ROUND UP OF LOCAL EVENTS ATTENDED IN MARCH 2025
The month seemed jam-packed with events:
Climate Action Week (the second year, a Sydney festival) with many, many events.
Ones I attended were:
Psychologists for a Safe climate. https://www.psychologyforasafeclimate.org/
A talk with Richard Denniss (Australia Institute and Kumi Naidoo Amnesty International)
about their work on a non-proliferation Treaty for Fossil Fuels
“Discover the Big Picture” (looking at systems) with panel of Regen Syd/Waverley, New
Economy Network Australia. NENA and Henry (?) from Local Futures
Guest Dinner with Mark Diesendorf (Honorary Associate Professor of Environment & Society
at UNSW) presented a broad strategy for transitioning from the present collapsing civilisation to
an environmentally sustainable, fairer and more peaceful one. His recent book “How to Create a
Sustainable Civilisation”, shows that technological change alone will not be sufficient for
achieving such a transition; that we must also break free of the destructive economic and
political ideologies that imprison us and our governments, preventing real change. He
emphasised the critical action required, for groups to work together for powerful impact.
Film club was the film ‘Purpose’ on the Wellbeing Economy, focusing on Australian economist
Katherine Trebeck.
Inner Transition pilot of event with Kit called Listening Circles and Listening Partnerships: deep
listening for processing feelings and maintaining resilience, in a community setting.
Council’s third Repair Cafe, held at The Boot Factory – a hive of activity with local people fixing
broken items of other locals. New to this, a follow up workshop a week later, called “Learn to
Repair’. Different types of repair will be the subject of these new ‘Learn to Repair’ sessions in
future.
Marine Bioblitz – a feat of organising, to tool-up locals (as citizen-scientists) in the use of App
i-Naturalist, to take photos of the life in coastal rock-pools and ocean, and send on to scientists
for analysis and recording.
Marine-related stalls were also held, in the HIgh Tide room at the Pavilion. I learned about
shark-nets (not enclosures) being counter-productive, because they capture other sea creatures
which actually attracts sharks to the area.
That was a big environmental month in Bondi!!
By Kit Shepherd, Convenor, Transition Bondi