The ‘Open Space’ Environmental Forum will feature workshops, films and powerpoint presentations, along with opportunities for networking, nature walks, yoga, meditation, music and art-making. The forum will focus on solutions and positive alternatives, with the Open Space concept inviting maximum participation, collaborative learning, inform-ation sharing and control of the process by those who attend.
The event is open to students and other members of the community, and will feature academics and environmentalists who have worked with The Wilderness Society, the North East Forest Alliance, and the Australian Greens. Workshops on environmental issues like global warming, decline in biodiversity, air pollution, and loss of farmland to coal seam gas extraction will take place. Green and independent politics, eco-feminism, nonviolence and artistic activism, peace, spirituality and consciousness transformation will also be covered.
We are expecting an appearance of the legendary Slim Knackers and his punkabilly experimental bush poetry, as well as Mick Daley of The Remains. Kite flying is also on the agenda, linking up with an international Kites4Rights action in tandem with the University for Peace in Costa Rica and James Cook University.
The forum will be held in the rural setting of the Thalgarrah Environmental Education Centre over the weekend of October 7-9. Cost: $120 (unwaged $80). Children free
To register your interest, email marty.branagan@une.edu.au or phone 6773 3951 or visit www.une.edu.au/study/peace-studies.
