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The first days of summer up here at Binna Burra are a little like a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel…there are white and yellow butterflies everywhere, sometimes so many that it’s like walking through clouds. The air and earth are full of moisture and warmth, with grass and plants growing before our very eyes. If you listen carefully you can almost hear them bursting through the soil and breathing with a sigh into the light and air. And we are experiencing interludes of bugs, particularly in the early evenings as beetles and flying ants make for glowing indoor lights. It’s a mixture of heaven and hell, dreams and nightmares (particularly for those who have a fear of bugs!)
The Ethos Foundation has had a huge year in 2007 and we’re all looking forward to a holiday during Christmas and New Year. Some of the team will be on-deck through January, but I am looking forward to a number of weeks off with the sole aim of morphing into a strand of seaweed and languishing on the edge of the ocean where the ripples of surf meet the sand…just like the beautiful Rose Bygrave song. - The Foundation’s dedicated team has achieved a great deal this year:
- A 5-day Courageous Conversation and Think Tank in March that caught the early wave of business and government interest in climate change and their desire for meaningful dialogue;
- Satish Kumar’s east coast tour during May which so greatly heartened and inspired communities and people from Warwick to Melbourne;
- The Climate Change Leadership Roundtable at Queensland’s Parliament House in August with Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon and a stellar cast of panellists and participants;
- The Foundation’s Open Day and Birthday celebration in October
- The creation of an Ethos Foundation Northern NSW Hub following the August Roundtable
- Ongoing and deepening partnerships with MECU, GeoLINK, Education Queensland, Hatch, Green Cross Australia, Solahart, Santos Wholefoods, CERES Sustainability Park, School of Total Education, Wild Mountains, Beaudesert Shire Council and Resurgence Magazine, and universities including Queensland University, Griffith University, University of Technology Sydney and Southern Cross University.
- Redevelopment of the Foundation’s website including online membership applications, an online book shop, and other interactive community features;
- Regular eNews and online bulletins
- Development of the Foundation’s 2008 workshop and events program (see below and on our website);
- Development of the 2008-09 “Building Sustainable Small Business” program in partnership with AusIndustry, Beaudesert Shire Council and the Qld Government’s State Development Department;
- Ongoing support for “Science and Art: Time of Transition” collaboration and exhibition process;
- Ongoing Earthcare activities including Back Creek restoration in partnership with Beechmont Landcare, Conservation Volunteers Australia, Greencorps, Beaudesert Shire Council and the Ridge on Binna Burra; and creation of the Summit organic garden with the tireless support of landowner Joss MacKinnon and a number of interns;
- Ongoing support for the Beechmont Business and Enterprise Network including the 2007 Beechmont Business Expo, the 2007 and 2008 Beechmont Business Directories, and the creation of the Beechmont Community Website (www.beechmont.org.au);
- Founding team member of B-Fresh, Beechmont’s weekly local produce outlet which was launched in November 2007;
- Preparation for “Bioneering Business – Seeding and Growing New Economy” a 5-day Courageous Conversation in May 2008 with keynote presenter Judy Wicks ;
- Preparation for three regional roundtables in Ipswich, Sunshine Coast and Northern NSW which focus on food value chains – in partnership with Food Connect;
- Planning for the creation of a bioregional post-carbon campus in the Wollumbin Bioregion in partnership with Permaforest Trust, Wild Mountains Trust and Southern Cross University
- Ongoing consulting services to progressive organisations – enabling the Foundation to be financially self-sufficient throughout 2007.
As many of our readers know, the Foundation has a small, mainly part-time staff and to have achieved so much in our second year of operation is testament to the skills, commitment and dedication of Ken McLeod (program development and Northern NSW hub), Emily Pearce (website and marketing), Jana Zehr (bookkeeping), Jan McGregor (consulting and building sustainable small business program), and Tom Caamano (consulting, earthcare and building sustainable small business program). At times, when burnout and exhaustion begin to hound our steps – as I must say has been my experience for the last couple of months – the only thing to do is take a break in an effort replenish one’s clarity and creativity. With a long holiday filled with surfing, swimming, camping, novels, kids, sunrises, sunsets, afternoon naps, seabreezes and laughter I fully intend to revitalise physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually and in the new year, work differently within the Ethos Foundation with renewed enthusiasm and focus. The Foundation’s core team will be restructuring the organisation over the next month or two so that our own internal sustainability is established out of the manic start-up process of the past two years. We are looking towards a long period of contribution to the bioregion and we hope you will continue to create this path with us as we walk. On behalf of the team, I wish you all a season of creative renewal, peace and joy
Sally MacKinnon, Executive Officer, Ethos Foundation. “No matter what has happened
in the past,
it has all worked together
to bring you to this very moment.
And this is the moment
you can choose
to make everything new.
Right now.” Janine Brown |
