Censorship? Naivety? Ignorance? Oz…in the dark..

Seeing the breadth and passion of grassroots action groups in North America, the UK, Ireland and a few here in Oz – all working towards a sustainable future – I am amazed there has been NO news coverage of their existence AND activities here. How can we remain so remote in this electronic age? Or have I just missed it?

Some good advice this weekend for CEOs, politicians & community leaders….

“Really keep in touch with your organisation. You have to be practical, pragmatic but also realistic, and able to manage your people,” says Wal King CEO of Leighton Holdings, 20 years in the job, and offering advice to new CEOs/leaders.

Let’s take the World Commission on Environment & Development’s definition of a sustainable society as:

“one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”…..

….AND THEN ASK:

WHO in our news media decides what we citizens need to know?

You have to wonder in the face of declining circulation and readership, WHY media bosses keep on with the ‘same old/same old’ formula though research shows that content is really important in engaging readers. There are huge numbers of Australians actively involved in community activity and in sustainable development activity.

Surely journos keep up with international blogs and strongly held community positions?

Can ‘in touch’ journos be unaware of ‘sustainability networks’ such as:

(i) ICLEI Global

Local Governments for sustainability. 589 local governments and their associations, representing nearly 300 million people in 67 countries, make up ICLEI’s membership. I counted 76 Australian members. Check the list here.

(ii) The International Forum on Globalization (IFG)…

promoting equitable, democratic, and ecologically sustainable economies….formed in response to widespread concerns over economic globalization, a process dominated by international institutions and agreements unaccountable to democratic processes or national governments.

(iii) The Australian Collaboration

(see this PWF bulletin)

(iv) Sustainable Connections…

a North American nonprofit membership organization of well over 500 businesses and community leaders who ‘envision sustainable business practices that lead to a healthy environment, meaningful employment, strong communities and buying local first as commonplace in our region and a model for the rest of the world.’

(v) The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) whose key principles are:

• BUSINESS – Businesses are anchors for creating thriving economic systems.
• ALLIANCE – Partnerships between independent businesses yield new opportunities and expand capabilities. BALLE offers the benefits of independent business networks both locally and nationally.
• LOCAL – The welfare of a community relies on the health of the local economy. Buying and partnering locally keeps your money within your community, reduces demand on environmental resources, and preserves community character.
• LIVING – BALLE honors that the vitality of local economies is derived from living people, communities, ecosystems.
• ECONOMIES – Economies are the foundation for sustainable communities, environments and social fabric.

(vi) Kinsale, Ireland, & Relocalisation…

Students of the Practical Sustainability course at the local college of further education devised Kinsale 2021 – an Energy Descent Action Plan, essentially an exercise in collaborative scenario planning and the stocktaking of local resources, in which they investigated solutions for food, housing, education, health, energy, waste, transport, tourism and the local economy to deal with the changes that peak oil might bring. Click here for the global map of relocalisers that includes a handful of north eastern Australian coastal communities.

FYI Kinsale is also known as the ‘gourmet capital’ of Ireland.

From the little I have read there would seem to be some fascinating stories and personalities here. Are there any journos out there prepared to do a bit of research?