time-consuming. eConvenor produces informative meeting agendas; creates detailed and easy-to-read minutes; tracks tasks assigned to group members and automatically sends reminders to them when their tasks are becoming due or are overdue. Come to this workshop to see it in action and find out how it can help your group be better organised and more effective. eConvenor is at econvenor.org.
Nature in Danger: Grassroots Organising at The Wilderness Society
Room: Pot (JD102) - 4.00-5.50
Kaine Johnson and April Crawford-Smith (TWS)
On April 12 2013 The Wilderness Society joined tens of thousands of Australians in celebrating the victory of the campaign to protect James Price Point. However, in the months to follow we recognised that although this was a momentous win, it was achieved via a mechanism that isn’t capable of challenging threats to our natural world of ever increasing size, scale, and speed. We needed a new way forward, a way to harness what worked in the JPP campaign in a way that would facilitate the large scale protections that are necessary across Australia.In this workshop you will learn about the Wilderness Society’s shift back to a grass-roots based organisation based on empowerment and community organising. This is showcased with an in-depth look at our first campaign devoted to movement building and how we plan to use this movement to bring nature back to where it should be...the first consideration when we - as a nation - consider any political or industrial decision.
Climate Policy Masterclass
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 4.00-5.50
Phil Harrington (pitt&sherry)
This lecture and Q&A style workshop is not for the beginner! It will tackle the hard questions like: Why was carbon pricing such a mess? Which is better - carbon taxes, emissions trading schemes, or direct action...or something else again? What is ‘direct action’ (the Emissions Reduction Fund) and why is it certain to fail? What are the economic and policy myths (not the climate science myths) that hold us back from taking effective action? Why is talk of ‘green and red tape’ so dangerous? While much of this will be ‘tough love’ for politicians of all colours, Phil will also set out - for debate - the broad lines of an optimal climate policy mix for Australia. The workshop will then move into an open discussion on strategies for changing the climate policy debate in Australia and for focusing it on something that matters - like holding a safe operating environment for all species on this planet.
Introduction to Class, Environmentalism and Just Transitions
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-5.50
Anna Boddenberg and Dan Musil
Why are environmental struggles so often framed as battles between wealthier, educated, urban people and working-class people in the mining and forestry industries? A transition away from fossil fuels that doesn’t consider the needs and contribution of people and communities sustained by these industries wouldn’t just be unjust, it probably won’t happen. This workshop will introduce the idea and importance of a Just Transition, and consider what we can do to bring one closer.
Co-op Troubleshooting
Meet@The Marquee – 4.00-5.50
Regan (Monash Wholefoods)
Did you know the wheel has been ‘round for 5,000 years? Puns aside, let’s avoid wheel re-invention and learn from each other’s co-operative experiences. Co-ops share many of the same struggles so let’s shoot our shared troubles down with the power of the collective mind. Please come prepared with some problem if you dare.
Learning about Ngarigu language boundaries, water law and the limits of Native Title
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) – 4.00-5.50
Ellen and Debbie Mundy
Ngarigu women Ellen and Debbie Mundy will discuss their Native Title Claim that uses tribal language boundaries across the Monaro, Snowy Mountain (NSW) and ACT regions. Participants will gain an understanding of the limits of Native Title in addressing the Ngarigu claim. In addition they will discuss the intrinsic relationship of natural law and the importance of adopting traditional practices to ensure sustainable water usage on Ngarigu land in the Snowy Hyrdro region. Facilitated by Michael Anderson
Intro to Song Writing [NOW ON WED 11.30]
The Studio - Wednesday 11.30-12.30
Seb (Cracked Actor)
For beginners or the newly initiated, this workshop covers the basics in song writing. If you’re nervous or haven’t mastered multi-tasking yet, don’t be, come along and learn beside others starting the journey, collaboration encouraged.
Thursday – 5.00pm start
Engaging the Media with Creative Actions
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 5.00-5.50
Ben Pennings (Generation Alpha)
This workshop will allow participants to explore effective strategies for engaging the media through creative activism.
Looking After Yourself as an Activist: Mental Health First Aid
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 5.00-5.50
Eithne Stack
I would like to discuss the issue of activist post traumatic stress and risk of burnout and outline ways to prevent and treat anxiety and post traumatic stress due to involvement in activism. I will outline mental health first aid programmes that have been developed to counsel affected people after major events such as the Melbourne bush fires and after the G8 summit in Scotland in 2005 and ongoing supports for activists.
Life Drawing [WORKSHOP II]
The Studio – 5.00-5.50
Jackson Gable
Need a break? Try something new and join us for a fun and relaxing, untutored Life Drawing session! Open to everyone and perfect for complete beginners and enthusiasts alike this session will be a calming and accessible way to take some time out and explore your creative focus. We will be drawing a nude model so please come on time as doors will be closed while modelling is underway.
Friday - 11.30 start
Destroying Mandatory Detention: Discussing a Diversity of Tactics & Creative Strategy
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 11.30-12.30
Students Thinking Outside Borders
The campaign to end mandatory detention and facilitate the free movement of people without state constraint has been said to have stagnated in the past five years. Rally after rally is held, a speak out, some shouting outside an MP’s office, a rally somewhere else. “Refugee action” is not led by refugees acting, but often majority white citizen groups, which serves to perpetuate the disenfranchised status of folk in immigration detention. This workshop will focus on a diversity of tactics including but not limited to the campaign to boycott, disrupt and dismantle the operations of the Department of Immigration and “Border Protection”.
Ruling for the Rich: Abbott’s Budget and Fighting the 1%
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 11.30-12.30
Solidarity
Abbott’s horror budget hits the most vulnerable hardest through savage cut backs and pushing costs onto the sick, students, disabled and welfare recipients. Yet the “age of entitlement” continues for business, who get a 1.5% tax cut, infrastructure investment and profits from planned privatisations. There is no budget crisis in Australia. Abbott’s cuts don’t even raise significant revenue. This is an ideological budget about shifting costs onto ordinary people and entrenching a ‘user-pays’ system. The Liberals are weak and deeply unpopular. But just returning the ALP to power is no solution. Labor’s own cuts paved the way for Abbott. A grassroots campaign that mobilises people in their workplaces, universities and communities can turn the tide of cuts and strike Abbott out for good.
Amazingness that ASEN has done in 2013/14 (or the ASEN AGM)
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 11.30-12.30
ASEN
Quorum makes the world go round, and so does free chocolate ;) Nah, you know you want to come and join in the very exciting and sexy formal life of your very own student environment network! Hear what’s been going on across all the collectives and feel that warm glow of making your first proposal and twinkling away with the best of em.
Psychology of Social Change
Room: Pot (JD102) – 11.30-12.30
Ollie
Back by popular demand! This workshop draws heavily from the book of the same name by Nick Cooney. With wide ranging applications from personal reflection to global change making, a wealth of psychological conclusions are brought to the fore in the hope of giving you the tools necessary to answer questions like “should I use fear as a motivator?”, “Should I ask people to make big changes all at once, or small incremental ones?” And “How can I best convince people about the importance of environmental issues?”
Foonance, Budgets for Beginners
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 11.30-12.30
Nicholas Foon
Ever wondered why there are no volunteers for the managing the funds of your campaigns? Do you understand what a budget is or how to construct one? Wanna know where to get money from? Come face to face with budget basics and be able to be the one to put there hand up next time a new campaign comes around. Everyone welcome, aimed at the keen beans who would like to start counting beans!
Consensus Decision Making 102
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 11.30-12.30
Adrian Whitehead (Grey Cliffs Permaculture)
Normal group decision making can be highly dysfunctional, dominated by egos, hidden agendas and corrupt processes. Consensus decision making is a system of decision making designed to solve many of the problems while producing outcomes the have support of the entire group. This workshop explores how to run a consensus decision process and discusses it strengths and weaknesses. A model is proposed that creates a robust but inclusive system of consensus decision making. Presented by Adrian Whitehead who has over 20 years experience working in consensus groups.
Protest Choir Practice
Meet @ The Marquee - 11.30-12.30
Come along this fine morning and learn to sing out against social injustice! We’ll be holding a few practice sessions with the choir, learnings songs of protest old and new, and on Saturday night, we’ll perform what we’ve learned at the SoS Afterparty!
Black Mountain Heritage Walk [STARTS AT LUNCH]
Meet: First People’s Space – 1.00-4.00
Tyronne Bell and Euroka Gilbert
Black Mountain Heritage Walk
Meet: 1.00 – 4.00pm (starts during lunchtime)
Starting Point: First Peoples’ Tent ANU.
Pre walk talk: Local custodian Tyronne Bell will show Aboriginal artefacts found in the ACT region.
Euroka Gilbert will also brief participants on the ACT Heritage Act and the work being done to conserve significant heritage sites and objects throughout the region.
Local custodian Tyronne Bell will lead a walk on Black Mountain sharing his knowledge and connection to the area.
What to bring: Water, sun protection, sturdy walking shoes, comfortable warm clothing and rain protection.
Difficulty of walk: Generally an easy walk with some steep sections.
Limited number of participants: 50 max
Donation to be paid on the day: $5.00
To sign up: Please use the “Sign up sheet” at the registration desk at the Tent Embassy.
Friday – 2.00pm start
Chilean student campaigns, performance arts and ideas for Australian students
Plenary Room 2 (COP T) - 2.00-3.50
Ray Polglaze
Chilean students have mounted some of the most effective student campaigns in recent years with protests by hundreds of thousands of students in 2006, 2011 and again this year. They have changed the political direction of Chile with a return to free higher education and rejection of the HidroAysen project. Their campaigns have used strong student unions, coalition building, performance arts (puppets, street theatre, dancing, music, singing, humour and flash mobs), social media, and persuasive media talent. This workshop will use videos to show the look, sound and feel of Chilean student campaigns to suggest ideas for Australian students.
GetUp’s Save the Reef Campaign
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-2.50
Michael Poland and Sam Register
Millions of cubic metres of sea floor is being removed from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area right now. It’s the largest dredging project ever undertaken in Australia, making way for massive new coal seam gas export facilities. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world and is recognised as a global treasure, due to the amazing biodiversity which it sustains and it’s unparalleled beauty. In the past 6 months (the first stage of dredging) there has been a steep increase in deaths of endangered marine wildlife - 6 dolphins, 10 dugongs and 231 turtles have washed up dead near Gladstone on the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian government failed to inform UNESCO of the approval of the gas facilities in the Great Barrier Reef WHA. Learn what GetUp and others are doing to Save the Reef.
The Science of Campaigning
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 2.00-3.50
Joel Dignam (ACT Greens)
Want to know what campaign tactics are effective? What changes attitudes? What influences behaviour? Good news: science. This workshop will combine findings from US field experiments of mobilisation tactics, Australian canvassing campaigns, and the areas of psychology and behavioural economics. We’ll discuss how this research can be applied to a range of initiatives: from winning elections, to divesting your university.
Intentional Honest Relationships, or Polyamoury:
A Facilitated Discussion
Room: Sieve (HAG053) - 2.00-2.50
Why is a workshop about relationships in a conference about sustainability? Relationships underpin everything we do in the world, and are often defined by social norms and expectations that are part of broader systems of inequality and oppression. Explore alternative relationships models (focusing on Polyamoury) in this facilitated discussion.
Theories of Change
Room: Pot (JD102) – 2.00-3.50
Nicky Ison
A theory of change is based on an analysis of what we see the problems in the world as being, a dream of who the world could be different and then creating a map of how to actually change the world from the world we have to the world we want to see.This workshop is essential for all activists; it will explore the theories and ideas that underpin our actions and practice as individual activists and support you to develop your own praxis or articulated theory of change.
Legal Solidarity and Support: Developing Strategies
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) 2.00-3.50
Wenny Theresia and Nicola Paris
Why is legal solidarity important? What does it mean to have a culture of legal preparation and support? Drawing upon examples of legal strategies in Australia and overseas, come along to this workshop to discuss and build strategies for legal support in our collectives and movements.
Experiences of Capitalism
Spoon (HA G040) 2.00-2.50
Capitalism and colonialism seem like distant, theoretical constructions, but they intervene in our daily lives in far reaching and insidious ways. In this workshop we will reflect and discuss how capitalism and its institutions manifest themselves in our experiences, and then end with a discussion about how to confront or subvert these incursions. This approach is based on a belief that theory about the world has to stay in constant conversation with lived experience, because it makes our theories better and because better analysis helps us in our many struggles.
Organic Gardening with Brett and Ish // Excurions: Tree Climbing!!
Meet @ The Marquee – 2.00-3.50
Two fun options for you this afternoon:
Organic Gardening: Come join us for an afternoon in ANU’s beautiful organic garden. We’ll be running a skill share covering the basics of organic gardening including composting, pest control and crop rotation. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner to gardening or an expert, please come along to learn and share. We’ll also be looking for helping hands to get some bigger garden jobs done, so if you feel like getting some physical activity and contributing to a sustainability project here in Canberra, please join us! Pizza from our on-site wood-fired pizza oven will be provided for afternoon tea.
OR
Tree Climbing: Learn basic climbing skills and hang out with some of the greats of the Australian forests movement, including Miranda Gibson, who lived in a treesit in Tasmania for more than a year, as well as a whole host of other amazing climbers and activists. Note: This event is an excursion which will take place off campus, on public land. All participants get involved at their own risk.
Reimagining Public Space with Guerilla Poetry
The Canvas - 2.00-3.50
In this workshop, we will explore the mysterious art of guerrilla poetry. No guerrilla or poetry experience necessary! Come on down, grab a cookie, sift through a pile of poems, and pick out your favorite. Learn some new methods of engaging your art or activism in a public space. Plenty of poems and supplies will be provided, but feel free to bring along any favorites of your own! You should leave this workshop with everything you need for your next guerrilla art adventure, be it poetry, knitting, gardening, zine, or small plastic dinosaur-based.
Friday – 3.00pm start
Non-Violent Direct Action Hands-On How-To and Skillshare
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 3.00-5.50
Nicola Paris
How can we use smart, creative direct action, and mass civil disobedience to challenge the status quo? Learn skills to build on the success of the growing student movement. This interactive workshop will talk inspiring case studies, and emotional and physical preparation for nonviolent direct actions and give participants tips about organising, the roles that are useful to support your action, physical tactics, basic legal rights and more. With experienced facilitator and trainer, Nicola Paris, from CounterAct which was founded to train, and support direct action across the country.
Sustainable Activism
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 3.00-3.50
Basil Byrne and Crunch
The work we’re doing is super essential, but it’s easy to get sucked into that land of constant action and work, and not leave enough time for self-care, fun and actual enjoyment of life. Explore some useful tactics to ensure your activism also supports you, and learn to not wear burnout as a badge of pride!
Organising to Stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 3.00-3.50
Charlie Wood
A facilitated, organising space for developing campaigns to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership!
Friday – 4.00pm start
Conflict over Coal: A Choose Your Own
Adventure Role Play
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 4.00-5.50
Jason Ray
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to protest at a power station built upon several generations of coal miners? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in that town and have a bunch of strangers telling you your job is unsustainable and hurting your children? Have you ever wanted to be a coal mining magnate or a slimy politician? Then come along for a fun role play and discussion on the different stakeholders in the fossil fuel extraction chain and how we can perhaps build a broader opposition to it!
Participatory Dialogues about Food Systems and Non-Human Animals
Session 2: Class, Race and Veganism
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 4.00-4.50
Javed de Costa (Institute for Critical Animal Studies)
An open discussion about the intersections of animal-free practices and vegetarianism/ veganism, privilege, and cultural difference. How might we understand these practices in light of their place within cultural contexts and class structures? Is veganism elitist? Can vegetarianism be racist? How might we better reconceive environmentally-motivated veganism in relation to class and race struggles? This discussion will also include a critical analysis of ‘postvegan’ positions – including ways these critiques can be both useful and problematic.
What Am I Doing with My Life?
Room: Pot (JD102) – 4.00-5.50
Regan Bleechmore
So, what, you’re gonna be an activist, like, forever? Where’s that uni degree of yours gonna land ya? When are ya gonna make enough cash to buy the house and settle down with 2.5 kids? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?! This collaborative ZINE WRITING affair will put the pen in your hand to give words of support to ratbags like yerself. By emphatically rejecting the status-seeking ladder-climbing greed carnival of consumerism, we can live courageously unconventional lifestyles driven by compassion and desire. It’s nice to remind ourselves how and why it’s not only possible - it’s the only way to live.
Education Equity Alliance: Building a Pluralistic, Broad-Based National Movement for a Fair Education System
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 4.00-5.50
Demanding that cuts be stopped, or even deregulation rolled back, doesn’t seem to be enough anymore. How can we build a united, but diverse, national grassroots network to coordinate action across multiple social strata for the re-valorisation of quality public education in Australia? The movement will start here. Get on board.
Mining the Truth Roadtrips – Organising Session
Spoon (HA GO40) - 4:00-5:50
Alana West (ASEN)
Discussion and planning session for ASEN’s ‘Mining the Truth’ Roadtrips in 2014.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP IV]
The Canvas – 4.00-5.50
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshops will culminate in an interactive performance. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Upcycling!
The Studio - 4.00-4.50
Learn how to make a nifty little wallet using recycled tetrapak cartons! Great for older kids (10+) and anyone else.
Friday – 5.00pm start
Former ASEN Convenors: Where are they now?
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 5.00-5.50
Holly Creenaune Nicky Ison and Wenny Theresia
Holly Creenaune, Nicky Ison and Wenny Theresia were around in the early days of ASEN, and have gone on to do diverse and fantastic things. Where have their ASEN experiences led them? What are they up to now? What opportunities and challenges does the future hold? An informal panel discussion and story time.
Life Drawing [WORKSHOP IV]
The Studio – 5.00-5.50
Jackson Gable
Need a break? Try something new and join us for a fun and relaxing, untutored Life Drawing session! Open to everyone and perfect for complete beginners and enthusiasts alike this session will be a calming and accessible way to take some time out and explore your creative focus. We will be drawing a nude model so please come on time, as doors will be closed while modelling is underway.
Saturday – 11.30am start
Ecological Crisis, Geo-Engineering,
Social Movements and the Future
Plenary Room 1 (MCC T1) – 11.30-12.30
Clive Hamilton (Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics)
Clive Hamilton is a really big deal. He started The Australia Institute (TAI), is a super philosopher and public intellectual and has written on issues as diverse as consumer culture, geoengineering and the history of protest in Australia. Hopefully he’ll find a way to talk about all three. Not to be missed.
The Buzz About Bees
Whisk (HA G052) - 11.30-12.30
Nick Mortimer
The rise of interest in urban beekeeping is parallel to an increasing awareness of issues relating to sustainability. In this workshop we aim to give a brief introduction to bees through an overview of beekeeping history and issues. We focus on how bees are being used in cities around the world to foster ideas of sustainability with regards to food, community and culture.
Climate Change: Uncertainty, Risk and the Precautionary Principle
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 11.30-12.30
John Hunter (Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre)
In this workshop, John will first dispel the myth that the general public don’t understand and can’t cope with uncertainty; and show how we routinely cope with uncertainty in our everyday lives. He will define the concept of “risk” and how, in many cases, uncertainty isn’t our “friend”; it isn’t an excuse to wait and not act now on climate change. Finally, he will show that, in many cases, the precautionary principle is not just a subjective “tree hugger’s mantra” but rather a robust and objective way in which to gauge future risk.
Building Bridges with Faith Communities: Ideas for Community Organisers
Room: Pot (JD102) – 11.30-12.30
Thea Ormerod
This is a workshop about engaging with faith-based communities. What is happening already? What kinds of strengths could be built on? What might be some helpful strategies for people outside faith communities to invite them to collaborate on projects?
Reflections on the Galilee Roadtrip: A Facilitated Panel Discussion
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 11.30-12.30
Josh Creaser and Roadtrip Participants
The Galilee Coal Basin, in the middle of Queensland, is one of the world’s largest, untouched coal reserves, and mining barons such as Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer are desperate to dig it up. In fact, coal companies plan to build nine new mega-mines in the Galilee Coal Basin, five of which would each be larger than any coal mine currently operating in Australia. If the Galilee was unlocked, it would more than double Australia’s coal exports, trash the Great Barrier Reef and unleash catastrophic climate change. In April 2014, around 50 people took to the road to find out what’s going on and to connect with people in the region. Hear what they learned about the fight against big coal in the Galilee.
How Shareholders Can Make Their Companies Better
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 11.30-12.30
Caroline de Couteur (Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility)
Shareholders own companies and so ultimately they can control them. In USA and England there is a long tradition of successful shareholder activism. Australia has not got such a successful past. The Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility has been created to empower shareholders to make their companies more sustainable. We would like to empower you with knowledge and ideas for shareholder activism.
Riff Raff Radical Marching Band
Meet@The Marquee – 11.30-12.30
The Riff Raff Radical Marching Band is an activist band which brings the musical love and rage to rallies, protests, fundraisers, community events and the odd marriage proposal. Come learn about what we do and how you can replicate it on any scale in your hometown. Bring instruments and we’ll teach you how to play our favourite EASY tunes! And by “instruments” we mean anything that makes noise.
Tree Climbing!
Meet @ The Marquee
Learn basic climbing skills and hang out with some of the greats of the Australian forests movement, including Miranda Gibson, who lived in a treesit in Tasmania for more than a year, as well as a whole host of other amazing climbers and activists. Note: This event is an excursion which will take place off campus, on public land. All participants get involved at their own risk.
Saturday Lunch Market Day! Stalls, Zines, Info Swaps and More (near the Marquee) A cornucopia of delights: collectives and organisations from around Canberra and the country will share their zines, campaigns, ideas and other materials: check them out, while you eat!
Saturday – 2.00pm start
The Inspiring History of Australian Forest Activism
Plenary Room – 2.00-3.50
Miranda Gibson (Still Wild Still Threatened) and Dave Caldwell (Goongerah Environment Centre)
Activism today has evolved from a long and inspiring history in Australia of direct action to protect our environment. This workshop brings to life some of our most inspiring battles for Australia’s forests, the tactics and strategies evolved over time, the successes won along the way and what it means for today’s activists and anyone who cares about the future of our forests. You’ll hear stories from long-time forest campaigners, plus see some of the highlights of activist films from the past few decades.
Taking the Power Back – Community Power and the Energy Revolution
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-3.50
Nicky Ison and Liam Oakwood
Faced with inaction by governments, people around the world are taking the struggle against climate change into their own hands by building community owned power! In some countries the old polluting utilities are shutting coal and gas power stations because they simply can’t compete, while in others government and industry is desperately fighting a rearguard action against renewable energy to secure power and profits. They don’t know it yet, but their corrupt old model of power generation is doomed. The Community Energy Movement has the potential to bring both political and energy independence. Will you be a part of it?
Towards a Just Transition from Fossil Fuels: The Earthworker Cooperative
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 2.00-3.50
Dan Musil and Dave Kerin
As we fight to move away from fossil fuels and create a sustainable future we have to consider what is a just transition? What is being transformed and who is taken into account in that process? Drawing on the experiences of the Mining the Truth roadtrips and subsequent engagement with coal communities, this participatory workshop will explore the concept of just transitions and discuss its applications in our campaigns and strategies. It will also outline and discuss a tangible alternative being developed in Victoria: the Earthworker Cooperative. The Earthworker Cooperative is a community-led initiative to provide sustainable, wealth-creating jobs that empower local communities and provide clean energy solutions. Earthworker is setting up an Australia-wide network of community owned cooperatives, beginning with Eureka’s Future, a worker owned factory to manufacture high quality solar hot water systems in Morwell, in the heart of Victoria’s coal-burning LaTrobe Valley. Forging unlikely alliances between trade unionists, environmentalists and small manufacturers, the project is a powerful and positive endeavour to revitalise local economies, address climate change, and assist a ‘just transition’ from fossil fuel to clean renewable energy. Earthworker is helping to creating new ways to meet our needs – fostering fair, democratic workplaces, local manufacturing, strong communities and sustainable technologies.
A Gentle Yet Provocative Exploration of Culture
Room: Sieve (HAG053) - 2.00-3.50
Jeanette De Foe
What is your culture? What does it mean to you? And how does your experience of culture frame the way you see the world? How does it affect the way you participate in activism? If you’ve ever thought “I have no culture”, “I don’t know what my culture is” or even “I carry my culture with me in everything I do”, this workshop is for you. We’ll explore perceptions of our own cultures, delve into the details of it and pave the way for a radical understanding of cultural marginalisation, power and privilege. Prepare to be confused and provoked (gently of course), and leave with more questions than answers!
Frontline Action on Coal – The #LeardBlockade
Room: Pot (JD102) – 2.00-3.50
Phil Evans
Find out about the #LeardBlockade and protecting farms, forests, culture, community and climate against Whitehaven Coal’s Maules Creek mine. Learn about what it has taken to hold together the Leard Forest Alliance (Greenpeace, TWS, 350.org, Lock the Gate, anarchists etc.) and the Protection Treaty with the Gomeroi.
Building a Progressive United Front
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 2.00-3.50
Kim Sattler (Unions ACT)
This workshop will explore how you go about building a network of allies to assist in campaigns. How do you build common ground, how can you work with others, the pitfalls of working with disparate groups and other interested individuals without losing focus. Why does grass roots organising work and how can it be used to build your support base? How can social media be used to best advantage in this space?
Introduction to Community Organising and the Sydney Alliance
Spoon (HA G040) - 2.00-3.50
The Sydney Alliance is a broad-based coalition of community groups which organises for the long term, on the basis of strong interpersonal relationships, for a just and fair Sydney.
Composting SOS’s food with Brett
Meet @ The Marquee – 2.00-3.50
Brett
Join the compost king (or is that queen?) diving deep into a hands-on participatory direct action skillshare creating compost from the leftover slops of sustainability (SOS!), turning the world into a permaculture sculpture with your waste, yeah! We’re going to mulch ya a practical workshop not to be missed!
The Deceit of the Crown – Ending the Myth
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) – 2.00-3.50
Michael Anderson (from The Euahlayi Peoples Republic)
Michael Anderson presents the legal contradiction of the domestic courts refusal to interpret the finding from the Mabo case. What are the implications for Aboriginal Sovereignty? Ideal for participants aspiring to become involved in politics and law. Some basic knowledge of English law and Australian colonial history is needed but not essential. Will look at the current legal argument for the Nguranpaa Ltd v Balonne Shire case. Michael is one of the original founders of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. He is also the founder of the Sovereignty Union -First Nations Interim National Unity Government. Chair: Dr Ben Authers.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP V]
The Canvas – 2.00-3.50
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshops will culminate in an interactive performance. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Check out the exhibition!
The Studio 2.00-3.50
Saturday – 4.00pm start
Inspiring Change: Inspiring Interventions into Ecological Consciousness
Plenary Room 1 (MCC T1) – 4.00-5.50
Robin Davidson, Zsuzsi Soboslay, Simon Thakur, Melissa Gryglewski
A forum session in which three local and inspiring leaders working in the field of Environment and the Arts share their thoughts and their work; followed by a facilitated forum. Participants will be given a web-link to share their own thoughts and Arts/Sustainability experiences that will be represented visually on a public webpage. This session will be a forum, with 3 speakers talking for 20 minutes each, with an open discussion at the end where participants can ask questions and share their own Arts/Sustainability experiences.
Speakers:
Robin Davidson - has a long passionate history of lending his expertise in Commedia dell’Arte, clown, playback theatre, forum theatre, poetry and community theatre to communities across Australia and across the world, exploring issues of social justice as well as the environment.
Zsuzsi Slobslay - a performer, writer and artist who has been engaged in creative collaborations across the arts for over 20 years. She teaches and researches in the tertiary, pre-school and community (including mixed ability) arts sectors, and writes and creates performances on the themes of environment, ecology, and the experience of refugees. She specialises in collaborative work across disciplines and has held residencies at Bundanon, ACT Early Childhood schools, the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra Dance Theatre and in September she participated in the Kultour Gathering in Brisbane.
Simon Thakur - is a long-time practitioner and student of physical and mind-body therapies including Eastern methods grounded in Chinese Medicine like Shiatsu, Tuina (Chinese Medical Massage), Indian Yoga, Buddhist Meditation, Daoist Internal Martial Arts and Qigong; Capoeira Angola, and Thai Massage, and Western methods like Remedial Massage, Sports Massage and Myotherapy. This wisdom informs his teaching of “Evolutionary (or Ancestral) Movement”; a movement practice that is informed by evolutionary biology which aims to help students gradually, joyfully restore or relearn natural movement, breathing and awareness to the whole body so that they may experience the ease and joy being fully present in our own bodies and our environment.
Financial Activism with Simon Sheikh
Room: Spatula (HAG051) - 4.00-5.50
Simon Sheikh
Students are leading divestment campaigns in Australia and around the world. Come and hear about the history of divestment campaigning, the economics of coal and climate change and the practical steps that you can make to be a part of the divestment movement. Simon will, for the first time, also discuss Australia’s first fossil fuel free superannuation fund, ‘Future Super’. With $1.7trillion in retirement savings in Australia, Simon will discuss how these funds can be moved out of fossil fuels and into clean energy.
Doing Multiculturalism in Western Sydney
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 4.00-5.50
Atem Dau Atem
This presentation will highlight the experiences of South Sudanese in Western Sydney. Doing multiculturalism is about how South Sudanese interact on a daily basis with their social environment in Western Sydney and how they experience multiculturalism.
Effective, Equitable Alliances: Environmental and Indigenous Activists
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 4.00-5.50
Will Mooney (Friends of the Earth Melbourne)
Social justice and environmental issues are often intertwined. Oppression of marginalised and disadvantaged people has gone hand in hand with the exploitation of the non-human world and natural ecosystems. As activists confronting systems of power, how do we unite to create effective and equitable alliances that address common challenges? This workshop will explore that question inviting input from all participants to brainstorm the foundations of equitable and effective alliances between Indigenous and non-Indigenous environmental activists.
Police Tactics and New Threats to Protest: Discussion
Room: Pot (JD102) – 4.00-5.50
Wenny Theresia, Nicola Paris and Miranda Gibson
The more successful we are at making change, the more the backlash and repression we are likely to face. In Queensland and Victoria we are already seeing new laws brought in and others in the pipeline, to try to stop protests or silence dissent. Hear from environmental campaigners and activists about some of these threats and what we can do to resist and keep on fighting for environmental and social justice. How can we safeguard our collectives and movements? What are strategies of dealing with police at protests and the policing of our movements?
Lock the Gate: Community Organising and the Frontline Rural Movement (with Drew Hutton)
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) - 4.00-5.50
Drew Hutton
Learn more about the philosophy and strategies underpinning Lock the Gate and why it has grown to become such a powerful force in the contemporary environment movement.
Everyone Can Flow: Building Confidence in Public Speaking through Rhythm, Rhyme and Creative use of Language
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-4.50
Declan Furber Gillick
A workshop including elements of drama, spoken word, hip hop and improvisation. There will be a short presentation on the history and importance of spoken word and hip hop followed by a group focused session of rhythmic sharing and story telling.
Uranium, Country and Culture
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) 4.00-4.50
An overview of Uranium Mining in Western Australia and how that impacts Country, Culture and Sovereignty, along with some of the projects happening in the Goldfields area including the Walkatjurra Walkabout that is a 300km walk from Yeelirriee (W.A largest uranium deposit) to Leonora.
Make Art!
The Canvas 4.00-5.50
Do Your Own Screenprinting, Graffiti, Stencils, Patches, Banners, Flags and Everything in Between!!
Saturday - 5pm start
Surviving
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - 5:00-5:50
Jacinta Haseldine
From 1952 to 1963, the British Government, with the active participation of the Australia government, conducted 12 major nuclear test explosions and up to 600 so called “minor trails” in the South Australian out backs. Jacinta will first screen ‘The Keeper’, a story about Nana Sue and herself, before speaking about the ‘Black Mist’ - the impact of nuclear weapons on Australia.
Life Drawing [WORKSHOP V]
The Studio – 5.00-5.50
Jackson Gable
Need a break? Try something new and join us for a fun and relaxing, untutored Life Drawing session! Open to everyone and perfect for complete beginners and enthusiasts alike this session will be a calming and accessible way to take some time out and explore your creative focus. We will be drawing a nude model so please come on time, as doors will be closed while modelling is underway.
Welcome Dinner @ the Marquee
Come to a special welcome shared dinner at the marquee at ANU. Following the dinner we will have a introductory session followed by some icebreakers, fun times and maybe a film screening.
Tuesday – 2pm start
Mainstream and Margin
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-2.50
Jeanette De Foe
This is a workshop about group dynamics and approaches to conflict. Doesn’t sound like much but you might just have a life-changing epiphany during it (the facilitator did the first time she came across these concepts). Recommended for anyone new to concepts of privilege and oppression. A good primer to [all the other anti-oppression workshops at SoS].
Introduction to Campus Divestment
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 2.00-2.50
Isaac Astill and Tom Swann
The movement for fossil fuel divestment is booming around the world, and right here at Australian universities. Join us to learn about the ‘fossil free’ movement and get inspired to join a campus campaign - or start your own. This session is sure to get you fired up, featuring a short history of divestment, case studies from here and afar, and an update on where Australia’s divestment movement is heading.
From Bentley to the Pilliga: Updates on anti-CSG Campaigning
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 2.00-2.50
Bentley is the new poster child of blockade activism in Australia. Opposition to coal seam gas exploration in the Northern Rivers has been growing exponentially over the last few years, with communities and local councils against the development of the industry in the region. So when over 1000 community members blockaded exploration at Bentley, and the NSW Govt threatened to send in 800 police to break it and support Metgasco, it looked all over. But what unfolded instead will go down in folklore...
Introduction to Feminist Theory and Practice
Room: Pot (JD102) – 2.00–3.50
Clo Schofield and Ruby Laginha
So what’s up with gender? Why do we say “feminism” and not “equalism” or “humanism”? How does the societal and institutionalised power of patriarchy affect the lives of wom*n identifying persons and others? How does patriarchy intersect with capitalism? This workshop will focus on how patriarchy affects us, how we can work to circumvent the insidious operation of this sinister structure and how we can avoid reproducing gendered hierarchies within our working, learning and changemaking spaces. We hope to leave this workshop better able to engage in future, more advanced workshops, inspired to destroy sexism, and empowered to be more sensitive to the experiences of those around us.
The Global Food Sovereignty Movement and the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 2.00-3.50
Nick Rose (Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance)
Embracing 300 million + people in 80 countries, Food Sovereignty is very likely the world’s largest social movement. And one of the most radical. It aims to transform the global food system, from one that mainly serves profit needs of corporations, to one that serves human and ecosystem well-being. With the food system responsible for up to 50% of all GHGs and a primary driver of biodiversity loss as well as the obesity pandemic, there is no social or environmental task more urgent. This workshop will explore what Food Sovereignty looks like in Australia and strategies to help it spread more rapidly through our towns and cities. Together we want to reclaim control of the food system. The work starts now!
Uranium, Weapons and Waste: Nuclear In Australia, a mini-plenary
Room: Spoon (HA G040) - 2.00-3.50
This session brings together a collection of people with a collective history of resisting nuclear projects spanning decades and spreading right across Australia. This won’t be a debate on nuclear energy but it will be a discussion about the shape of the nuclear beast; uranium mining, Aboriginal land, radioactive racism, waste dumps, nuclear war and the connections that lie between. Where have we come from and where are we going?
Featuring: update from the campaign that very recently WON to keep Muckaty, NT, free of a radioactive waste dump.
Speakers:
Mitch is an Aranda Luritji woman from Alice Springs who has been opposing radioactive waste dumps in the Northern Territory since the beginning. Mitch has been blowing minds and talking truth at SoS for 8 years.
Sue Wareham is a Canberran doctor working with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Medical Association for Prevention of War to challenge militarism and ongoing horror of nuclear weapons.
Marcus Atkinson has walked all over the world for peace and against the nuclear industry and is currently the nuclear free campaigner for ANAWA (Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia)
Special guest: the 7-year fight of the Muckaty Traditional Owners resisting a radioactive waste dump has very recently been WON! We’re planning a special guest by Skype to hear all about it.
Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes
[N.B. - THIS WORKSHOP HAS BEEN MOVED TO FRIDAY 4PM]
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - Friday 4pm
Mitch
See who holds the power when it comes to people of colour, see why it’s happening and why you let it happen.
Radical Art and Creative Activism - a Facilitated Discussion
The Canvas – 2.00-3.50
Nick Carson and Cat (ASEN)
An introduction to radical art and creative activism followed by an open discussion about the implications of both for the projects, groups, actions and collectives we’re involved in.
Installing an Exhibition: The Final Steps
The Studio - 2.00-3.50
Richilde Flavell + SOS Artists
Half of SOS’s static artworks will be installed in a session on Monday; the other half now, in a participatory session involving the artists themselves.
Tuesday – 3pm start
Introduction to the Science of Climate Change
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 3.00-3.50
If there’s one thing that climate change isn’t, it’s simple. The complexities of our earth systems and the impact that human activity is having upon them are enormous, and understanding these is an important step to knowing how to keep our planet a safe place to be. Come on down to get schooled, in the science.
Community Engagement: A Critical Factor in Your Campaign’s Success or Failure
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 3.00-3.50
Sophia Christoe
Activism often gets a bad rap when its perceived as a bunch of outsiders coming into a community they know nothing about and trying to impose their values on it. There’s a growing shift in Australia back to genuine grassroots campaigns organised by the communities themselves. Let’s discuss recent Australian campaigns and social movements (such as Lock the Gate) that are placing community engagement and development at the centre of their campaign strategy. Why are they proving so successful, and what can we learn from them for our own activism and campaigning?
What is the Australian Student Environment Network? (ASEN)
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 3.00-3.50
ASEN
Wait, was this massive ideas and arts festival entirely organised by volunteers? Holy shit! Come find out who made SOS happen, and what else they’re up to. ASEN is the collective of Environment Collectives: a decentralised network of people from around Australia who collaborate on campaigns for a more socially and environmentally just society. It’s non-hierarchical, anti-oppressive, and awesome. Come find out what it’s like now, because you can be apart of making it what it will be tomorrow.
Tuesday – 4pm start
But What Can I Do? Praxis and You
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 4.00-4.50
Liam Oakwood
Praxis is the process by which ideas become reality. In a world beset by multiple catastrophes competing for our attention, it is easy to become overwhelmed and lose sight of what we can do to make a difference. This workshop will explore the inherent skills and resources of individuals and communities for bringing our visions of the future into the real.
Introduction to Critical Race
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 4.00-5.50
Bridget Harilaou and Justin Pen (Sydney Uni Autonomous Collective Against Racism)
This “Introduction to Critical Race” workshop aims to centre the experiences of people of colour (poc), and share them. It will be an educative space for issues of race and race consciousness. This workshop will examine race and racism as a “cultural construct… with sinister structures and causes” (George Lipsitz). As such, we will also be looking at the “systematic efforts from colonial times to the present to create a possessive investment in whiteness” (George Lipsitz) and how this intersects with gender, class, sexuality, ability, Indigeneity, etc. It will be an interactive space with activities in which White people can identify their own White privilege, and explore how White privilege systemically advantages and disadvantages people in the spaces we move through.
The Fight for Australian Forests: National Campaign Update
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 4.00-5.50
Miranda Gibson (Still Wild, Still Threatened)
This workshop will feature forest activists and campaigners from around Australia, providing an update on what’s happening in our forests, current threats, campaign developments and what you can do to get active and help defend Australia’s native forests.
What does it mean to be an Aboriginal Ally? Potentials and pitfalls
Room: Pot (JD102) – 4.00-5.50
Aboriginal Elders and SOS Organisers
Standing alongside and supporting First Peoples’ struggles in Australia is an important part of environmental and social activism. But what does this look like and how can it be done in a manner that does not perpetuate systems of inequality and marginalisation? Come along and learn what it means to be an Aboriginal Ally.
Caring for Soils and Landscapes with Rotationally Grazed Cattle
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 4.00-4.50
Sam, from Boxgum Grazing
Boxgum Grazing employs Allan Savory’s method of Holistic Management to improve soil health, nourish cattle and people. As such we consider the cattle herd as a large single “mowing -munching–scuffling-trampling-dunging” tool to recycle carbon and invigorate the biology of the soil. They graze an area at high density for a short period of time, a few days at most, before moving on. The pasture is then given time to fully recover before the next grazing. This “pulsing” strategy is tremendously powerful in stimulating biological activity, capturing carbon and shifting the grassland towards perennials and away from annual species and weeds. Come on down to learn more about the theory and practice of caring for landscapes, people and animals.
The Philosophy and Practice of Facilitation
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-5.50
Jeanette De Foe
Sometimes when we’re facilitating it feels like we’re making things up as we go along. But what if we had a set of core values to fall back on that provided a foundation for all our facilitation decisions? This workshop will look at some core principles behind facilitation and explore how they apply to the most challenging facilitation situations we find ourselves in. Come and share your own challenges, skills and experiences with others. A somewhat theoretical, somewhat practical workshop. Come along to this one plus ‘The Nuts and Bolts of Meeting Facilitation’ for basic meeting-facilitation skills.
What are Co-ops? // Co-op Tour
Meet@The Marquee 4.00-5.50
Altin and Regan (Monash Wholefoods and Borderlands Co-op)
We all would like to live in a society that is more democratic, just and sustainable. But what can we do to bring such a society into being? We all know our current economy is unjust and broken. But how do we fix it? This workshop will explore how co-ops can be an answer to these questions. Co-ops are member-owned, democratic organisations that provide housing, sustenance, employment and other services to their members and the wider community. They are the building blocks of a new economy based on solidarity and cooperation instead of profit and greed.
The Nyoongar Tent Embassy and Aboriginal Sovereignty
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - 4.00-5.50
Nicole and Preston Culbong
Nicole and Preston Culbong will discuss the Nyoongar Tent Embassy and its significance in struggles for Aboriginal Sovereignty.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP I]
The Canvas – 4.00-5.50
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshop series (running over several days) will culminate in an interactive performance on the final day. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Environmental Communication through Artistic Practice
The Studio - 4.00-4.50
Come with a willingness to observe, to be ready to wander, and to take a shared journey responding to the inspiration that surrounds us. Suitable for beginners to advanced practitioners of art and life.
Tuesday – 5pm start
Introduction to Capitalism and Ecology
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 5.00-5.50
Clo Schofield and Tim Boston (ASEN)
Is our economic and social system in the process of destroying itself? Yes. Not just the emissions of certain companies or fuel sources, nor just our ‘Western lifestyles’ are to blame, but the fundamental organisational imperatives of the entire system. Sorry, but once we realise this, we can get on with fixing things.
In this workshop we’ll look at the history and emergence of capitalism, and investigate what exactly lies at the root of today’s crisis. Designed for people who have never thought about this before, but are curious!
Saving the Planet: The Solutions to Climate Change
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 5.00-5.50
Adrian Whitehead (Save the Planet)
We are currently on track for catastrophic climate change which if not reversed, will result in human civilisation being brought to its knees and 90% of the world’s species will going extinct. However we can still avoid this future if we act soon. This workshop explores the technical and social realities of an emergency speed transition to a negative emissions economy. Key background information for any climate activist or person wanting to Save this Planet.
Life Drawing [WORKSHOP I]
The Studio – 5.00-5.50
Jackson Gable
Need a break? Try something new and join us for a fun and relaxing, untutored Life Drawing session! Open to everyone and perfect for complete beginners and enthusiasts alike this session will be a calming and accessible way to take some time out and explore your creative focus. We will be drawing a nude model so please come on time as doors will be closed while modelling is underway.
Wednesday – 11.30am start
Intro to Queering Gender and Sexuality
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 11.30-12.30
USyd Non-cis Male Queer Collective
Continuing on from the question of “What even is gender?” tackled in yesterday’s Intro to Feminism, in this workshop we will explore notions of a spectrum of gender and sexuality, discuss why it is that folk who transgress heteronormativity or binary gender roles are socially, economically and physically disciplined, and think about ways to ensure that our spaces are as free from discrimination against the gender and sexuality diverse as we can make them. Please come along if these are ideas that you are interested in and less familiar with than you’d like to be! Educating each other is a vital part of creating the change we want to see in the world.
What’s Wrong with the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Intellectual Property, the Environment, and Climate Change
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 11.30-12.30
Dr Matthew Rimmer (ANU College of Law)
This presentation will consider the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a secret trade agreement, spanning a dozen countries in the Pacific Rim, and covering a score of subjects. This talk will highlight the Intellectual Property chapter leaked by WikiLeaks. It will examine how resource companies have used investor-state dispute settlement to challenge regulations in respect of the environment, biodiversity, and clean energy. The talk will also examine the Environment Chapter revealed by WikiLeaks. It will discuss the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership upon environmental governance.
Participatory Dialogues about Food Systems and Non-Human Animals
Session I: Animals, Landscapes and Capitalism
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 11.30-12.30
SOS Organisers (feat. Javed de Costa)
Decisions about catering at SOS this year have been difficult and controversial. Like all food choices, they brought us into relation with landscapes, non-human and human animals, via the ecological processes which sustain all three. All of these organisms are under threat from their subjection to the strange logic of capital accumulation. Without a doubt, the unconscionable suffering of animals in the meat and dairy industries is the most violent and shocking symptom of this problem. But can cutting animal products from our diets solve everything? What might healthy, sustainable agro-ecologies actually look like, and can consumers qua consumers bring them about? How can we imagine crossing dietary divides and working together, not just with each other, but with other species, even with soil? Come along to discuss these complex questions, with an open mind and respectful voice.
Coal Campaigning 101
Room: Pot (JD102) – 11.30-12.30
Sonya Duus and Josh Creaser (ANU Fenner School)
Join Sonya and Josh in a discussion circle to explore the history of campaigns against coal, contemporary campaigns and the intersections between various stakeholders and interests. We will look at the financial viability of current projects and particularly will look at the significance of the Maules Creek and Galilee campaigns.
The Nuts and Bolts of Facilitation
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 11.30-12.30
Jeanette De Foe
“Who wants to facilitate?” someone asks and everyone looks awkwardly round the room... If this scene is all too familiar, this workshop is for you! This workshop will get down to basics of how to facilitate meetings well. What are the key skills we need to learn? How can we prepare for the unexpected and guide groups through tough decisions? A short and snappy workshop. For a more in-depth look at facilitation, as well as a chance to practice those skills, come along to ‘The Philosophy and Practice of Facilitation’.
Colonisation and Exploitation: Two Historical Versions of the Same Project
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 11.30-12.30
Rebeca Furtado de Melo & Valentin Arechaga
The workshop will be delivered by a Postgraduate student in Philosophy from Brazil and a architect from Argentina. It attempts discuss some of the aspects of the colonization comparing the reality of South America with Australian one. Once in South America we had a similar historical “invasion and total disregarding” to the people that already lived there it claims that some comparative approach could help to understanding better what means to this countries theirs colonization history. It claims that we should understand many of ours current social-economic-racial problems from a holistic perspective that recognize the colonization project as a project of exploitation of the Land (and the Earth/environment) and the people. It will be supported using some theoretic insights from Fanon and Sartre. It expects to discuss yet what means sustainable architecture regarding different cultural and socio-economic realities.
Protest Choir Practice
Meet @ the Marquee - 11.30-12.30
Come along this fine morning and learn to sing out against social injustice! We’ll be holding a few practice sessions with the choir, learnings songs of protest old and new, and on Saturday night, we’ll perform what we’ve learned at the SoS Afterparty!
West Papua Flag Raising Ceremony
Aboriginal Tent Embassy - 9.00-11.00
Stand in solidarity with the peoples of West Papua who are undergoing violent repression at the hands of Indonesian forces by raising the Morning Star flag at the Tent Embassy.
...and from 11.30 at ANU First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - Introduction to campaigning for West Papua:
A presentation on campaigning to free West Papua by Anthony Craig DLP Lithgow and West Papuan representatives.
Wednesday – 2pm start
Smashing Girl-Hate in Alternative Communities
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-2.50
Stono River Caves (DEQY)
Girl-hate thrives in tight-knit communities that can sometimes be ignorant to their own in-built social hierarchies. This talk will shed light on how sometimes internalised misogyny can be insidious and hard to identify within progressive circles and why it is dangerous to permit this kind of behaviour. More importantly, we will discuss ways in which girl-hate can be abolished to make way for more inclusive spaces.
The Fossil Fuel Resistance
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 2.00-2.50
Dr Matthew Rimmer (ANU College of Law)
Dr Matthew Rimmer will discuss international debates over civil disobedience, identity correction, hoaxes, impersonation, climate activism and culture-jamming. This presentation will discuss Bill McKibben, 350.org, civil disobedience and the fossil fuel resistance. The talk will also examine Greenpeace’s creative confrontations; the battle between The Yes Men and the US Chamber of Commerce; the litigation by the Koch Bros against the Youth for Climate Truth; the imprisonment of Bidder 70; and the case of ASIC and Jonathan Moylan.
The Importance of Empathy for Social Change
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 2.00-2.50
Heather Hill (QUT)
Research has shown that empathy fosters people’s participation in social change (Loeb, 1999), promotes social cooperation (Singer & Steinbeis, 2009), and increases civic involvement (Astin, 2000). This workshop hopes to discuss the implications of instilling empathy in the political, social and environmental areas with the group, as well as run exercises that will build participant’s empathy.
Media and writing a press release: with the Maules Creek Media Team
Room: Pot (JD102) - 2.00-2.50
Helen War
Dealing with media can be tricky, but knowing what to expect and how to best write media releases makes activists more well-equipped to spread the message of a campaign. An important skill to have, we’ll workshop writing a media release, how best to speak to media and deal with “curve ball” questions, and if there’s time, touch on social media strategy.
Including:
- Process of writing a release, when to send it out, who to call, what to expect
- Speaking with media, interviews - Workshop in small groups to write a press release
- Social media and the best portals to use; what posts gain traction, etc.
There is no Environment: Critical Perspectives on Nature and the Anthropocene
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 2.00-3.50
Louis Klee and Tim Boston
The ‘Anthropocene’ is a geological periodisation that describes the present epoch - an epoch in which the benevolent climatic conditions of the Holocene have come to an end and in which humanity has become a geological force on the planet. The Anthropocene is troubling and compelling metaphor because it demonstrates how the history of human industry has become intertwined with the geological history of the planet, thus placing many of our traditional notions of agency, history, humanity and nature into crisis. Yet to what does this ‘Anthropos’ refer? Is the great mass of humanity the cause of this crisis, or its victim? Are we part of the very ecological systems that are falling to pieces? Answering these questions will not just help us to understand where this crazy world came from; this point, of course, is to change it.
Strategy to Save the Planet: Deep Green Resistance
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 2.00-2.50
Kim Hill (Deep Green Resistance)
The modern environmental movement has existed for over 50 years, yet the biosphere continues to decline rapidly. 200 species a day become extinct, and 99% of old growth forests are already gone. A movement to stop the destruction of the planet needs to do better than sign petitions, make banners and recycle. It needs to be strategic, and organised, and we need to win, not just make our voices heard. Deep Green Resistance is a strategy to stop the destruction, using tactics that are decisive, rather than symbolic. We’ll discuss of how the industrial system works, identify its weaknesses, and plan what we can all do to defend the planet that is our home.
Excursion: Tree Climbing!
Meet @ The Marquee 2.00-3.50
Learn basic climbing skills and hang out with some of the greats of the Australian forests movement, including Miranda Gibson, who lived in a treesit in Tasmania for more than a year, as well as a whole host of other amazing climbers and activists. Note: This event is an excursion which will take place off campus, on public land. All participants get involved at their own risk.
Aboriginal Women’s Business
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) – 2.00-3.50
Tjanara Goreng Goreng (Foundation for Indigenous Recovery and Development)
Inviting all women to share, learn and enjoy culture, Law, dance, song and ceremony in this Women’s Business workshop. Tjanara is a Songwoman, ngunkari and teacher of culture Law and facilitator of ceremonies for those wishing to engage in learning and experiencing Aboriginal Law, culture and heritage. For women only we will dance, sing, talk, share, make a special ceremonial band and have a smoking ceremony and cultural bestowal ceremony for women.
Nyoongar Cultural Heritage and Preservation
The Canvas - 2.00-3.50
Marianne Mackay
A big, collaborative art project. Everyone can paint something significant from the area that they come from, whether they are aboriginal or not!
Radical Art - A Hands-On Skillshare
The Studio - 2.00-3.50
Do Your Own Screenprinting, Graffiti, Stencils, Patches, Banners, Flags and Everything in Between!!
Wednesday – 3pm start
The Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association – Fighting Government Corruption and Big Mining
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 3.00-3.50
The tiny town of Bulga in the Hunter Valley has been standing up to big coal and has been winning. Hear the story of how the local community took on Rio Tinto’s plans to expand its Warkworth Mine and led to the first decision ever made to reject a NSW Govt approval for a mine. The courage of the Bulga Milbrodale’s court case has also paved the way for other communities to take their struggles to court across Australia against big coal.
Confronting Sexism as Profeminists
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 3.00-3.50
Liam Culbertson
An introduction for male-identifying people who would like to learn about and discuss what sexism and patriarchy are, how we may incidentally be perpetuating them and how we can challenge them as allies to an autonomous feminist movement.
Environmental Discourses Informing our Campaigning
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 3.00-3.50
Amelie Mareva (ASEN)
Movements with ‘environmentalism’, whether intended or not, are framed according to values, theories change and foregrounded messages. As seen through a recent history of environment discourses, from survivalism to economic rationalism, and from deep ecology to environmental justice, how groups frame their movement is integral to which allies are given space for inclusion, and who is omitted. Are the messages strategic or convoluted? Have they shifted through time? And to what success? Which aspects do we agree with, and which would we endeavour to overcome in our activism? This workshop is two-fold. Firstly I’d like to tease out some theory behind this discursive history, linking its origins with contemporary Australian examples. Finally, we will practically apply some of these concepts to framing our own campaigns in order to build the movement we wish to see.
Time, for a Democratic Society
Room: Pot (JD102) – 3.00-3.50
Rory Knight
A presentation and discussion on using time as part of a system for democratic distribution of labour, power and wealth.
Nature Conservation in the Climate Change Era
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-4.50
Serra Hancock and John Sneddon (The Wilderness Society)
In an era where the impacts of climate change are undeniable we must take a new approach to the conservation of nature. The Wilderness Society have been protecting Australia’s natural environment for almost 40 years, however with the increasingly destructive forces of climate change The Wilderness Society are changing the way we conserve our natural environment. The Wilderness Society calls Australia to keep our fossil fuels in the ground, through movement building, blockades, shareholder activism, divestment and community mobilisation. We are at a critical point in history to start shaping a new story for our country and our impact on global climate change.
Wednesday – 4pm start
How do we Live with Ourselves?
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 4.00-4.50
Phil Harrington (pitt&sherry)
Phil has been climate policy advisor, manager, consultant and activist for 28 years. Over this time the planet has gone from ‘we can make it if we try’ to ‘too little too late’. Tens of thousands of species are already doomed for extinction, and yet the world clings desperately to the fossil fuel development model. At some level, awareness of the deep unsustainability of the economic system that supports our lifestyles is what drives all climate change denial - we know and yet fear to know the truth - denial is easier for most to live with. Drawing on eco-spiritual and psychological literature and his own life experience, in this workshop Phil will invite the participants to explore the question ‘How do we live with ourselves?’ not as rhetoric, but in terms of shared stories of individual and communal practice. What practices, thought-patterns and strategies can and do provide us with the hope and resilience that we need to continue our work? The aim is a practical one - to sustain the planet, we first have to sustain ourselves.
Biosensitivity, fairness and a Just Transition for social change
Whisk (HA G052) – 4.00-5.50
Catherine Gross (Frank Fenner Foundation)
In a (future) biosensitive society, human communities understand their origins in nature, their place in the environment, and the imperative for human decisions and actions to consider both the health of the environment and the health of humans. But how do we get there? This workshop proposes a framework that brings together the idea of biosensitivity, key principles of fairness, and the concept of a Just Transition. We discuss how these can be incorporated into activities such as environmental movements, government policies and philanthropic goals.
Where’s my Hoverboard? Opportunities and limitations in science for creating social and environmental change
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 4.00-4.50
Jason Ray (ASEN)
Vaccinations, genetic modification, fluoride in water, chem trails, climate change. What do all these things have in common? For better or worse they are areas of scientific and public contention. Some more than others have and are changing the fundamental fabric of society and even the planet. What happens when research findings are poorly communicated or co-opted? Can there ever be pure and objective science or is it a process which is intrinsically linked to social and economic activity? Who actually benefits from scientific research? Can science be ethical? Can science save humans and the planet as we know it?
Tofu Is Not Vegetarian II – Zine Launch
Room: Pot (JD102) – 4.00-5.50
Jeanette De Foe
If you were at SoS in 2011 you might be familiar with a zine called ‘Tofu is Not Vegetarian’. It was a critique of veganism and vegan culture in activist spaces that was largely based on the experiences of “Azn omnivore, Jeanette De Foe”. From the many conversations that we have had since that first zine comes ‘Tofu is Not Vegetarian: Volume 2’. This second zine is a collaborative effort between a bunch of people involved in activism and is an in-depth exploration of the philosophies, cultures, environmental impact, and health considerations surrounding food choices.
Sobriety for Radical Non-Sober Folks
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) - 4.00-4.50
Nick Carson
For those who are curious about hearing or sharing ideas around sobriety and how it relates to different folks’ experiences of the world we live in.
Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-4.50
Kim Hill (Deep Green Resistance)
Renewable energy is claimed to be a solution to climate change, yet is entirely dependent on mining, fossil fuels and a global industrial system. Production of wind turbines and solar panels requires land clearing, causes greenhouse gas emissions, and air and water pollution, and they often end up as toxic waste in landfill. An exploration of the environmental, social and economic impacts of wind and solar power.
Diversity and Working in Solidarity
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - 4.00-5.50
Millie Telford
Key to building a movement is a unified community taking action together. We know that the impacts of climate change are not exclusive to their targets and we know our movement can not be exclusive either. We need to be prepared to step outside our comfort zones, to have the tough conversations and we need to go places that we haven’t been before. This is crucial to our success! This workshop will let you explore the moral as well as strategic importance of working in solidarity amongst communities in Australia(and beyond). Amelia Telford, from Bundjalung country, will also reflect on stories working with and in Indigenous communities through her work supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to take action on climate change with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP II]
The Canvas – 4.00-5.50
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshops will culminate in an interactive performance. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Art and Activism
The Studio, Wednesday 4.00-5.50
Fern York
Stories from the First National Tribal Dance Festival - Khajuraho in India and from Kathmandu, Nepal.
Wednesday – 5pm start
Sustainability and War, from the ANZAC Myth to the Military Industrial Complex
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 5.00-5.50
Connor Drum and Benjo Keaney
A critical look at the environmental impact of militarism, the historical narrative of ANZAC through to the social impact of military production, with a discussion on the possibilities of different activist approaches in the lead up to the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings in 2015.
Eco-Feminism
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 5.00-5.50
Alana West and Basil Byrne
Ecofeminism means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Come along to share, learn about and discuss the various understandings of ecofeminism and how it can help us in our quest for a less anthropogenic and more equal and inclusive society.
Saving the Tarkine
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 5.00-5.50
Scott Jordan (Save the Tarkine)
Save the Tarkine has over the past year challenged the approval of mines in the Tarkine. With two case currently being heard, and the case against the Shree Minerals Nelson Bay River mine being returning a finding that the approval was unlawful and set aside, Save the Tarkine is well placed to discuss the role of litigation as part of a campaign strategy.
Campaigns to Stop the Galilee
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 5.00-5.50
Josh and Sonya
This workshop will discuss the various community, financial and media tactics being used to try and bring the Galilee development to its knees, including:
- landholders opposing the State Development Area
- Lock the Gate’s engagement with landholders, providing information and avenues to become active
- divestment campaigns targeting potential investors
- links with Great Barrier Reef coal port campaigns
- stigmatisation campaigning
- Bimblebox campaign
Towards an Apiarian Lens: Bees and the Challenges of Interdisciplinarity
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 5.00-5.50
Nicholas Mortimer (ANU Apiculture Society)
This workshop aims to bring together a range of perspectives towards the development of an ‘apiarian lens’ – an applied interdisciplinary studies approach to socio-environmental systems. Workshop participants will engage with philosophical, metaphorical, phenomological and practical questions to think about what kind of frameworks are able be constructed, and what different knowledges are produced through a focus on bees.
Thursday – 11.30am start
How can we cool our climate?: Soils
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 11.30-12.30
Walter Jehne (Healthy Soils Australia)
The workshop will discuss the science and implications for communities arising from;
1. Our climate reality and consequences under business as usual in the next decades.
2. Why 50 years of evidence and politics has failed in addressing this imperative.
3. Why our past sole focus on just reducing future greenhouse emissions can’t prevent climate chaos.
4. Why we need critical local community action to build resilience and cool climates.
5. Our sole remaining safe natural option of regenerating bio-systems for doing this.
6. The practical reality and scientific basis of how we can do this if we change current approaches.
7. Plans to Regenerate Australia to extend grass roots community action to buffer and cool climates.
8. The politics of catalysing the needed changes in urban, rural and global communities.
The Politics of Software
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 11.30-12.30
Jeremy Murphy and Basil Byrne
Explore the political landscape of software in this participatory, non-technical workshop that seeks primarily to lift the veil on the nature of software and how it impacts our freedom. We’ll consider how capitalism affects a wide range of aspects of software such as privacy, accessibility and environmental impact. We’ll look at how to apply our existing ethics to something new and unfamiliar like software. Lastly we’ll plan what steps we can take to overcome the capitalist software market.
End Operation Sovereign Murders: Strategies for the Refugee Movement
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 11.30-12.30
ANU and USyd Anti-Racism Collectives
Abbott and Morrison are waging war on refugees. They have already spent over $7.2b expanding their offshore torture camps. They have the blood of Faili Kurdish asylum seeker Reza Berati on their hands. Building a grassroots movement is the only way to win a pro-refugee mandate. The refugee campaign under Howard showed that when refugee supporters mobilise they could shift public opinion and break bipartisan support for refugee bashing by making it an electoral liability. There are student groups across the country committed to building the broader movement outside of parliament that demands humane refugee processing and resettlement. This session will draw on successful strategies from the past and discuss how we can apply these under Abbott to truly tear down the fences and free all refugees.
Mining Watch Melanesia
Room: Pot (JD102) – 11.30-12.30
Dan Jones
Focused on lessons from Panguna mine in Bougainville...also Deep Sea Mining in the Bismark Sea, Ok Tedi, Freeport McMoran at Grasberg West Papua, PNG LNG, Solomon Isands Gold Ridge... also focusing on Indigenous sustainability and development solutions other than mining. includes films, presentation, recruitment and discussion.
Veganism: A Choice for the Future
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 11.30-12.30
Rowena and Jacky (Vegan ACT)
This workshop will explore the ethical, health and societal benefits of a vegan lifestyle and outline the steps that people can take to make the transition to a compassionate lifestyle.
Strategy vs Tactics - Campus Divestment
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) - 11.30-12.30
Tom Swann
What is strategy? What is a tactic? Using campus divestment as an example, this workshop will cover some helpful frameworks for getting clear on your strategy and using it to drive your tactics, not the other way around. We’ll also cover campaign escalation, making the most of moments, power-mapping.
Riff Raff Radical Marching Band
Meet@The Marquee – 11.30-12.30
The Riff Raff Radical Marching Band is an activist band which brings the musical love and rage to rallies, protests, fundraisers, community events and the odd marriage proposal. Come learn about what we do and how you can replicate it on any scale in your hometown. Bring instruments and we’ll teach you how to play our favourite EASY tunes! And by “instruments” we mean anything that makes noise.
Badge Making
The Canvas - 11.30-12.30
Make a badge and stick it to yourself or the system. Your call because you get to make it. Make a badge.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP III]
The Studio – 11.30-12.30
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshops will culminate in an interactive performance. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Thursday – 2.00pm start
Grassroots Action for the Galilee
Plenary Room – 2.00-3.50
Ben Pennings (Generation Alpha)
This workshop will outline the urgent importance of stopping coal mining in Queensland’s Galilee Basin and how grassroots activists can contribute through creative and strategic direct action.
Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan): Eyewitness report on climate catastrophe and resistance
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-2.50
Chris (Green Left Weekly)
Visiting the Philippines last year, activist Tony Iltis witnessed the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) (the strongest storm to make landfall in recorded history), the ineffective response from corrupt government authorities and foreign NGOs and the contrasting grassroots initiatives by Filippino activists of people-to-people solidarity. He also witnessed poor communities in Metro Manila struggle to defend their homes and livelihoods from developers. So far climate catastrophe has mainly affected poor communities in countries that have created the least greenhouse gas emissions. In this multimedia presentation, drawing on material mainly from the Philippines, Iltis will argue that and that it is the David-and-Goliath struggles of these communities against global capitalism that have the potential to save the rest of humanity from the coming apocalypse.
Growing Your Group - Campus Divestment
Room: Whisk (HAG052) - 2.00-2.50
Isaac Astill
Want more people in your campus divestment group? Who doesn’t! Come along and learn how to move someone from apathy to oh-yeah-thy! Run by Bob Brown Young Environmentalist of the Year and poor wordplay extraordinaire, Isaac Astill.
Living Streets Canberra: Why don’t we all walk, cycle or use public transport?
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 2.00-2.50
Leon Arundell (Living Streets Canberra)
We all believe the world would be a better place if fewer people drove cars and more people travelled on foot, by bicycle or by public transport. But most of us continue to travel by car and aeroplane. If we want other people to make more sustainable travel choices, we can start by examining what it would take to convince us to make those same choices. If we understand what influences our choices to drive and fly, we can change those influences, to make it easier for everyone to decide to walk, cycle or use public transport.
Fearless Summer Meeting
Room: Pot (JD102) – 2.00-3.50
Fearless Summer
Everyone is welcome to attend this national meeting of the Fearless Summer network, and get involved in the grassroots movement to defend Australia’s forests. The network was formed at the end of last year during the national forest skillshare. This meeting will be a chance for those already involved and any one interested or curious to get together and talk about what’s happened so far and brainstorm ideas for what we can do this year to build the movement and protect Australia’s native forests.
The Green Bans: Tales of the Movement that Saved Sydney
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 2.00-2.50
With Jack Mundey and Pat Fiske
Seriously, wait for it: you get to sit around in a room and chat with Jack Mundey and Pat Fiske. Jack and Pat were both involved with the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF), a union which in the 1970s actually saved huge parts of Sydney from being cleared for development, including the Sydney Botanic Gardens, which were due to be turned into a carpark, and the historical Rocks area, which would have become a whole lot of high rises. By striking, or putting ‘Green Bans’ on certain projects, these builders and labourers were able to stop developers doing everything from woodchipping in Tasmania to kicking low-income people out of inner-city areas. Jack, who was the secretary of the BLF, is now of a very venerable age, and has made a massive effort to join us in Canberra. This is very likely the last time he’ll appear in public, and you could meet him. He’s a historical figure. Seriously.
Generating Dynamic, Interdisciplinary Outcomes for Sustainable Synergy in a Globalised World
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 2.00-2.50
The PRACCP
In fast-paced globalised markets, innovative and strategic NGOs need to think outside the box. In this workshop, we’ll discuss multi-stakeholder techniques that push the envelope on leveraging sustainability issues.
Excursion: Parkour!
Meet @ the Marquee - 2.00-3.50
Urban Exploring skills. Beginners to advanced welcome. Spots for this course limited to 20. Meet at the Main Marquee. Note: This is an excursion and will take place off ANU’s campus, on public land.
Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - 2.00-3.50
Mitch
See who holds the power when it comes to people of colour, see why it’s happening and why you let it happen.
How to Make Glue and Influence People: Paste-up and Postering Skillshare
The Canvas - 2.00-3.50
Lachlan Type
Home economics for the propagandist. We’ll skillshare poster design, printing on the cheap, glue making and wheatpasting pro tips followed by a practical demonstration for those so inclined. Bringing your own thing-on-which-to-design-posters would be sweet.
Yarn Bombing
The Studio 2.00-3.50
Learn skills from scratch, or enhance and share your crochet and knitting-knowledge with others and start a yarn bombing project to decorate the festival and greater spaces.
Thursday – 3.00pm start
Universities, Corporations and Emerging Technologies
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 3.00-3.50
Jeremy Tager (Friends of the Earth Nanotechnology Project)
A workshop examining how Universities are becoming the engine room for a suite of new technologies that are serving corporate not public interests. We will look at nanotechnology, geoengineering and synthetic biology and the ways in which these technologies are developing, what interests are driving them, how they are regulated (or not), why we should be concerned and what we can and should do about the technologies and the corporate influences that are promoting them.
Campus Divestment: A Space to Network and Share Ideas
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 3.00-3.50
Vicky Fysh (350.org Australia)
If you are already part of a campus divestment campaign or looking to get involved, make a beeline for this workshop! The workshop will be a semi-structured space for folks to meet each other, make plans and figure out ways to collaborate.
Dealing with Spy Infiltration
Room: Sieve (HAG053) - 3.00-3.50
Helen War
A frank discussion of the experience of living and doing actions with corporate spies, and the aftermath of this in camp Wando. Currently a hot topic in the media; we invite questions, and a discussion about moving forward in the Maules Creek campaign after trust is broken.
Masculinities in Activism
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 3.00-3.50
Liam Culbertson
What is hegemonic masculinity? What is patriarchy? How can we as activists challenge oppressive masculinities in a constructive way? What should be the role of male-identifyers in challenging their own behaviours? What would a world without oppressive masculinities look like? Just some of the questions we’ll be discussing…
Inspiring University Gardens: A Communal Workshop + Meet and Greet
Spoon (HA G040) – 3.00-3.50
Jackson Gable (Melbourne Uni Community Garden)
Keen to learn more about gardening or permaculture but can’t seem to find anyone on campus to share enthusiasm with? That is a big sad shame... but your among friends here, let’s do something about it! Come be inspired by stories of success as communal gardeners from newly sprouted university lots across Australia recount how they won their space, and the obstacles they faced along the way. Then join us in the second half for important milling about over tea and cake where we will likely muse together on exciting ideas (or a good therapeutic laugh about cabbage moth) Either way!
Thursday - 4pm Start
Digital and Campaign Strategy
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 4.00-5.50
Glenn Todd (ActionSkills)
This will be a fast paced session without computers or projectors and will run through:
• different areas of digital activism
• why they are valuable in core campaigning
• what you will need to learn to master it
• how to learn the skills without formal education
Glenn has been building websites for over 14 years for groups like Friends of the Earth, Australian Ballet, Bob Brown, Stereosonic, Beyond Zero Emissions, Greens, Quitcoal etc. http://glenntodd.net
Cultivating Empowerment and Change with Food
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 4.00-5.50
Sophia Christoe
Let’s consider food as medium through which radical social transformation can occur. ‘Food’ here is shorthand for the activities and processes of growing, preparing, consuming, sharing and savouring what we eat and drink. We’ll use system thinking to look at food through individual, social, political and ecological lenses. We might talk about: what are the critical elements of food that give it such power? How do we empower people through food? How can we, as activists, use growing, cooking, eating, sharing and enjoying food as seeds to cultivate and spread sustainable values? How can we support empowered individuals in their communities on their social changemaking journeys?
eConvenor: An activist-built web service to help your group be better organised
Room: Sieve (HAG053) - 4.00-4.50
Laura Campbell
Activist groups often struggle to be well organised. Tasks assigned in meetings aren’t done because no one follows up on them. People come to meetings unaware of the background to complex agenda items and it takes valuable meeting time to get them up to speed before the in-depth discussion can begin. Important decisions are forgotten over time because meeting minutes are unclear and stored who-knows-where. Two Melbourne activists have built a free web service called eConvenor which helps with problems like these and makes the work of convening a group less time-consuming. eConvenor produces informative meeting agendas; creates detailed and easy-to-read minutes; tracks tasks assigned to group members and automatically sends reminders to them when their tasks are becoming due or are overdue. Come to this workshop to see it in action and find out how it can help your group be better organised and more effective. eConvenor is at econvenor.org.
Nature in Danger: Grassroots Organising at The Wilderness Society
Room: Pot (JD102) - 4.00-5.50
Kaine Johnson and April Crawford-Smith (TWS)
On April 12 2013 The Wilderness Society joined tens of thousands of Australians in celebrating the victory of the campaign to protect James Price Point. However, in the months to follow we recognised that although this was a momentous win, it was achieved via a mechanism that isn’t capable of challenging threats to our natural world of ever increasing size, scale, and speed. We needed a new way forward, a way to harness what worked in the JPP campaign in a way that would facilitate the large scale protections that are necessary across Australia.In this workshop you will learn about the Wilderness Society’s shift back to a grass-roots based organisation based on empowerment and community organising. This is showcased with an in-depth look at our first campaign devoted to movement building and how we plan to use this movement to bring nature back to where it should be...the first consideration when we - as a nation - consider any political or industrial decision.
Climate Policy Masterclass
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 4.00-5.50
Phil Harrington (pitt&sherry)
This lecture and Q&A style workshop is not for the beginner! It will tackle the hard questions like: Why was carbon pricing such a mess? Which is better - carbon taxes, emissions trading schemes, or direct action...or something else again? What is ‘direct action’ (the Emissions Reduction Fund) and why is it certain to fail? What are the economic and policy myths (not the climate science myths) that hold us back from taking effective action? Why is talk of ‘green and red tape’ so dangerous? While much of this will be ‘tough love’ for politicians of all colours, Phil will also set out - for debate - the broad lines of an optimal climate policy mix for Australia. The workshop will then move into an open discussion on strategies for changing the climate policy debate in Australia and for focusing it on something that matters - like holding a safe operating environment for all species on this planet.
Introduction to Class, Environmentalism and Just Transitions
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-5.50
Anna Boddenberg and Dan Musil
Why are environmental struggles so often framed as battles between wealthier, educated, urban people and working-class people in the mining and forestry industries? A transition away from fossil fuels that doesn’t consider the needs and contribution of people and communities sustained by these industries wouldn’t just be unjust, it probably won’t happen. This workshop will introduce the idea and importance of a Just Transition, and consider what we can do to bring one closer.
Co-op Troubleshooting
Meet@The Marquee – 4.00-5.50
Regan (Monash Wholefoods)
Did you know the wheel has been ‘round for 5,000 years? Puns aside, let’s avoid wheel re-invention and learn from each other’s co-operative experiences. Co-ops share many of the same struggles so let’s shoot our shared troubles down with the power of the collective mind. Please come prepared with some problem if you dare.
Learning about Ngarigu language boundaries, water law and the limits of Native Title
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) – 4.00-5.50
Ellen and Debbie Mundy
Ngarigu women Ellen and Debbie Mundy will discuss their Native Title Claim that uses tribal language boundaries across the Monaro, Snowy Mountain (NSW) and ACT regions. Participants will gain an understanding of the limits of Native Title in addressing the Ngarigu claim. In addition they will discuss the intrinsic relationship of natural law and the importance of adopting traditional practices to ensure sustainable water usage on Ngarigu land in the Snowy Hyrdro region. Facilitated by Michael Anderson
Intro to Song Writing [NOW ON WED 11.30]
The Studio - Wednesday 11.30-12.30
Seb (Cracked Actor)
For beginners or the newly initiated, this workshop covers the basics in song writing. If you’re nervous or haven’t mastered multi-tasking yet, don’t be, come along and learn beside others starting the journey, collaboration encouraged.
Thursday – 5.00pm start
Engaging the Media with Creative Actions
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 5.00-5.50
Ben Pennings (Generation Alpha)
This workshop will allow participants to explore effective strategies for engaging the media through creative activism.
Looking After Yourself as an Activist: Mental Health First Aid
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 5.00-5.50
Eithne Stack
I would like to discuss the issue of activist post traumatic stress and risk of burnout and outline ways to prevent and treat anxiety and post traumatic stress due to involvement in activism. I will outline mental health first aid programmes that have been developed to counsel affected people after major events such as the Melbourne bush fires and after the G8 summit in Scotland in 2005 and ongoing supports for activists.
Life Drawing [WORKSHOP II]
The Studio – 5.00-5.50
Jackson Gable
Need a break? Try something new and join us for a fun and relaxing, untutored Life Drawing session! Open to everyone and perfect for complete beginners and enthusiasts alike this session will be a calming and accessible way to take some time out and explore your creative focus. We will be drawing a nude model so please come on time as doors will be closed while modelling is underway.
Friday - 11.30 start
Destroying Mandatory Detention: Discussing a Diversity of Tactics & Creative Strategy
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 11.30-12.30
Students Thinking Outside Borders
The campaign to end mandatory detention and facilitate the free movement of people without state constraint has been said to have stagnated in the past five years. Rally after rally is held, a speak out, some shouting outside an MP’s office, a rally somewhere else. “Refugee action” is not led by refugees acting, but often majority white citizen groups, which serves to perpetuate the disenfranchised status of folk in immigration detention. This workshop will focus on a diversity of tactics including but not limited to the campaign to boycott, disrupt and dismantle the operations of the Department of Immigration and “Border Protection”.
Ruling for the Rich: Abbott’s Budget and Fighting the 1%
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 11.30-12.30
Solidarity
Abbott’s horror budget hits the most vulnerable hardest through savage cut backs and pushing costs onto the sick, students, disabled and welfare recipients. Yet the “age of entitlement” continues for business, who get a 1.5% tax cut, infrastructure investment and profits from planned privatisations. There is no budget crisis in Australia. Abbott’s cuts don’t even raise significant revenue. This is an ideological budget about shifting costs onto ordinary people and entrenching a ‘user-pays’ system. The Liberals are weak and deeply unpopular. But just returning the ALP to power is no solution. Labor’s own cuts paved the way for Abbott. A grassroots campaign that mobilises people in their workplaces, universities and communities can turn the tide of cuts and strike Abbott out for good.
Amazingness that ASEN has done in 2013/14 (or the ASEN AGM)
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 11.30-12.30
ASEN
Quorum makes the world go round, and so does free chocolate ;) Nah, you know you want to come and join in the very exciting and sexy formal life of your very own student environment network! Hear what’s been going on across all the collectives and feel that warm glow of making your first proposal and twinkling away with the best of em.
Psychology of Social Change
Room: Pot (JD102) – 11.30-12.30
Ollie
Back by popular demand! This workshop draws heavily from the book of the same name by Nick Cooney. With wide ranging applications from personal reflection to global change making, a wealth of psychological conclusions are brought to the fore in the hope of giving you the tools necessary to answer questions like “should I use fear as a motivator?”, “Should I ask people to make big changes all at once, or small incremental ones?” And “How can I best convince people about the importance of environmental issues?”
Foonance, Budgets for Beginners
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 11.30-12.30
Nicholas Foon
Ever wondered why there are no volunteers for the managing the funds of your campaigns? Do you understand what a budget is or how to construct one? Wanna know where to get money from? Come face to face with budget basics and be able to be the one to put there hand up next time a new campaign comes around. Everyone welcome, aimed at the keen beans who would like to start counting beans!
Consensus Decision Making 102
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 11.30-12.30
Adrian Whitehead (Grey Cliffs Permaculture)
Normal group decision making can be highly dysfunctional, dominated by egos, hidden agendas and corrupt processes. Consensus decision making is a system of decision making designed to solve many of the problems while producing outcomes the have support of the entire group. This workshop explores how to run a consensus decision process and discusses it strengths and weaknesses. A model is proposed that creates a robust but inclusive system of consensus decision making. Presented by Adrian Whitehead who has over 20 years experience working in consensus groups.
Protest Choir Practice
Meet @ The Marquee - 11.30-12.30
Come along this fine morning and learn to sing out against social injustice! We’ll be holding a few practice sessions with the choir, learnings songs of protest old and new, and on Saturday night, we’ll perform what we’ve learned at the SoS Afterparty!
Black Mountain Heritage Walk [STARTS AT LUNCH]
Meet: First People’s Space – 1.00-4.00
Tyronne Bell and Euroka Gilbert
Black Mountain Heritage Walk
Meet: 1.00 – 4.00pm (starts during lunchtime)
Starting Point: First Peoples’ Tent ANU.
Pre walk talk: Local custodian Tyronne Bell will show Aboriginal artefacts found in the ACT region.
Euroka Gilbert will also brief participants on the ACT Heritage Act and the work being done to conserve significant heritage sites and objects throughout the region.
Local custodian Tyronne Bell will lead a walk on Black Mountain sharing his knowledge and connection to the area.
What to bring: Water, sun protection, sturdy walking shoes, comfortable warm clothing and rain protection.
Difficulty of walk: Generally an easy walk with some steep sections.
Limited number of participants: 50 max
Donation to be paid on the day: $5.00
To sign up: Please use the “Sign up sheet” at the registration desk at the Tent Embassy.
Friday – 2.00pm start
Chilean student campaigns, performance arts and ideas for Australian students
Plenary Room 2 (COP T) - 2.00-3.50
Ray Polglaze
Chilean students have mounted some of the most effective student campaigns in recent years with protests by hundreds of thousands of students in 2006, 2011 and again this year. They have changed the political direction of Chile with a return to free higher education and rejection of the HidroAysen project. Their campaigns have used strong student unions, coalition building, performance arts (puppets, street theatre, dancing, music, singing, humour and flash mobs), social media, and persuasive media talent. This workshop will use videos to show the look, sound and feel of Chilean student campaigns to suggest ideas for Australian students.
GetUp’s Save the Reef Campaign
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-2.50
Michael Poland and Sam Register
Millions of cubic metres of sea floor is being removed from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area right now. It’s the largest dredging project ever undertaken in Australia, making way for massive new coal seam gas export facilities. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world and is recognised as a global treasure, due to the amazing biodiversity which it sustains and it’s unparalleled beauty. In the past 6 months (the first stage of dredging) there has been a steep increase in deaths of endangered marine wildlife - 6 dolphins, 10 dugongs and 231 turtles have washed up dead near Gladstone on the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian government failed to inform UNESCO of the approval of the gas facilities in the Great Barrier Reef WHA. Learn what GetUp and others are doing to Save the Reef.
The Science of Campaigning
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 2.00-3.50
Joel Dignam (ACT Greens)
Want to know what campaign tactics are effective? What changes attitudes? What influences behaviour? Good news: science. This workshop will combine findings from US field experiments of mobilisation tactics, Australian canvassing campaigns, and the areas of psychology and behavioural economics. We’ll discuss how this research can be applied to a range of initiatives: from winning elections, to divesting your university.
Intentional Honest Relationships, or Polyamoury:
A Facilitated Discussion
Room: Sieve (HAG053) - 2.00-2.50
Why is a workshop about relationships in a conference about sustainability? Relationships underpin everything we do in the world, and are often defined by social norms and expectations that are part of broader systems of inequality and oppression. Explore alternative relationships models (focusing on Polyamoury) in this facilitated discussion.
Theories of Change
Room: Pot (JD102) – 2.00-3.50
Nicky Ison
A theory of change is based on an analysis of what we see the problems in the world as being, a dream of who the world could be different and then creating a map of how to actually change the world from the world we have to the world we want to see.This workshop is essential for all activists; it will explore the theories and ideas that underpin our actions and practice as individual activists and support you to develop your own praxis or articulated theory of change.
Legal Solidarity and Support: Developing Strategies
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) 2.00-3.50
Wenny Theresia and Nicola Paris
Why is legal solidarity important? What does it mean to have a culture of legal preparation and support? Drawing upon examples of legal strategies in Australia and overseas, come along to this workshop to discuss and build strategies for legal support in our collectives and movements.
Experiences of Capitalism
Spoon (HA G040) 2.00-2.50
Capitalism and colonialism seem like distant, theoretical constructions, but they intervene in our daily lives in far reaching and insidious ways. In this workshop we will reflect and discuss how capitalism and its institutions manifest themselves in our experiences, and then end with a discussion about how to confront or subvert these incursions. This approach is based on a belief that theory about the world has to stay in constant conversation with lived experience, because it makes our theories better and because better analysis helps us in our many struggles.
Organic Gardening with Brett and Ish // Excurions: Tree Climbing!!
Meet @ The Marquee – 2.00-3.50
Two fun options for you this afternoon:
Organic Gardening: Come join us for an afternoon in ANU’s beautiful organic garden. We’ll be running a skill share covering the basics of organic gardening including composting, pest control and crop rotation. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner to gardening or an expert, please come along to learn and share. We’ll also be looking for helping hands to get some bigger garden jobs done, so if you feel like getting some physical activity and contributing to a sustainability project here in Canberra, please join us! Pizza from our on-site wood-fired pizza oven will be provided for afternoon tea.
OR
Tree Climbing: Learn basic climbing skills and hang out with some of the greats of the Australian forests movement, including Miranda Gibson, who lived in a treesit in Tasmania for more than a year, as well as a whole host of other amazing climbers and activists. Note: This event is an excursion which will take place off campus, on public land. All participants get involved at their own risk.
Reimagining Public Space with Guerilla Poetry
The Canvas - 2.00-3.50
In this workshop, we will explore the mysterious art of guerrilla poetry. No guerrilla or poetry experience necessary! Come on down, grab a cookie, sift through a pile of poems, and pick out your favorite. Learn some new methods of engaging your art or activism in a public space. Plenty of poems and supplies will be provided, but feel free to bring along any favorites of your own! You should leave this workshop with everything you need for your next guerrilla art adventure, be it poetry, knitting, gardening, zine, or small plastic dinosaur-based.
Friday – 3.00pm start
Non-Violent Direct Action Hands-On How-To and Skillshare
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 3.00-5.50
Nicola Paris
How can we use smart, creative direct action, and mass civil disobedience to challenge the status quo? Learn skills to build on the success of the growing student movement. This interactive workshop will talk inspiring case studies, and emotional and physical preparation for nonviolent direct actions and give participants tips about organising, the roles that are useful to support your action, physical tactics, basic legal rights and more. With experienced facilitator and trainer, Nicola Paris, from CounterAct which was founded to train, and support direct action across the country.
Sustainable Activism
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 3.00-3.50
Basil Byrne and Crunch
The work we’re doing is super essential, but it’s easy to get sucked into that land of constant action and work, and not leave enough time for self-care, fun and actual enjoyment of life. Explore some useful tactics to ensure your activism also supports you, and learn to not wear burnout as a badge of pride!
Organising to Stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 3.00-3.50
Charlie Wood
A facilitated, organising space for developing campaigns to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership!
Friday – 4.00pm start
Conflict over Coal: A Choose Your Own
Adventure Role Play
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 4.00-5.50
Jason Ray
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to protest at a power station built upon several generations of coal miners? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in that town and have a bunch of strangers telling you your job is unsustainable and hurting your children? Have you ever wanted to be a coal mining magnate or a slimy politician? Then come along for a fun role play and discussion on the different stakeholders in the fossil fuel extraction chain and how we can perhaps build a broader opposition to it!
Participatory Dialogues about Food Systems and Non-Human Animals
Session 2: Class, Race and Veganism
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 4.00-4.50
Javed de Costa (Institute for Critical Animal Studies)
An open discussion about the intersections of animal-free practices and vegetarianism/ veganism, privilege, and cultural difference. How might we understand these practices in light of their place within cultural contexts and class structures? Is veganism elitist? Can vegetarianism be racist? How might we better reconceive environmentally-motivated veganism in relation to class and race struggles? This discussion will also include a critical analysis of ‘postvegan’ positions – including ways these critiques can be both useful and problematic.
What Am I Doing with My Life?
Room: Pot (JD102) – 4.00-5.50
Regan Bleechmore
So, what, you’re gonna be an activist, like, forever? Where’s that uni degree of yours gonna land ya? When are ya gonna make enough cash to buy the house and settle down with 2.5 kids? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?! This collaborative ZINE WRITING affair will put the pen in your hand to give words of support to ratbags like yerself. By emphatically rejecting the status-seeking ladder-climbing greed carnival of consumerism, we can live courageously unconventional lifestyles driven by compassion and desire. It’s nice to remind ourselves how and why it’s not only possible - it’s the only way to live.
Education Equity Alliance: Building a Pluralistic, Broad-Based National Movement for a Fair Education System
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 4.00-5.50
Demanding that cuts be stopped, or even deregulation rolled back, doesn’t seem to be enough anymore. How can we build a united, but diverse, national grassroots network to coordinate action across multiple social strata for the re-valorisation of quality public education in Australia? The movement will start here. Get on board.
Mining the Truth Roadtrips – Organising Session
Spoon (HA GO40) - 4:00-5:50
Alana West (ASEN)
Discussion and planning session for ASEN’s ‘Mining the Truth’ Roadtrips in 2014.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP IV]
The Canvas – 4.00-5.50
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshops will culminate in an interactive performance. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Upcycling!
The Studio - 4.00-4.50
Learn how to make a nifty little wallet using recycled tetrapak cartons! Great for older kids (10+) and anyone else.
Friday – 5.00pm start
Former ASEN Convenors: Where are they now?
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 5.00-5.50
Holly Creenaune Nicky Ison and Wenny Theresia
Holly Creenaune, Nicky Ison and Wenny Theresia were around in the early days of ASEN, and have gone on to do diverse and fantastic things. Where have their ASEN experiences led them? What are they up to now? What opportunities and challenges does the future hold? An informal panel discussion and story time.
Life Drawing [WORKSHOP IV]
The Studio – 5.00-5.50
Jackson Gable
Need a break? Try something new and join us for a fun and relaxing, untutored Life Drawing session! Open to everyone and perfect for complete beginners and enthusiasts alike this session will be a calming and accessible way to take some time out and explore your creative focus. We will be drawing a nude model so please come on time, as doors will be closed while modelling is underway.
Saturday – 11.30am start
Ecological Crisis, Geo-Engineering,
Social Movements and the Future
Plenary Room 1 (MCC T1) – 11.30-12.30
Clive Hamilton (Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics)
Clive Hamilton is a really big deal. He started The Australia Institute (TAI), is a super philosopher and public intellectual and has written on issues as diverse as consumer culture, geoengineering and the history of protest in Australia. Hopefully he’ll find a way to talk about all three. Not to be missed.
The Buzz About Bees
Whisk (HA G052) - 11.30-12.30
Nick Mortimer
The rise of interest in urban beekeeping is parallel to an increasing awareness of issues relating to sustainability. In this workshop we aim to give a brief introduction to bees through an overview of beekeeping history and issues. We focus on how bees are being used in cities around the world to foster ideas of sustainability with regards to food, community and culture.
Climate Change: Uncertainty, Risk and the Precautionary Principle
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 11.30-12.30
John Hunter (Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre)
In this workshop, John will first dispel the myth that the general public don’t understand and can’t cope with uncertainty; and show how we routinely cope with uncertainty in our everyday lives. He will define the concept of “risk” and how, in many cases, uncertainty isn’t our “friend”; it isn’t an excuse to wait and not act now on climate change. Finally, he will show that, in many cases, the precautionary principle is not just a subjective “tree hugger’s mantra” but rather a robust and objective way in which to gauge future risk.
Building Bridges with Faith Communities: Ideas for Community Organisers
Room: Pot (JD102) – 11.30-12.30
Thea Ormerod
This is a workshop about engaging with faith-based communities. What is happening already? What kinds of strengths could be built on? What might be some helpful strategies for people outside faith communities to invite them to collaborate on projects?
Reflections on the Galilee Roadtrip: A Facilitated Panel Discussion
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 11.30-12.30
Josh Creaser and Roadtrip Participants
The Galilee Coal Basin, in the middle of Queensland, is one of the world’s largest, untouched coal reserves, and mining barons such as Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer are desperate to dig it up. In fact, coal companies plan to build nine new mega-mines in the Galilee Coal Basin, five of which would each be larger than any coal mine currently operating in Australia. If the Galilee was unlocked, it would more than double Australia’s coal exports, trash the Great Barrier Reef and unleash catastrophic climate change. In April 2014, around 50 people took to the road to find out what’s going on and to connect with people in the region. Hear what they learned about the fight against big coal in the Galilee.
How Shareholders Can Make Their Companies Better
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 11.30-12.30
Caroline de Couteur (Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility)
Shareholders own companies and so ultimately they can control them. In USA and England there is a long tradition of successful shareholder activism. Australia has not got such a successful past. The Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility has been created to empower shareholders to make their companies more sustainable. We would like to empower you with knowledge and ideas for shareholder activism.
Riff Raff Radical Marching Band
Meet@The Marquee – 11.30-12.30
The Riff Raff Radical Marching Band is an activist band which brings the musical love and rage to rallies, protests, fundraisers, community events and the odd marriage proposal. Come learn about what we do and how you can replicate it on any scale in your hometown. Bring instruments and we’ll teach you how to play our favourite EASY tunes! And by “instruments” we mean anything that makes noise.
Tree Climbing!
Meet @ The Marquee
Learn basic climbing skills and hang out with some of the greats of the Australian forests movement, including Miranda Gibson, who lived in a treesit in Tasmania for more than a year, as well as a whole host of other amazing climbers and activists. Note: This event is an excursion which will take place off campus, on public land. All participants get involved at their own risk.
Saturday Lunch Market Day! Stalls, Zines, Info Swaps and More (near the Marquee) A cornucopia of delights: collectives and organisations from around Canberra and the country will share their zines, campaigns, ideas and other materials: check them out, while you eat!
Saturday – 2.00pm start
The Inspiring History of Australian Forest Activism
Plenary Room – 2.00-3.50
Miranda Gibson (Still Wild Still Threatened) and Dave Caldwell (Goongerah Environment Centre)
Activism today has evolved from a long and inspiring history in Australia of direct action to protect our environment. This workshop brings to life some of our most inspiring battles for Australia’s forests, the tactics and strategies evolved over time, the successes won along the way and what it means for today’s activists and anyone who cares about the future of our forests. You’ll hear stories from long-time forest campaigners, plus see some of the highlights of activist films from the past few decades.
Taking the Power Back – Community Power and the Energy Revolution
Room: Spatula (HAG051) – 2.00-3.50
Nicky Ison and Liam Oakwood
Faced with inaction by governments, people around the world are taking the struggle against climate change into their own hands by building community owned power! In some countries the old polluting utilities are shutting coal and gas power stations because they simply can’t compete, while in others government and industry is desperately fighting a rearguard action against renewable energy to secure power and profits. They don’t know it yet, but their corrupt old model of power generation is doomed. The Community Energy Movement has the potential to bring both political and energy independence. Will you be a part of it?
Towards a Just Transition from Fossil Fuels: The Earthworker Cooperative
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 2.00-3.50
Dan Musil and Dave Kerin
As we fight to move away from fossil fuels and create a sustainable future we have to consider what is a just transition? What is being transformed and who is taken into account in that process? Drawing on the experiences of the Mining the Truth roadtrips and subsequent engagement with coal communities, this participatory workshop will explore the concept of just transitions and discuss its applications in our campaigns and strategies. It will also outline and discuss a tangible alternative being developed in Victoria: the Earthworker Cooperative. The Earthworker Cooperative is a community-led initiative to provide sustainable, wealth-creating jobs that empower local communities and provide clean energy solutions. Earthworker is setting up an Australia-wide network of community owned cooperatives, beginning with Eureka’s Future, a worker owned factory to manufacture high quality solar hot water systems in Morwell, in the heart of Victoria’s coal-burning LaTrobe Valley. Forging unlikely alliances between trade unionists, environmentalists and small manufacturers, the project is a powerful and positive endeavour to revitalise local economies, address climate change, and assist a ‘just transition’ from fossil fuel to clean renewable energy. Earthworker is helping to creating new ways to meet our needs – fostering fair, democratic workplaces, local manufacturing, strong communities and sustainable technologies.
A Gentle Yet Provocative Exploration of Culture
Room: Sieve (HAG053) - 2.00-3.50
Jeanette De Foe
What is your culture? What does it mean to you? And how does your experience of culture frame the way you see the world? How does it affect the way you participate in activism? If you’ve ever thought “I have no culture”, “I don’t know what my culture is” or even “I carry my culture with me in everything I do”, this workshop is for you. We’ll explore perceptions of our own cultures, delve into the details of it and pave the way for a radical understanding of cultural marginalisation, power and privilege. Prepare to be confused and provoked (gently of course), and leave with more questions than answers!
Frontline Action on Coal – The #LeardBlockade
Room: Pot (JD102) – 2.00-3.50
Phil Evans
Find out about the #LeardBlockade and protecting farms, forests, culture, community and climate against Whitehaven Coal’s Maules Creek mine. Learn about what it has taken to hold together the Leard Forest Alliance (Greenpeace, TWS, 350.org, Lock the Gate, anarchists etc.) and the Protection Treaty with the Gomeroi.
Building a Progressive United Front
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) – 2.00-3.50
Kim Sattler (Unions ACT)
This workshop will explore how you go about building a network of allies to assist in campaigns. How do you build common ground, how can you work with others, the pitfalls of working with disparate groups and other interested individuals without losing focus. Why does grass roots organising work and how can it be used to build your support base? How can social media be used to best advantage in this space?
Introduction to Community Organising and the Sydney Alliance
Spoon (HA G040) - 2.00-3.50
The Sydney Alliance is a broad-based coalition of community groups which organises for the long term, on the basis of strong interpersonal relationships, for a just and fair Sydney.
Composting SOS’s food with Brett
Meet @ The Marquee – 2.00-3.50
Brett
Join the compost king (or is that queen?) diving deep into a hands-on participatory direct action skillshare creating compost from the leftover slops of sustainability (SOS!), turning the world into a permaculture sculpture with your waste, yeah! We’re going to mulch ya a practical workshop not to be missed!
The Deceit of the Crown – Ending the Myth
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) – 2.00-3.50
Michael Anderson (from The Euahlayi Peoples Republic)
Michael Anderson presents the legal contradiction of the domestic courts refusal to interpret the finding from the Mabo case. What are the implications for Aboriginal Sovereignty? Ideal for participants aspiring to become involved in politics and law. Some basic knowledge of English law and Australian colonial history is needed but not essential. Will look at the current legal argument for the Nguranpaa Ltd v Balonne Shire case. Michael is one of the original founders of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. He is also the founder of the Sovereignty Union -First Nations Interim National Unity Government. Chair: Dr Ben Authers.
Theatre of the Oppressed: Rehearsing Social Transformation [WORKSHOP V]
The Canvas – 2.00-3.50
Robin Davidson
Theatre of the Oppressed is a radical approach to using theatre for social change developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil and Peru in the 1970s, and now used around the world. This practical workshop will use games and exercises for de-mechanising the body and re-awakening the senses, Image Theatre for embodying and analysing experiences of oppression, and Forum Theatre, a performance form where the audience can change the outcome. The workshops will culminate in an interactive performance. This workshop may be the beginning of an intercampus network to continue Theatre of the Oppressed work on sustainability issues.
Check out the exhibition!
The Studio 2.00-3.50
Saturday – 4.00pm start
Inspiring Change: Inspiring Interventions into Ecological Consciousness
Plenary Room 1 (MCC T1) – 4.00-5.50
Robin Davidson, Zsuzsi Soboslay, Simon Thakur, Melissa Gryglewski
A forum session in which three local and inspiring leaders working in the field of Environment and the Arts share their thoughts and their work; followed by a facilitated forum. Participants will be given a web-link to share their own thoughts and Arts/Sustainability experiences that will be represented visually on a public webpage. This session will be a forum, with 3 speakers talking for 20 minutes each, with an open discussion at the end where participants can ask questions and share their own Arts/Sustainability experiences.
Speakers:
Robin Davidson - has a long passionate history of lending his expertise in Commedia dell’Arte, clown, playback theatre, forum theatre, poetry and community theatre to communities across Australia and across the world, exploring issues of social justice as well as the environment.
Zsuzsi Slobslay - a performer, writer and artist who has been engaged in creative collaborations across the arts for over 20 years. She teaches and researches in the tertiary, pre-school and community (including mixed ability) arts sectors, and writes and creates performances on the themes of environment, ecology, and the experience of refugees. She specialises in collaborative work across disciplines and has held residencies at Bundanon, ACT Early Childhood schools, the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra Dance Theatre and in September she participated in the Kultour Gathering in Brisbane.
Simon Thakur - is a long-time practitioner and student of physical and mind-body therapies including Eastern methods grounded in Chinese Medicine like Shiatsu, Tuina (Chinese Medical Massage), Indian Yoga, Buddhist Meditation, Daoist Internal Martial Arts and Qigong; Capoeira Angola, and Thai Massage, and Western methods like Remedial Massage, Sports Massage and Myotherapy. This wisdom informs his teaching of “Evolutionary (or Ancestral) Movement”; a movement practice that is informed by evolutionary biology which aims to help students gradually, joyfully restore or relearn natural movement, breathing and awareness to the whole body so that they may experience the ease and joy being fully present in our own bodies and our environment.
Financial Activism with Simon Sheikh
Room: Spatula (HAG051) - 4.00-5.50
Simon Sheikh
Students are leading divestment campaigns in Australia and around the world. Come and hear about the history of divestment campaigning, the economics of coal and climate change and the practical steps that you can make to be a part of the divestment movement. Simon will, for the first time, also discuss Australia’s first fossil fuel free superannuation fund, ‘Future Super’. With $1.7trillion in retirement savings in Australia, Simon will discuss how these funds can be moved out of fossil fuels and into clean energy.
Doing Multiculturalism in Western Sydney
Room: Whisk (HAG052) – 4.00-5.50
Atem Dau Atem
This presentation will highlight the experiences of South Sudanese in Western Sydney. Doing multiculturalism is about how South Sudanese interact on a daily basis with their social environment in Western Sydney and how they experience multiculturalism.
Effective, Equitable Alliances: Environmental and Indigenous Activists
Room: Sieve (HAG053) – 4.00-5.50
Will Mooney (Friends of the Earth Melbourne)
Social justice and environmental issues are often intertwined. Oppression of marginalised and disadvantaged people has gone hand in hand with the exploitation of the non-human world and natural ecosystems. As activists confronting systems of power, how do we unite to create effective and equitable alliances that address common challenges? This workshop will explore that question inviting input from all participants to brainstorm the foundations of equitable and effective alliances between Indigenous and non-Indigenous environmental activists.
Police Tactics and New Threats to Protest: Discussion
Room: Pot (JD102) – 4.00-5.50
Wenny Theresia, Nicola Paris and Miranda Gibson
The more successful we are at making change, the more the backlash and repression we are likely to face. In Queensland and Victoria we are already seeing new laws brought in and others in the pipeline, to try to stop protests or silence dissent. Hear from environmental campaigners and activists about some of these threats and what we can do to resist and keep on fighting for environmental and social justice. How can we safeguard our collectives and movements? What are strategies of dealing with police at protests and the policing of our movements?
Lock the Gate: Community Organising and the Frontline Rural Movement (with Drew Hutton)
Room: Blender (MORAN G007) - 4.00-5.50
Drew Hutton
Learn more about the philosophy and strategies underpinning Lock the Gate and why it has grown to become such a powerful force in the contemporary environment movement.
Everyone Can Flow: Building Confidence in Public Speaking through Rhythm, Rhyme and Creative use of Language
Room: Spoon (HA G040) – 4.00-4.50
Declan Furber Gillick
A workshop including elements of drama, spoken word, hip hop and improvisation. There will be a short presentation on the history and importance of spoken word and hip hop followed by a group focused session of rhythmic sharing and story telling.
Uranium, Country and Culture
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) 4.00-4.50
An overview of Uranium Mining in Western Australia and how that impacts Country, Culture and Sovereignty, along with some of the projects happening in the Goldfields area including the Walkatjurra Walkabout that is a 300km walk from Yeelirriee (W.A largest uranium deposit) to Leonora.
Make Art!
The Canvas 4.00-5.50
Do Your Own Screenprinting, Graffiti, Stencils, Patches, Banners, Flags and Everything in Between!!
Saturday - 5pm start
Surviving
First People’s Workshops (COP G029) - 5:00-5:50
Jacinta Haseldine
From 1952 to 1963, the British Government, with the active participation of the Australia government, conducted 12 major nuclear test explosions and up to 600 so called “minor trails” in the South Australian out backs. Jacinta will first screen ‘The Keeper’, a story about Nana Sue and herself, before speaking about the ‘Black Mist’ - the impact of nuclear weapons on Australia.
Life Drawing [WORKSHOP V]
The Studio – 5.00-5.50
Jackson Gable
Need a break? Try something new and join us for a fun and relaxing, untutored Life Drawing session! Open to everyone and perfect for complete beginners and enthusiasts alike this session will be a calming and accessible way to take some time out and explore your creative focus. We will be drawing a nude model so please come on time, as doors will be closed while modelling is underway.