The coronavirus pandemic both lays bare deep and ongoing injustices in our society and provides a moment to reevaluate and reset our political conversation. One of the most obvious fault lines is over climate action and fossil fuels, with governments using the cover of the pandemic to push forward with polluting and destructive projects despite ever clearer evidence that a clean energy-driven recovery is the way to go, and stronger than ever demands from communities to head in that direction.

8pm, 17 September 2020: Watch or listen back to the webinar recording.

Traditional campaigning methods tend to rely on a healthy democracy, where leaders should respond to the demands of citizens. But, with climate change, that clearly is not working. The power of the fossil fuel sector is so tangled up in political power, and the disinformation and tribalism is so strong, that these methods are failing.

But what if we worked to tackle the climate crisis and the crisis in democracy together? What if we worked to confront fossil fuels by building community, and cultivating democratic engagement and participation?

That’s what our presenters at this webinar are doing. With amazing effect.

Julie Lyford (a member of the Green Institute board) is a local community member from Gloucester in the upper Hunter Valley who decided to confront the destruction of her home head on. With gentle but firm, painstaking work, she led the creation of amazing community networks and alliances that saw her become Mayor and, through Groundswell Gloucester and Lock the Gate, eventually can the plans to extract fossil fuels around Gloucester.

Dr Amanda Cahill, founder of The Next Economy, is one of Australia’s leading experts and practitioners in community-led economic development programs in fossil fuel extraction zones that enable and support local communities to envision and create a future beyond coal and gas. Having worked in the Latrobe, the Hunter, the Darling Downs, Central Queensland and elsewhere, Amanda will share her experiences, and why she is optimistic.

Bursaries available for those without the means to pay. Please email office@greeninstitute.org.au with your request.

If you have registered, you will have received a Zoom link email at the time you registered. You will also have received a reminder email including the Zoom link at around 2.12pm AEST this afternoon (Thursday 17 September). If you have registered and haven’t received the Zoom link via email (check your junk/spam folders first!), please text/call Elissa 0418 786 986 with your full name and we’ll send it to you.

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Watch or listen back to the webinar recording.