SDGs - OUR JOURNEY
Melbourne
Our first catch up took place on Saturday 2 March 2019 at the Gazebo Heritage Garden, Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne. We had 9 participants, 4 males and 5 females, from industry, academia (teacher and student), INGOs, and local government backgrounds.
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Our team member, Clinton Moore, started the morning with the brief background of SDGs and where the conversation was at in Australia. We then introduced our activity to get to know each other. Participants were asked to share their first memory of sustainability. Varieties of stories were shared ranging from childhood, TV, game play, house renovation to research and work experience. It is fascinating to hear the influence childhood memory and experience has on us.
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The group identified 10 key reasons that led them to this Saturday morning:
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Climate change (how to speed up the action without hindering other SDGs)
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Disruptive strategies
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How to effectively create an impact
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Strong fact base: connecting the dots and see where I can best contribute
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Sustainability versus cities development
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Gender Equality
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Life below water (reduce, recycle, reuse, rethink)
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How to make people want to solve it = increase desire to care and hence act
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Communication tool = SDGs in everyday/everyone language
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Education for girls
We then voted on the two topics we would like to investigate further:
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Disruptive strategies
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Communication tool = SDGs in everyday/everyone language
Some felt disempower at the end as it seemed like such a big issue to tackle and felt overwhelmed where to start. Others felt very empowered to move to the next step in order to get to the outcome they want to see. The group agreed to stay in touch via Facebook Group and to change the name from "SDGs Go Getter" to "SDGs Open Space". Our next step is to organise another catch up to build on the two ideas identified. We would love to hear from you if you are interested, you know someone or are working on any of the 10 topics mentioned above. Stay tuned for our next catch up in Melbourne.
Brisbane
Following our first event in Melbourne, we expanded outside the state to QLD. We met on 29th March 2019 at a beautiful open space in Picnic Island Green, South Bank Parklands in Brisbane. This time we had 17 participants, 7 males and 10 females from various ages, backgrounds, nationalities and disciplines.
We started with how the SDGs Open Space came about and the purpose of the afternoon. The 4 principles of Open Space and "law of two feet" were introduced. We then introduced our activity to get to know each other. Participants were asked to share their first memory of sustainability.
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The following topics combine both Melbourne and Brisbane champions' reasons that led them to the Open Space:
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Climate change (how to speed up the action without hindering other SDGs)
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Disruptive strategies
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How to effectively create an impact
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Strong fact base: connecting the dots and see where I can best contribute
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Sustainability versus cities development
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Gender Equality
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Life below water (reduce, recycle, reuse, rethink)
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How to make people want to solve it = increase desire to care and hence act
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Communication tool = SDGs to everyday/everyone language
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Education for girls
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To talk with other people about the SDGs and what they mean in practical terms
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Education for people about sustainability
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Animal habitat loss
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Population control
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To develop commitment to tackle poverty in all dimensions
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We then delved deeper into two topics:
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How might we influence consumers to be more conscious about climate change?
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How might we engage a stranger about the SDGs and what they mean in practical terms?
The group divided into two teams, each team working on one of the topics using gamification as a process to develop ideas and potential first steps.
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We ended the afternoon by generating bold plans that would help us progress the ideas we came up on the day including first steps to implement them. Since this first meeting, the members have been progressing the idea to develop an SDGs Funding Match Maker App, and the second meet up is on the way! Get in touch to find out more and to engage!
Meet The Team
Lachlan is a water engineer that is passionate about the SDGs. After working working in Cambodia and attending the UNLEASH innovation lab, now co-chairs the SDG Specialist Network for the Australian Water Association.
Clinton was an inaugural SDSN Youth Local Pathways Fellow for the SDGs. He continues to be inspired by the transformational potential of the SDGs for humanity and development.