I hope you had a good rest over the holiday period and, like me, are ready to leap into 2017 with renewed energy.

One of the reasons I’m feeling excited and energetic is because, as well as just not working for a while, I had some fantastic conversations with people over the break, about all sorts of things. I find just kicking back and chatting about ideas, about the world, about the future, to be truly invigorating. And I know a lot of other people do, too.

Which is why we at The Green Institute are launching our Food for Thought dinner and discussion program in a few weeks!

One of the big topics of conversation, unsurprisingly, over these holidays was the question of work. Heaps of my friends and relatives find we’re working too much. Some, on the other hand, even with PhDs, can’t get enough paid work in fields they’re qualified for. Many of us are deeply troubled about what the future holds. A few of us went to see the extraordinary Ken Loach film, I, Daniel Blake, and talked about how our political system is failing people who, through no fault of their own, are struggling.

The paper we released late last year on these questions, and the ideas of shorter working weeks and Universal Basic Income, Can Less Work be More Fair?, has really grabbed people’s attention and is still building interest.

You can read an excellent and thorough article on it by Tim Dunlop, author of Why the Future is Workless, that was published this week in The Guardian.

And you can also read my thoughts on why the Centrelink debacle over summer points towards the need to consider a UBI in this week’s Fairfax opinions pages.

Now wouldn’t it be fun to sit down over dinner with some friends old and new and discuss these ideas?

Green Institute’s new organiser, Luke Stickels, is putting together a truly exciting program to help you, your friends, and your friends’ friends hold and take part in dinner discussions across the country. Centred around Green Institute publications, but also tying in with other groups and ideas, there will be opportunities to talk about the future of work, about whether it’s right that corporations have legal personhood but nature doesn’t, about the role of advertising in our society, about rebuilding commons, and much more. And not just talk – discuss how you, in your community, can act on these ideas and start to create the better, fairer, greener world we all know we need.

This project is central to what we intend to achieve here at the Green Institute. It’s about using big ideas to literally change what is possible. It’s about connecting people, bringing people together over two of the best things in the world – food and thought!

I’d really encourage you to get on board with this project and see how, together, we can get your local community involved in positive, progressive change. Please email Luke to register your interest.

And remember – as 2017 kicks off, don’t work too hard 🙂

With many thanks,

Tim

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PS: If you’re on Facebook, please like our Green Institute and Green Agenda pages and join the conversations!