2019

Our 2019 content highlights

Articles

Nature in culture II: the power of meeting

“As a young Indigenous scholar, moving in other peoples’ Indigenous spaces isn’t always acknowledged in many conferences… This experience of bringing my ancestors to this space to meet the ancestors of this land was immense, and in hindsight I can see why my responses were so emotional. Because these kinds of meetings matter, they have power.”

From business risk to national risk: decarbonising finance and mainstreaming climate change

Tanya Fiedler, chair of last month’s Business Making of Climate Change series, reflects on the seemingly simple affirmation that ‘the fastest path to decarbonisation is in the framing of climate change as a financial and economic risk’.

Breaking damper and building connection: food as a community connector

PhD student Omar Elkharouf reflects on last week’s Culture in Conversation: Creating Inclusive Food Communities, a collaborative event held in celebration of NAIDOC Week by YARN Australia, Foodlab Sydney and the University of Sydney Union.

Tiwi + Jazz: singing, performing, healing, dreaming

On March 15, the Ngarukuruwala group presented Tiwi + Jazz at the Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre – an event rescheduled from last year following the passing of one of the choir member’s husbands. SEI fellow Genevieve Campbell reflects here on the strength of the group and the power of their songs to transform, transport and heal.

When North meets South: cross-cultural connection and the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge

Rebecca Lawrence reflects on a two week trip in May 2019 which brought a delegation of Sami Swedish Indigenous representatives to Australia. After presenting at the International Association of Impact Assessment conference, the group travelled from Minjerribah in Queensland down to Darug Country to meet with local Indigenous leaders.

MSJ series: just coal transitions In the more-than-human world

Following on from the past fortnight’s highly successful Multi-Species Justice Symposia series, political economist Beck Pearse discusses economic justice and the future of coal in Australia.

Warren Roberts on talking, yarning and deadly collaborations

Ahead of our NAIDOC Week celebrations, Kate Johnston from FoodLab Sydney talks with Warren Roberts, founder and director of Yarn Australia, about the complexities of post-colonial food culture and the importance of willingness in collaboration.

Risky business: adapting climate science for industry and finance

Christopher Wright reflects on the third Business Making of Climate Change event, where a panel of experts from industry and academia came together to address the challenges of integrating climate science with business.

Experts ask authority to hold oil giant to account on Bight Plan

A group of energy and natural resource experts, led by the Sydney Environment Institute, is calling on Australia’s regulator to hold Norwegian oil company Equinor to account over its proposal to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight.

Australia’s energy (in)security and the proposed drilling in the Great Australian Bight

Australia has earnt the title of the biggest exporter of LNG in the world, and yet we are currently experiencing our worst energy supply crisis to date on Australia’s East Coast. Short-term policies that prioritise over-exportation and over-extraction endanger more than just our domestic energy security, but our most precious natural ecosystems, like the Great Australian Bight.