MELBOURNE WORKSHOP - KINSHIP: EXPLORING ECOCENTRISM AND RIGHTS OF NATURE IN AUSTRALIA

1st October 9.30-4pm - 400 Victoria St North Melbourne 3051

We live in very strange times. Many people have declared we are officially in ‘collapse’ - across ecosystems, capitalist economics, Western governance systems and more.

At the same time, we are seeing rapid growth in Earth laws initiatives, rights of nature laws, bioregionalism, multi-species justice, 'nature on the board' and respect for Indigenous knowledge and practices that Care for Country and Care for Kin. 

How can we bring the very best of us - our ideas, our creativity and our love for life on Earth – together, to connect diverse fields of work, encourage and support each other, ask questions, and build a positive vision for collectively responding to eco-social challenges.

AELA's Eco-Imaginarium Series is co-hosted in Melbourne with Planetary Civics Inquiry, RMIT Regenerative Futures Institute, Ecocentrix and Future Dreaming. Join us to connect, learn and share!

The draft program and guest speaker list is below. The workshop will feature guest speakers, break-out discussions, mapping/sharing of ideas & practices, and creative activities.

The workshop will produce a publication focusing on ecocentric governance, and will also contribute to the wider series publication in 2027.

GUEST SPEAKERS

Michelle Maloney, Australian Earth Laws Alliance (AELA)
Wendy Steele, RMIT and Planetary Civics Inquiry
Dominique Hes, Regen Melbourne
Fiona Hillary, Oceans Research and Climate Activism
Rebecca Olive, Regenerative Futures Institute
Augusto Oyama, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Kyoto University
Alex Faustina, Praxis Lab, RMIT
Nicolas Guerra, Alliance for Praxis Research (APR)
Stanislav Roudavski, Deep Design Lab
Amy Hahs, Biodiverse Cities, University of Melbourne

MELBOURNE PROGRAM - KINSHIP: EXPLORING ECOCENTRISM AND RIGHTS OF NATURE IN AUSTRALIA

1st October 9.30-4pm - 400 Victoria St North Melbourne 3051

9:30 – 9:45 | Welcome to Country, Framing of Kinship

9.45 – 10.30 | Opening Provocations - Ecocentrism across cultures + ecocentric governance innovations

10:30 – 11:00 | Break out discussions - Sharing our ecocentric ideas and practices

11:00 – 11:30 | We are Water: Rights of Nature & Stories of Solidarity with Riverine Communities from Australia and Brazil

11.30 – 12:00 I Whole Group Activity/ River of Life Mapping + Sharing of Stories together

12:00 – 1:00 I Lunch break - people are invited to bring their lunch or purchase it nearby

1:00 – 2:00 I Panel and Facilitated Dialogue: Ecocentric practices in Melbourne that inspire us / What is emerging,  what has changed, who has gained a voice, and what remains difficult?

2:00 – 2:45 | Working Session — What could ecocentric governance actually look like in Victoria and beyond?

2:45 – 3:00 | Close & next steps - Reflecting on what has emerged, invitation to join initiatives and further collaborations - including a working paper, a pilot proposal to Local Councils and more

3:00-4:00 I Extra time for people who want to stay on for ‘action oriented’ discussions/planning for collaborative next steps and to deepen the conversations

ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN EARTH LAWS ALLIANCE (AELA)

AELA is a not-for-profit organisation working to increase the understanding and practical implementation of Earth-centred (ecocentric) governance. AELA works to create systems change, across an intersection of reimagining and decolonising: law, economics, education, ethics and community participation in Australia. AELA's vision is an Australian society that embraces an ecocentric or ‘life-centred’ culture, with governance systems that enable human communities to thrive within healthy ecological boundaries. AELA's work includes education programs and project support for people, communities and organisations working to create ecocentric and bioregional systems change.

For more information, visit our website: www.earthlaws.org.au
or email us anytime: aela@earthlaws.org.au

ABOUT PLANETARY CIVICS INQUIRY@RMIT

The RMIT Planetary Civics Inquiry is an alliance of researchers, activists, artists, educators, policymakers and designers committed to transforming how we conceive, care for and govern our entangled planet in climate change. The Inquiry’s goal is to build understanding and civic practices that support Earth’s deeply connected planetary scale living systems, and how we need creative new ways of working together to protect and care for them at the local scale. The Inquiry promotes planetary imagination and the vital role of the social sciences, arts and humanities in addressing the impacts of climate change.

The Inquiry started as a collaboration between RMIT University (RMIT), Dark Matter Labs (DML) and Politics for Tomorrow (PfT) designed to generate new forms of transdisciplinary knowledge, actionable frameworks, and transformative interventions by fusing academic rigor with real-world experimentation at local and planetary scales. This collective action is now supported and informed by the thought leadership of RMIT’s Professors of Practice - Rosi Braidotti, Indy Johar, Patricia Piccinini and Tim Flannery.

For more information, visit our website here and https://www.planetarycivics.net/
or email us anytime: erin.mellencamp@rmit.edu.au

Contact the host of Eco-Imaginarium: Melbourne Pop-Up Event! Exploring ecocentric life, culture and governance