I’m sure that, like me, over this terrifying summer so far, you’ve been inspired by the way communities across the country are coming together to support each other, whether it’s through fighting fires themselves or cooking meals for each other, distributing masks or gathering goods for families who’ve lost everything. And, of course, the donations for the fire fighting services and the wildlife rescue programs have been flowing at an extraordinary rate.

This is wonderful and important. But it’s also striking how, for the first time while a major climate event is still going on, so many conversations are already turning towards the need for change as well as the need to help right now.That’s what the Green Institute is here for – and it’s why we need your help now to cultivate the seeds of change.

In recent weeks, I’ve had numerous conversations with people – friends, relatives, people I frankly barely know – who are asking themselves and those around them what needs to be done for us to survive.

They’re looking around at the chaos of fires and floods, climate denial and obfuscation, lies about backburning, crazy hail storms in the midst of devastating drought, and they see no evidence that our current political and economic system is able to face up to it. They see how this is all interlinked with the dire inequality in our society, the rise of hate-filled politics, and the creeping authoritarianism that’s eating away at our democracy.

And they’re ready for change. They’re ready to be part of change.

The Green Institute is one of the only organisations in Australia – if not the only one – working on how we reclaim, reconceive and redesign our democratic systems, how we cultivate an enabling and nurturing politics from the ground up, a politics which is able to not just dramatically and urgently turn around ecological collapse but also build the resilience we need in order to survive and thrive in the years ahead.

But there’s not much point working on those ideas if we don’t have the resources to hugely increase our capacity to get out into the community, get our hands dirty, and begin to make them a reality.

That’s why we’re launching our regular giving program and asking you, our supporters, people who’ve taken part in our events, conferences, and seminars and read our papers, to help us cultivate the seeds of change.

One of the many things which this summer has done, I believe, is blown away the myth that we humans are separate from nature. When you’re spending months breathing in the ghosts of trees and animals, have your windows smashed by fist-sized hailstones, and wake up each morning wondering what the skies will throw at you today, it’s impossible to continue to believe that our society can keep living as though the natural world we are one small part of can be safely ignored.

That opens the path to some amazing conversations about living ecologically, about reshaping our politics and economies and society along ecological principles. And we’ve got some exciting plans for stimulating and hosting those conversations in the weeks and months ahead.

Part of living ecologically is understanding that we’re all in this together, and that each one of us is a vital and irreplaceable part of the wonderful, grand, messy, beautiful whole that is nature. Each of us contributing just a small amount regularly, as well as getting involved in the activities we’ve got planned, can add up to something amazing.

Will you be a part of it? Show your support now.

Thank you,

Tim.