I've recently embarked on a new and exciting venture with The Wilderness Society - a ‘Movement for Life’.
Movement for Life is a community inspired movement. Designed to empower through skill sharing, ideas building, and networking. The future of The Wilderness Society involves all of us – a society of switched on people ready and armed to protect the places and people we love.
Mid April saw the wrap up the Movement for Life launches Australia-wide. It is now in full swing with a ‘taster’ session on tonight (April 27) and two-day training sessions beginning in May 2016 (running every two months).
I spoke at the WA launch to share my experiences as a volunteer and as an attendant of WA’s first community organising training. Here is what I said…
"My childhood was full of outdoor adventures, climbing trees, catching waves,and exploring rivers. I remember, fondly, swimming and doing bombs into local rivers, floating down on boogie boards or just rolling along, sometimes making it all the way to the ocean.
It was a while ago now when I started noticing signposts indicating the water was unsafe. Maybe due to a storm, maybe due to agricultural run-off. Usually temporary…
Recently, the NZ government lowered the minimum standard for water quality in rivers throughout the country. The acceptable minimum standard is now ‘wadable’. This means that many of the rivers myself or people from my community once enjoyed, are no longer safe to swim in, let alone safe to get food from. And this is OK, by legal standards.
Why am I telling you this? Well, I feel let down by my government – and this is a feeling I think many of us can relate to, one way or another."
“I signed up for the community organising training to develop skills that will empower me to make change wherever I am, whoever I am with, and for whatever cause I feel passionate about.
Hearing everyone’s stories and passions at the workshop was inspiring, and I feel like I learnt some really important things. For example, how fundamental our values and our language are in making change.
The most important take-home message for me was that we, as individuals, as communities, have power. And that with a bit of organisation we can make change happen.”
- Jane G