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Audrey Barucchi
PRESENTATION TITLE - Building Knowledge as a foundation for resilience
ABSTRACT - People For Nature empowers individuals and communities through climate and biodiversity literacy, fostering resilience at multiple levels. Its workshops, such as Biodiversity Collage and Climate Fresk, not only provide knowledge but also cultivate systems thinking, helping participants understand interconnections and anticipate challenges. This foundation of understanding forms the first layer of resilience. Beyond facts, the organisation nurtures emotional and psychological strength by reconnecting people to nature, transforming eco-anxiety into eco-agency. As a citizen-led movement, People For Nature drives grassroots change, equipping thousands with knowledge and action pathways to create a network of active environmental stewards. The organisation champions nature-based solutions—such as urban greening and species restoration—to integrate nature’s regenerative power into human systems, strengthening both ecological and societal resilience. Through collaboration with businesses and policymakers, People For Nature advocates for nature-positive strategies that shape long-term systemic change. By embedding resilience at individual, community, and systemic levels, People For Nature is empowering people to lead and adapt, building a future where both nature and people thrive.
BIO - Audrey is a purpose-driven executive with an MBA and over 15 years' experience working in marketing, scientific communications and corporate affairs with experience spanning across companies and business lines at varying stages of growth, from start-up to multinational corporations.
Audrey’s wide-ranging knowledge of the energy sector and decarbonisation technologies allows for unique insights into our environmental challenges and prospects.
With a deep interest in the impact of climate change on mental health and the psychology of CSR, she has completed various postgraduate studies and qualifications on carbon management, ESG reporting, the SDGs, Indigenous Rights and regularly speaks at conferences and roundtable discussions. She is a certified Climate Fresk and Biodiversity Collage facilitator and a Climate Aware Practitioner. Passionate about people and culture, Audrey speaks four languages and has lived on six continents.
Website - https://www.peoplefornature.org.au/
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-barucchi/
Jorge Cantellano
PRESENTATION TITLE - Ediblescapes: Bridging Food Security, Climate Action, and Regenerative Conservation in Urban Agroforestry
ABSTRACT - Ediblescapes Community Agroforestry Garden, located in the heart of Gold Coast urban landscapes, embodies the principles of social solidarity economy and El Buen Vivir (Well Life), within the agroecology movement. Our practice blends bicultural diversity, integrating local native trees and plants with cosmopolitan edible fruit species from subtropical agroforestry systems, many of which have deep roots in the Global South. Through syntropic agroforestry and permaculture, we cultivate regenerative ecosystems that provide food security, enhance biodiversity, and restore native ecosystems. This approach honours both local Indigenous knowledge and global agroecological traditions, creating a resilient urban garden model.
Ediblescapes demonstrates how urban green spaces, like those in Gold Coast, can be transformed into community-driven hubs for sustainable food production and ecological regeneration. We bridge food security and climate action, while fostering cultural exchange and environmental stewardship. The garden serves as a space for El Buen Vivir, where well-being and sustainability are at the forefront. This presentation will showcase Ediblescapes as a model for integrating agroecology, bicultural diversity, and urban agroforestry to address pressing challenges like food insecurity, climate change, and ecological restoration.
BIO - Jorge Cantellano is the Coordinator of Ediblescapes, a community-driven agroforestry project in the Gold Coast. With a passion for agroecology, permaculture, and sustainable urban agriculture, Jorge fosters food sovereignty, climate resilience, and social solidarity through educational initiatives and community-led environmental practices, blending local and global ecological knowledge.
Jonathan Cassell
PRESENTATION TITLE - The role of Local Government in building new economies
ABSTRACT - I am an elected member to a conservative local government electorate on the mid north coast of NSW. In this session I would like to share some of the barriers and challenges that I have faced in proposing and integrating new economic models (namely Doughnut Economics) into my Council. I will outline the ways in which I have attempted to implement New Economics and highlight how and where these attempts have failed. I will demonstrate important internal power dynamics that need to be considered by theorists and practitioners alike if new economic models are to be implemented. I hope to provide theorists in attendance, with some points of reflection to strengthen their work. I also hope to garner support from a place of practice and reflection, to guide my efforts moving forward. It is a rarity that academics and theorists get to totally explore their ideas (how they work/their weaknesses) with a practicing politician, and I hope to bridge this gap during this session.
BIO - Cr Jonathan is a Greens Councillor in his second term at the City of Coffs Harbour on the Mid North Coast of NSW. Since he was first elected in 2021, he has strived to embed opportunities for New Economy frameworks and models in Council strategies, plans and culture. The political headwinds in Coffs Harbour have taught him important lessons in developing alliances and language that foster trust in the development of these new ideas for a traditionally Business-As-Usual approach to local government.
Marcus Champ
PRESENTATION TITLE - Pathways through crisis (what governments can really do)
ABSTRACT - Decades of mainstream economic dogma have given the impression there is only one pathway available for Governments and public policy to increase living standards and build long-term prosperity.
Free markets, de-regulation, free movement of capital, greater financialisation of society, independent reserve banks, supremacy of monetary policy and interest rates, greater unemployment, privatisation, balanced budgets, and supremacy of private sector funding are all standard features of the accepted economic playbook. Reality is however there are many pathways available to improve wellbeing and secure prosperity for all. History is filled with examples of how public policy has been guided by different economic approaches to those we have been indoctrinated with, particularly when it came to how Governments have responded to crises. For Australia the biggest crisis to date was World War Two, and although forgotten by many, there are many lessons for public policy and economic pathways that we can learn from as we are faced with the looming climate catastrophe.
BIO - Marcus’s professional background is in behavioural science however is currently progressing a Master of Economics of Sustainability. This combined with a long-standing interest in World War Two, Marcus is interested in learning from how economies responded to major crises in the past, and the lessons that can be drawn for a climate compromised future.
Monika Correa
PRESENTATION TITLE - DisasterWISE: Learning and Unlearning for Thriving Futures (co-presenting with Kate Fawcett)
ABSTRACT - DisasterWISE is a bold, community-led learning network working to disrupt current paradigms and foster stronger, just, and thriving futures. Operating at the intersection of systems thinking, social innovation, knowledge systems, and transdisciplinary research, DisasterWISE is pioneering new ways to strengthen disaster resilience across Australian communities. The DisasterWISE Communities Network is a growing movement that builds resilience through self-determination and community-led action. Guided by the principles of connect, learn, and change, the network: Cultivates diverse connections, Brokers multiple ways of knowing and learning, Amplifies community voices in recovery and resilience dialogue, Supports influence on policy and practice, Advocates for community-led initiatives
DisasterWISE nurtures an inclusive, collaborative ecosystem where shared stories and experiences foster transformative learning. This exchange of lived and learned knowledge strengthens relationships and deepens capacity for self-determination. This presentation will showcase the DisasterWISE story - from co-design to impact - highlighting our theory of change grounded in decolonisation, dynamic governance, and safer spaces. These foundations enable respectful, trauma-informed dialogue and drive real change. Attendees will gain actionable insights to challenge dominant paradigms and embrace radical, community-driven approaches to resilience in an increasingly uncertain world.
BIO - Monika Noémi Correa is the Knowledge Broker at DisasterWISE, combining lived experience of Cyclone Debbie with a Master of Disaster, Design and Development (RMIT, 2023). A Colombian with Lache ancestry, she advocates for Indigenous self-determination, land back, and decolonial disaster resilience.
Kevin Cox
PRESENTATION TITLE - Permanent Asset Markets - Capital with Purpose
ABSTRACT - A chat with the author of the new book Permanent Asset Markets - Capital with Purpose. The book supplies the answer to this question. What if we designed an economy where money served life, instead of life serving money? What if we could still trade, build, and grow — but do so in a way that didn’t extract from others or the planet? What if every dollar moved through the system with a purpose — a purpose we agreed on together?
BIO - Kevin researches swarm intelligence and its applications in economics. In 1990, he co-authored one of the first textbooks on User Interface Design and holds a PhD in Information Systems, focusing on swarm intelligence in search. He also co-authored “Student Assessment in Higher Education" and was the founder of Edentiti, now known as VixVerify, a major identity verification service in Australia.
https://medium.com/@kevin-34708/blurb-for-money-for-sale-4ea6b7e3f364
Mark Diesendorf
PRESENTATION TITLE - Panel discussion: Pathways to sustainable, ecological economies (with Katherine Trebeck and Warwick Smith. Facilitated by Nina Gbor)
ABSTRACT - From climate action, circular economy to sustainability, there are many ‘solutions’ to humanity’s worsening environmental and existential crisis. What if it's not enough? What if the solutions require more profound political, economic and social systemic change along with a significant culture shift? How can we create a system that prioritises & safeguards human needs and the ecosystem above infinite economic growth while maintaining a stable economy? What are the key social, economic and government policies that could secure Australia's sustainable future and an ecological economy? The panel of experts will aim to provide ideas of what a transition could look like.
Join acclaimed environmentalist, Mark Diesendorf, political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change, Katherine Trebeck and economist, ecologist, writer and policy analyst, Warwick Smith in a rare but powerful talk. The discussion will feature themes such as social movements, innovations, postgrowth, international trade systems, degrowth, sharing & wellbeing economies, universal basic services, economic democratisation of public services, state capture, social progress, grassroots initiatives, etc.
BIO - At UNSW, Professor Mark Diesendorf teaches, researches and consults in sustainable energy, energy policy, sustainability, ecological economics, and practical processes by which government, business and organisations can achieve ecologically sustainable and socially just development. His most recent work: The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation and ‘A Strategy for Resisting the Vested Interests Driving the Collapse of the Biosphere and Civilisation’.
Laura Diment
PRESENTATION TITLE - The Murray Mallee Low-Rainfall Food Forest
ABSTRACT - Climate change is causing our dry continent to have less rainfall and more frequent droughts, making current monoculture farming methods unsustainable. Mega-corporations are reducing the viability of small-scale farming, and the cost of living and housing crisis is increasing poverty and homelessness. Our busy lives are also leading to a loneliness epidemic. Food Forests Australia's vision is to develop thriving, sustainable and affordable food-forest communities that demonstrate low-rainfall climate adaptation. We are laying the foundations for our first community 2.5 hours from Adelaide in the Murray Mallee region. The property is 8 hectares, with plans for 9 small, low-cost, sustainable, council-approved houses. A co-op arrangement means everyone contributes to growing permaculture gardens, the food-forest, and nurturing the community, and has input into community decisions. Every household will have a house and small block, with extensive commons that include shared workshops, meeting spaces, outdoor kitchen and laundry. The abundance produced from the gardens is shared.
The community will also have a research focus on developing climate adaptation methods. This includes growing drought-tolerant food plants, developing passive solar housing and water-saving technologies, and educating communities in climate resilience, so South Australia is better situated to adapt to the changing climate.
BIO - Laura is a Flinders University lecturer in engineering, researching ways to improve healthcare and sustainability in regional locations. She also researches climate adaptation techniques, and how individuals can maximise their positive impact on the world. Laura is founder of Food Forests Australia, a startup whose vision is to develop thriving, sustainable and affordable food-forest communities that demonstrate low-rainfall climate adaptation.
Jo Fay Duncan
PRESENTATION TITLE - Arts and the economy (co-presenting with Andy Grodecki, Barbara Lepani, Catherine van Wilgenburg and Angharad Wynne-Jones)
BIO - Jo Fay Duncan is of Scottish and Danish heritage living on Quandamooka Country, on a small island off the east coast of Australia. She was curator of the public art in the University of Queensland's Moreton Bay Research Station, and co-creator of the Lines in the Sand ecological arts festivals on Terrangeri / Minjerriba (North Stradbroke Island). More recently she facilitates the Sustainable Island Conversation which is a seasonal gathering of like minded people on island, providing an opportunity to talk about growing and other sustainable living island practices.
Kate Fawcett
PRESENTATION TITLE - DisasterWISE: Learning and Unlearning for Thriving Futures (co-presenting with Monika Correa)
ABSTRACT - DisasterWISE is a bold, community-led learning network working to disrupt current paradigms and foster stronger, just, and thriving futures. Operating at the intersection of systems thinking, social innovation, knowledge systems, and transdisciplinary research, DisasterWISE is pioneering new ways to strengthen disaster resilience across Australian communities. The DisasterWISE Communities Network is a growing movement that builds resilience through self-determination and community-led action. Guided by the principles of connect, learn, and change, the network: Cultivates diverse connections, Brokers multiple ways of knowing and learning, Amplifies community voices in recovery and resilience dialogue, Supports influence on policy and practice, Advocates for community-led initiatives
DisasterWISE nurtures an inclusive, collaborative ecosystem where shared stories and experiences foster transformative learning. This exchange of lived and learned knowledge strengthens relationships and deepens capacity for self-determination. This presentation will showcase the DisasterWISE story - from co-design to impact - highlighting our theory of change grounded in decolonisation, dynamic governance, and safer spaces. These foundations enable respectful, trauma-informed dialogue and drive real change. Attendees will gain actionable insights to challenge dominant paradigms and embrace radical, community-driven approaches to resilience in an increasingly uncertain world.
BIO - Kate Fawcett is the Network Convenor at DisasterWISE, informed by her lived experience of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and academic grounding in sociology and women’s studies. With a career spanning early childhood education, social enterprise, and grassroots organising, she brings a systems-thinking lens to advancing community-led disaster resilience.
Clare Fountain
PRESENTATION TITLE - Co-op Curious: Redefining Wealth Through Ownership, Agency and Collective Action
ABSTRACT - What if the key to fairer, more prosperous communities has been hiding in plain sight? Co-operatives are a proven business model that shift ownership, agency and profit back into the hands of people — yet they remain under-utilised in Australia's regional economies. In this practical and energising workshop, regionally based co-op developer Clare Fountain will challenge dominant economic narratives and introduce co-operatives as a powerful tool for breaking cycles of disadvantage. Drawing on case studies from across Australia — including independent musicians in WA, commercial fishers in SA, aged care providers in small towns, and locals who saved their pub — Clare will explore how co-ops deliver real outcomes in wealth redistribution, democratic governance, and economic resilience.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how co-operatives work, why they matter, and how they can be used to create long-term, community-owned solutions. Whether you’re new to the concept or co-op curious, this workshop offers practical tools, inspiring stories and a fresh perspective on how collective enterprise can help us rethink wealth and redefine the good life.
BIO - Clare Fountain is a nationally recognised co-op developer and strategist who supports purpose-driven, member-owned and regional enterprises to build resilience and thrive. She brings deep experience from co-op development programs like Farming Together and Care Together, combining practical insight with clear, staged strategies. Clare is known for her grounded, collaborative approach and for getting things sorted so good things actually happen.
Morag Gamble
PRESENTATION TITLE - Permaculture and the New Economy: Designing Healthy Human Habitats
ABSTRACT - This talk explores how permaculture offers a practical and ethical framework for reimagining local economies and designing healthy human habitats in response to climate disruption, biodiversity loss, and social fragmentation. Morag Gamble draws on 30 years of hands-on work in permaculture education and community-led design across urban, rural, and refugee settings to show how permaculture can help regenerate place-based economies grounded in care for land, people, and future generations. Permaculture is not just about growing food - it’s a design system for resilient living: bioregional planning, ethical livelihoods, regenerative housing, localised food systems, ecological governance, and respectful relationships with the non-human world. Morag shares stories from Australia and abroad - community gardens that transform neighbourhoods, permaculture villages, education programs that seed local enterprise, and grassroots networks reweaving cultural and ecological knowledge.
The session will highlight how permaculture intersects with bioregioning, degrowth, and climate adaptation - enabling people to create livelihoods and lifestyles that are abundant, inclusive, and deeply rooted in place. Morag will share inspiring examples of how permaculture principles can be embedded in the design of our homes, communities, and local economies..
BIO - Morag Gamble is an award-winning global permaculture educator, speaker, podcaster, writer, mentor, and trust-based philanthropist. She is the Founder of the Permaculture Education Institute, curates the Our Permaculture Life blog and YouTube, leads the Ethos Foundation permaculture charity, and hosts the Sense-Making in a Changing World Podcast, plus free monthly Permaculture Film Club and Permaculture Masterclass series. Morag enjoys life in her ecovillage home on Gubbi Gubbi country.
Nina Gbor
PRESENTATION TITLE - Panel Discussion: Pathways to sustainable, ecological economies (Facilitator of discussion between Katherine Trebeck, Mark Diesendorf and Warwick Smith)
ABSTRACT - From climate action, circular economy to sustainability, there are many ‘solutions’ to humanity’s worsening environmental and existential crisis. What if it's not enough? What if the solutions require more profound political, economic and social systemic change along with a significant culture shift? How can we create a system that prioritises & safeguards human needs and the ecosystem above infinite economic growth while maintaining a stable economy? What are the key social, economic and government policies that could secure Australia's sustainable future and an ecological economy? The panel of experts will aim to provide ideas of what a transition could look like.
Join acclaimed environmentalist, Mark Diesendorf, political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change, Katherine Trebeck and economist, ecologist, writer and policy analyst, Warwick Smith in a rare but powerful talk. The discussion will feature themes such as social movements, innovations, postgrowth, international trade systems, degrowth, sharing & wellbeing economies, universal basic services, economic democratisation of public services, state capture, social progress, grassroots initiatives, etc.
BIO - Nina Gbor is a sustainable fashion educator, international speaker, researcher, clothes swap facilitator and eco stylist. Nina works with media, councils, schools and community groups to develop strategies for holistic systems change. Nina is the Director of Circular Economy & Waste Program at The Australia Institute. She featured in season 3 of ABC TV's award-winning environmental series, War On Waste.
Kent Getsinger
PRESENTATION TITLE - Why we need Public Money for Our Public Good
ABSTRACT - Public money for the public good is the organising strategy direly needed for our current times and the numerous challenges we face to ensure a just and equitable pathway to action for wellbeing and our planet. Contrary to neoliberal doctrines, the concept of “public money” is based in real-world economic reality that argues our modern state has the ability to fund ambitious efforts for our public good such as equitable inclusive living standards and sustainability efforts including a just transition. Such a concept argues that schools of thought and policies for claiming the need for national taxation to “fund” any equitable efforts are obsolete, empirically unfounded and blocking our progress to bring needed change for our public good. A brief analysis implicates some of the problematic foundations of orthodox economics as well as critiques current political economic policies. The concept of public money further implies that governments such as Australia possess an ability to stem the escalating and intertwined “polycrisis” risks of ecological collapse, increasing inequality and authoritarian governments. This initiative is a brief academic background with emphasis on an invitation to join the national organising effort that has begun in Naarm/Melbourne, as a way that we can hope to enable a thriving world.
BIO - Kent Getsinger is an organiser and campaigner who lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne. He is one of the co-leads of the group “Public Money. Public Good.” which formed from the group “Sustainable Prosperity Action Group Naarm”. He is currently completing a Master of Economics of Sustainability degree at Torrens University.
Mary Graham
Dr Mary Graham is an Adjunct Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Queensland. She grew up in South-East Queensland, and is a Kombu-merri person through her father’s heritage and a Wakka Wakka clan through her mother’s heritage. With a career spanning more than 30 years, Mary has worked across several government agencies, community organisations and universities. Mary has been a dedicated lecturer with the University of Queensland, teaching Aboriginal history, politics and comparative philosophy. Mary has written and published many prominent works, including – publications in the Aboriginal Encyclopaedia, training modules for Cross Cultural Awareness and a host of academic papers.
Andy Grodecki
PRESENTATION TITLE - Arts and the economy (co-presenting with Jo Fay Duncan, Barbara Lepani, Catherine van Wilgenburg and Angharad Wynne-Jones)
BIO - Andy Grodecki has a Doctor in Creative Industries from QUT. Andy has over 30 years experience of serving on the boards of state, regional and local non-government organisations (executive or president). Andy has instigated and curated several art-science exhibitions and residencies. Andy lives with his wife on Mununjali Country near Beaudesert and has two sons and two grandchildren.
Sally Hett
PRESENTATION TITLE - How economic system change in Aotearoa is and should be grounded in Māori values and practices, which creates possibilities for just economic futures for all
ABSTRACT - The very essence of a wellbeing economy, we've found, is mirrored in Indigenous worldviews, rooted in a profound understanding of the reciprocal relationship between humans and nature, long-term thinking and community-focused concepts of wealth. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori communities are building economies grounded in their ancestral wisdom. This presentation will share a perspective from the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) Aotearoa on how economic system change in Aotearoa is and should be grounded in Māori values and practices, which creates possibilities for belonging and just economic futures for all in Aotearoa. We will share:
- the alignment between wellbeing economies and the Māori worldview,
- our latest research on the systemic conditions needed for Māori economies to organise according to their own values and priorities,
- practical examples of a values-led wellbeing economy in action, and
- how we make sense of working within the very systems we seek to change.
Wellbeing economies are creating pathways forward that honour the interconnectedness of all things, that prioritise wellbeing over endless growth, and that empower communities to share their own futures. These paths lead to futures where the economy truly serves our collective wellbeing.
BIO - Sally is a community builder and wellbeing economy expert, currently the Knowledge and Engagement Lead at WEAll Aotearoa. Her background is social policy research, having led research at the McGuinness Institute and Nicholson Consulting, advised the National Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry, and run GovTech initiatives at Creative HQ. She honours the mana and sovereignty of tangata whenua in Aotearoa.
David Hood
PRESENTATION TITLE - Climate, energy and the urgent need for cultural and economic transitions
BIO - Professor David Hood AM is a civil and environmental engineer with vast experience across major civil and military projects, professional development in emerging economies, senior management in both the public and private sectors and in education.
David is an Adjunct Professor in the Science and Engineering Faculty at QUT where he inculcates sustainability across education and research. He led the Sustainability Program of the CRC for Infrastructure and Engineering Asset Management (CIEAM) until 2013. In 2006, he initiated, and was Founding Chairman until 2011 of the Australian Green Infrastructure Council (AGIC now ISCA), an industry association which developed the world’s first full sustainability rating scheme for infrastructure. David is an accredited Presenter with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, and in August 2011, David was included in the ABC Carbon list of the top 100 Sustainability leaders in the world (and every your since).
S A Hamed Hosseini
PRESENTATION TITLE - Revalorizing Value Beyond Capital: From De-commonization to Re-commonization for Liberating Life
ABSTRACT - This paper, drawing on the framework developed in Capital Redefined (2024, Hosseini and Gills), presents a modular conception of capitalism grounded in an integrated commonist value theory. Critiquing traditional approaches, including limitations within Marxian value theory, this framework expands the understanding of value sources under capitalism to include labour, nature, social reproductive relations, and political organisations. It distinguishes between commodity value, capitalist value, true and fetish value, arguing that capitalism primarily produces fetish value by decommonizing sources of 'true value.' The paper explicates how life-affirming commons are transformed into capitalist relations through key infra-processes that underpin decommunization; these are: reification (turning subjects into objects), fetishization (attributing compensatory value and significance to reified objects), and appropriation (legal seizure and control). Using contemporary socio-economic examples, such as the decommonization of food production, it will illustrate how these processes operate. The paper will also briefly discuss recommonization as the inverse struggle to reclaim, de-reify, and de-fetishize these sources, highlighting ongoing efforts to restore or create commons for liberating life and producing 'true value.' This analysis provides a more comprehensive, processual, and normative understanding of capitalist dynamics and the possibilities for transformative change.
BIO - S. A. Hamed Hosseini, PhD (ANU), is a senior sociologist at UON and a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. He is the author of "Capital Redefined" (2024, with Gills) and "The Well-living Paradigm" (2023); he leads research on post-capitalist futures and movements and good life.
Scott Huette
PRESENTATION TITLE - Toroidal Economics: Integrating Loops
ABSTRACT - This paper presents the Toroidal Economic Model (TEM), a systems-based blueprint for achieving resilient, equitable, and sustainable prosperity in the 21st Century. Confronting the interconnected crises of economic inequality, ecological overshoot, and social distrust, TEM proposes integrating four structural policy loops into a unified, self-regulating circuit: free market incentives, commons resource fees, a national wealth fund, and a universal basic income. Guided by Toroidal Flow Principles drawn from systems science, this architecture enables dynamic self-stabilization, broad risk sharing, and regenerative circulation of value. Unlike traditional, siloed reforms, TEM’s coupled loops generate emergent properties of resilience, shared prosperity, and ecological compliance that no single intervention can deliver on its own. The model builds on established policy analogues (e.g., Alaska’s Permanent Fund, British Columbia’s carbon tax) and offers a practical, phased pathway for legislative and administrative integration. The paper details the underlying systems logic, key design mechanisms, and policy “hooks” for implementation, concluding with recommendations for empirical modeling and targeted pilots. The Toroidal Economic Model thus offers policymakers a coherent, actionable framework for redesigning the economic system to meet 21st-century challenges, ensuring that growth, fairness, and sustainability reinforce one another by design.
BIO - Scott Huette is a civic educator, visual artist, and digital design strategist whose work bridges education, technology, and structural reform. A former Senior Instructor at the University of Oregon, Huette pioneered student-centered systems emphasizing digital portfolios, creative entrepreneurship, and civic learning. His contributions to The Prosperity Loop bring a unique synthesis of aesthetic thinking and systems architecture, helping design policy frameworks that circulate value, regenerate communities, and uphold ecological boundaries. Whether through code, curriculum, or Canvas, Huette’s work reflects a lifelong commitment to structures that enable people and the planet to thrive.
Ruth Irwin
PRESENTATION TITLE - EX NIHILO finance and emissions growth
ABSTRACT - My new book Economic Futures; Climate Change and Modernity explores the strong link between climate change and economic growth. There is a 95% correlation between the two. For 25 years, I have been trying to work out what the driver for growth is. Turns out, its banking. Or more precisely, its mortgages ex nihilo - where banks create electronic money out of nothing, and supercharge the overall economy, causing inflation, profit, and increased consumerism - and thus, climate emissions. Until we get on top of this system, and change it, there is absolutely no magic technology that will reduce emissions and miraculously solve the climate emergency.
BIO - Ruth Irwin was Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Aberdeen and Head of Department of Education at the University of Fiji. She has taught Business Ethics at AUT, and worked in Philosophy and Politics departments of Auckland University. She is an academic author of five books and over 60 articles and her new book is Economic Futures, Climate Change and Modernity.
Phil Jones
PRESENTATION TITLE - Building a new economy from the top down
ABSTRACT - This presentation will review progress being made in Australia towards a sustainable economy via federal government initiatives. In late 2024 the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Circular Economy working within the Department of the Environment and Climate Change issued its final report with and extensive list of recommendations. Overlapping the work of this Advisory Group was an inquiry by the Productivity Commission which has since issued a report.
While the strengths and weaknesses of the Circular Economy are well known within the Degrowth and Steady State Economy movements, these two reports should not be allowed to pass unnoticed by those aware that the endless growth economy cannot go on indefinitely. The recommendations of the Advisory Group deserve particular attention. They confront some of the real difficulties in the transition to a Steady State Economy. It proposed worthwhile government responses. In doing so it outlined for advocates for the environment, Degrowth and the Steady State Economy reasonable, but challenging "askes" of the Federal Government. Accordingly, they present a pathway towards a sustainable economy.
BIO - Phil Jones is the Secretary/Treasurer of the NSW Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. He is a retired Science teacher, political activist and the convenor of a network of Parish Social Justice Groups in the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay. He was a contributing author to the book "Positive Steps to a Steady State Economy" edited by the late Haydn Washington.
Tiyana Jovanovic
PRESENTATION TITLE - Resilience Economics: Towards a Meta-Theory for Non-Linear Development
ABSTRACT - This presentation proposes Resilience Economics as a meta-theoretical framework that reorients economic thought away from linear, growth-centric models toward a non-linear logic of change. Rather than viewing resilience as a system’s ability to return to a prior state, this approach reconceptualises it as a foundational logic of development, grounded in three systemic capacities: stability, adaptability, and transformability. Together, these capacities enable societies not only to respond effectively to change, but to create the conditions for desired change and to undergo transformation when necessary. Resilience Economics challenges conventional economic frameworks built on equilibrium, optimisation, and perpetual growth. It instead offers a dynamic, relational understanding of development that foregrounds complexity, uncertainty, and the potential for structural evolution. Resilience, in this view, is not reactive but generative—an organising principle that supports long-term socio-ecological viability.
Amid accelerating global disruptions—climate instability, ecological breakdown, and economic volatility—this framework calls for a fundamental shift in how economies are conceptualised and governed. By centring non-linearity and transformation, Resilience Economics offers a compelling alternative to the growth paradigm: one that aligns economic systems with the realities of a rapidly changing world.
BIO - Tiyana is a recent PhD graduate whose research explored women’s empowerment and resilience in development. She is the founder of the Humanitarian Changemakers Network and works as a social impact strategist, committed to equipping grassroots changemakers with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to drive positive social transformation within their communities. Her work sits at the intersection of participatory development, gender equity, and systems change. When she’s not working, you’ll likely find her tending her permaculture garden or immersed in her spiritual and creative practices.
Kiran Kashyap
PRESENTATION TITLE - The role of 'professional mavericks' in paving the way for new economies (co-presenting with Bronwen Morgan and Catherine Reynolds)
ABSTRACT - Rethinking existing political and administrative boundaries, and considering transboundary, borderless or reconstituted approaches that respect eco-bio-cultural linkages has the potential to foster creative and constructive responses to climate change and ecological crisis. It would likely, however, profoundly challenge, at a granular level, the way existing professional expertise and knowledge is deployed in everyday governance. Bronwen Morgan will chair a conversation between four ‘positive mavericks’, professionals who push the boundaries of their expertise in constructive ways to respond appropriately to contemporary challenges. The panel will begin by placing two fields of knowledge that so often act as a barrier to non-extractive governance – legal expertise and financial expertise – in conversation with each other: Nathan Robertson-Ball (TBC, if not then Amelia Thorpe) and Catherine Reynolds have recent experience in both forms of expertise to place-based governance. Next, Michelle Maloney and Kiran Kashyap will bring to bear transdisciplinary perspectives from community (human and non-human) development and design respectively (each also has specific experience in legal and public policy knowledge). The panel will then segue into a facilitated reflection amongst all panellists and the audience on the practical and ethical limits of how far professional expertise can challenge peers and norms in its fields without losing legitimacy and influence.
BIO - Kiran Kashyap is a transition designer and a co-convenor of Regen Sydney
Robin Krabbe
PRESENTATION TITLE - Community Based Income as a transformative response to the metacrisis
ABSTRACT - This presentation will outline a campaign for a trial of Community Based Income (CBI) in North-West Tasmania. CBI is a liveable wage paid in return for education, training, caring roles and importantly, contribution to community projects. The CBI model aims to build intrinsic motivation to engage in community, but begins with extrinsic motivation. Our current political system is failing to satisfy basic needs of social connectedness, meaning and purpose, whereby the grass roots community level is best placed to satisfy these needs. Indeed, an enormous range of grassroots community groups have arisen which combine sociality (people getting together) with meaning and purpose (action towards a common vision or goals).
NENA is but one important example of this. However only a limited number of people are motivated enough to voluntarily engage in community groups, which after all contain the same issues that arise wherever people engage in a collective endeavour, including crucially problematic relationship issues. These issues are a symptom of a psychosocial crisis, a general major symptom of which is inaction on climate change. The CBI initiative responds to the inter connected psychosocial and ecological aspects of a developing metacrisis in which multiple, interconnected breakdowns compound and amplify one another.
BIO - Robin has completed a degree in Economics, a Qualifying Masters in Environmental Science, and a PhD in sustainable communities. She is the Coordinator of Live Well Tasmania, who are hosting the campaign for a trial of Community Based Income in North-West Tasmania.
Rosemary Leonard
PRESENTATION TITLE - Valuing Social Capital: results of a survey at Narara Ecovillage
ABSTRACT - Existing dominant economies consider only financial capital and ignore the role of environmental, cultural and social capital. I would argue that to create new economies we need to consciously cultivate the other capitals. The Narara Ecovillage community survey provided qualitative and quantitative survey data from 146 / 160 members. The data reveals a strong foundation of community cohesion at Narara Ecovillage, with scores consistently above national averages with particular strengths in practical support and trust.
The sources of community belonging included: (1) Pro-social behaviours such as a strong culture of kindness and generosity; active inclusion efforts; and willingness to address and resolve conflicts. (2) Community Activities such as Operational activities (working bees, hazard reduction); social gatherings (festivals, potlucks); special interest groups; a safe environment for children. Ecovillages are expected to put effort into environmental capital, but we need to also be aware of the value of social and cultural capitals, if we are to be a demonstration for other communities.
BIO - Adjunct Professor Rosemary Leonard is Chair in Social Capital and Sustainability in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. Her research interests include Social Capital and community development. For a complete list of publications please see: Google scholar - https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=gICev9sAAAAJ&hl=e ResearchGate profile - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rosemary-Leonard
Barbara Lepani
PRESENTATION TITLE - Arts and the economy (co-presenting with Jo Fay Duncan, Andy Grodecki, Catherine van Wilgenburg and Angharad Wynne-Jones)
Helen Lewis
PRESENTATION TITLE - Regenerating Outcomes - Decision by Decision
ABSTRACT - AHMC- enables thriving lives and landscapes with holistic management. We are one of 50 global hubs, with the Savory Institute. Managing holistically means values driven making ensuring decisions we make and actions we take align to our Values and Vision, ensuring every decision considers the people, environment and longer term prosperity. The environmental outcomes can be detrimental unless we understand how nature functions and choose to use management tools so landscapes can thrive. We focus on management outcomes for farmers offering our global Ecological Outcome Verification- currently monitoring 200 farms and over 800,000 Hectares in Australia, to ensure the landscape function is regenerating. If a land base is regenerating the farmers can use the Land to Market (L2M)seal. L2M wool is getting up to 20% premium in the Australian wool market.
BIO - Helen is CEO of the Australian Holistic Management Co-operative, enabling thriving lives and landscapes with Ecological Outcome Verification ( EOV) and helping farmers optimize their management and landscape health with practices that enable regeneration. Helen’s passion for making a difference, collaborating and managing holistically has been fueled by her diverse experiences in community development, policy advising, national infrastructure advocacy, and farming. Helen has been an Accredited Holistic Management Educator with the Savory Institute- since 2003.
Carla Luizzo
PRESENTATION TITLE - Academic activism and resistance through degrowth pedagogy: A suggested framework
ABSTRACT - Presenting a recent published paper on a Degrowth Pedagogy Framework (DPF) to help educators engage in forms of academic activism and resistance to growth-centered sustainability models. This framework is designed to advance responsible management and sustainability in higher education. By drawing on critical pedagogy as a form of resistance, the DPF enables educators to break free from the limitations of neoliberal thought.
BIO - Carla is working to reshape business education through innovative teaching and research that integrate degrowth principles to tackle pressing sustainability challenges, blending political economy with educational scholarship to create forward-thinking strategies for executive education.
Kristen Lyons
PRESENTATION TITLE - Indigenous and Local Community Led Carbon Offset: Australia and Kenya Experiences (co-presenting with Brian Warner and Jagjit Plahe)
ABSTRACT - Carbon offsets have been singled out as vital to reach net zero targets – including Australia’s net zero ambition by 2050. Between 2022- 2024 the sector tripled in value, and Australia is expected to realise some of the largest global growth, especially in blue carbon offsets – with marine ecosystems recognised for their significant offsetting potential. This panel will showcase some of the ways Indigenous communities are leading Australia’s development as a ‘blue carbon hotspot’. It will also reflect on recent developments in Indigenous and local community led projects in Kenya, where similar spectacular growth in blue carbon is occurring. Our discussion will consider the significance of cultural heritage protections and caring for sea country in ensuring viable blue carbon projects, and the possibilities and challenges in expanding Indigenous and local community led blue carbon economies in Australia and Kenya. We will also outline some of the economic, community and other benefits for Indigenous communities tied to high integrity carbon offset projects that uphold Indigenous rights.
BIO - Professor Kristen Lyons (University of Queensland)
Scott Matter
PRESENTATION TITLE - Theory for change: conceptual tools for designing and driving systemic transformation
ABSTRACT - As networks like NENA show, we already have a diverse array of proposals, projects, and practitioners with bold visions for a new economy and a thriving world. Our initiatives and gatherings offer inspiration and support, and give us glimpses of post-capitalist, non-anthropocentric ways of being. And yet I, and maybe you too, feel overwhelmed when I step off these islands and back into the grind of the mainstream. Many of us recognise that disconnecting from the mainstream and living in alternatives will not be sufficient to resolve the polycrisis and prevent what feels like impending collapse, let alone spark the deep and wide transformation we need for people and planet to thrive together.In this short talk I will offer insights from social and anthropological theory to help us explore together how social systems operate, reproduce themselves, and evolve, so that we can better design and focus our efforts for intentional, structural transformation. We will touch on the classic paradox of structure and agency, as well as newer concepts from practice theory and transformation research that can help us design and take strategic action to bring about a new economy, a new socioecological regime, and new ways of being.
BIO - Scott Matter is a researcher, teacher, and practitioner, based in the TD School at UTS, with professional experience in academic, private, and public sectors. His work combines anthropology and political ecology, service and strategic design, and futures and foresight practices. He is primarily interested in engaged research and teaching that contributes to societal transition for planetary wellbeing.
Elizabeth McDougal
PRESENTATION TITLE - The Role of Pedagogy in Cultivating New Economies
ABSTRACT - At the heart of any new economy lies a deeper question: how do we learn to live differently? This paper explores education not merely as a support system for economic reform, but as the crux of emerging economies of care. Inspired by traditional Buddhist knowledge as whole-person cultivation, and by clarion voices of new economies movements (such as Freire, Gibson-Graham and de Oliviera) this paper will highlight how just and regenerative economies require epistemological rewiring. They require moving beyond cognitive-centric standards of knowledge to pedagogies that foster relational, somatic, intellectual and imaginative intelligences. Such holistic pedagogies further enhance critical discernment, metacognition and the capacity to navigate complexity – all of which are essential skills for transitioning to new economies.
Through stories and practices, this talk invites us to see education as a conscious, generative field. Pedagogy is not an add-on, but central to the emergence of new economies, and to composting past logics of separation and extraction.
BIO - Elizabeth McDougal is a lecturer in Contemplative Pedagogy and Buddhist Studies at Nan Tien Institute. She serves as a translator and community coordinator for bridging pre-modern Tibetan contemplative culture with the modern world.
Antony McMullen
PRESENTATION TITLE - The philosophy of co-operation: ethics, values, principles - and people
ABSTRACT - What makes a co-operative fundamentally different? Unlike most social-enterprise or CSR models, co-operatives embed a set of internationally recognised principles in their constitutional rules, and these shape everyday enterprise practice. Values and principles such as democratic member control, equitable surplus distribution and concern for community have inspired transformative social, cultural and economic flourishing for centuries.
BIO - Antony McMullen, co-operative developer working at the intersection of the social economy and community-led enterprise, is Chair of Co-operative Bonds, co-founder of 888 Co-operative Causeway co-working, and is host of Mutual Mindset (BCCM), a national co-op learning program. He holds qualifications in community development, social impact and theology and, in addition, is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.
Bronwen Morgan
PRESENTATION TITLE - The role of 'professional mavericks' in paving the way for new economies (co-presenting with Kiran Kashyap and Catherine Reynolds)
ABSTRACT - Rethinking existing political and administrative boundaries, and considering transboundary, borderless or reconstituted approaches that respect eco-bio-cultural linkages has the potential to foster creative and constructive responses to climate change and ecological crisis. It would likely, however, profoundly challenge, at a granular level, the way existing professional expertise and knowledge is deployed in everyday governance. Bronwen Morgan will chair a conversation between four ‘positive mavericks’, professionals who push the boundaries of their expertise in constructive ways to respond appropriately to contemporary challenges. The panel will begin by placing two fields of knowledge that so often act as a barrier to non-extractive governance – legal expertise and financial expertise – in conversation with each other: Nathan Robertson-Ball (TBC, if not then Amelia Thorpe) and Catherine Reynolds have recent experience in both forms of expertise to place-based governance. Next, Michelle Maloney and Kiran Kashyap will bring to bear transdisciplinary perspectives from community (human and non-human) development and design respectively (each also has specific experience in legal and public policy knowledge). The panel will then segue into a facilitated reflection amongst all panellists and the audience on the practical and ethical limits of how far professional expertise can challenge peers and norms in its fields without losing legitimacy and influence.
BIO - Bronwen Morgan is Professor of Law at UNSW Sydney, a co-founder of NENA and a co-convenor of Regen Sydney
Peter Morris
PRESENTATION TITLE - The Great Regeneration Possibility
ABSTRACT - Over the coming decade more than 700 thousand small businesses are expected to exit and retire. The next generation of owners hold very different values recognising the need for social inclusion and environmental responsibility need to be "baked into" businesses of the future, while maintaining financial sustainability. A massive upsurge in funds set aside for Impact Investment has resulted in a "pot" of $A19 billion last financial year in Australia. This sums has been more than tripling each year since 2018. Globally the amount allocated to Impact Investment has reached $US1.527 trillion. in combination, these three forces are setting the platform for a massive transfer of ownership and the potential to transition millions of businesses to adopting regenerative business models.
BIO - Peter is an experienced economic development professional with a career spanning local, regional, state and national levels—as both a policy adviser and a practitioner. His working life began as a journalist (in newspapers, radio and television), to industry policy and business advisory positions. He holds a Masters in Science and Technology Policy.
Keron Murray
PRESENTATION TITLE - A place-based approach to achieving sustainable development a Wuthathi First Nation case study (co-presenting with Jim Turnour)
ABSTRACT - Case studies can provide localised in-depth analysis of governance systems supposedly designed to support sustainable development revealing how they in fact continue to perpetuate discrimination and injustice. This case study of the Wuthathi peoples struggle for self-determination reveals how current programmatic funding and land tenure systems marginalises First Nation’s peoples in Cape York Peninsula. The Wuthathi people of northeastern Cape York Peninsula removed through colonisation are slowly regaining their lands and sea country and returning to manage and protect it for future generations. The Wuthathi Aboriginal Corporation representing Wuthathi people has identified strong governance (tribal and corporate), planning, long term investment partnerships, capacity and capability building as important to achieving Wuthathi peoples’ development goals and self-determination.
This case study explores how Australian governments’ policy and legislation has often hindered Wuthathi peoples progress towards sustainable development and self-determination. The reasons for this are discussed including structural power imbalances between First Nation and mainstream Australian Institutions through specific examples in relation to land and sea management and community development. These power imbalances hide discrimination and systemic injustices within the system which is perpetuating the process of colonisation. New First Nation place-based approaches are discussed to better support community and regional development.
BIO - Mr Keron Murray, Chairman Wuthathi Aboriginal Corporation and Director of Bromley Aboriginal Corporation. He has deep understanding of corporate and Aboriginal tribal governance systems, native title, cultural heritage and land and sea management legislation in Queensland. Keron is also a member of the Regional Protected Area Management Committee for Cape York and the GBRMPA Indigenous Reef Advisory Committee.
Anitra Nelson
PRESENTATION TITLE - Routledge Handbook of Degrowth (co-presenting with Ben Robra)
ABSTRACT - This plenary is an in-conversation session on degrowth with Anitra Nelson and Ben Robra facilitated by Michelle Malony. The session focuses on the contents and themes within the recently released open-access (free!) Routledge Handbook of Degrowth. Edited by Anitra Nelson with Vicent Liegey as the editorial adviser, the handbook brings together 35 chapters on degrowth by 55+ contributors who explore various aspects of degrowth and how to achieve a sustainable future. Ben Robra is lead-author on one of the book’s chapters, focusing on commoning as an organisational form to help enable degrowth futures. In the session, Michelle will engage with Ben and Anitra on their contributions to the handbook collection and the degrowth discourse as well as the future of degrowth in the Australian context. The session will conclude with a Q&A.
BIO - Anitra Nelson is an activist-scholar affiliated with the Informal Urbanism Research Hub (InfUr-) at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests focus on postcapitalist non-monetary economies and degrowth. Works on degrowth include four books, as editor of the Routledge Handbook of Degrowth (2025), co-editor of Food For Degrowth: Perspectives and Practices(2022), co-author of Exploring Degrowth: A Critical Guide(2020), and Housing for Degrowth: Principles, Models, Challenges and Opportunities (2018). She is active in Degrowth Central Victoria and Degrowth Network Australia. For more see: https://anitranelson.info/
Jane O'Sullivan
PRESENTATION TITLE - Shrink toward abundance: how degrowth can make most of us better off
ABSTRACT - Environmental overshoot demands that the human enterprise must shrink to sustainable levels. However, economic contraction is usually labelled ‘recession’, characterised by a vicious cycle of high unemployment and low consumption spending. Many media articles lament population decline as an economic disaster, believing it will cause recession. On the contrary, the dynamics of population decline have exactly the opposite effect: a tightening labour market means lower unemployment and higher workforce participation, better wages and work conditions, more investment in capital per worker to improve productivity, falling house prices relative to wages and less income inequality. These dynamics are already evident in Japan. Fewer people can mean a smaller economy, but this would occur via people paying down debt more than they are taking on new mortgages (money is created by new debt and cancelled when debt is paid off). This would lower their cost of living while shrinking the finance sector which has become largely parasitic on society. In contrast, degrowth without population decline is very difficult to achieve without creating unemployment and disenfranchisement of the most vulnerable people.
BIO - Dr. Jane O’Sullivan is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. With an overarching interest in human ecology and planetary health, she worked on tropical semi-subsistence farming systems before focusing on the threats to security posed by population growth and effective responses. She is a co-convenor of The Overpopulation Project and a board member of Sustainable Population Australia.
JP Parker
PRESENTATION TITLE - EarthFi and HumaniFi: Parallel Economies for the 21st Century
ABSTRACT - For those brave enough to face humanity’s metacrisis/polycrisis head-on whilst remaining positive that we will find our way through, these questions keep arising over and over: Given that there are such amazing changebringers and initiatives already out there, how do we best support them?
Robert Pekin
PRESENTATION TITLE - The Need for Transitional Infrastructure
ABSTRACT - Beyond Market vs. State Solutions - Regional food hubs represent a "third way" that neither relies on market mechanisms alone nor depends on government intervention that may not be forthcoming. Instead, they create community-controlled infrastructure that can internalise social and environmental benefits while maintaining economic viability. Transitional Infrastructure Characteristics Shared Infrastructure: Leasing, plant & equipment models for shared access to processing, distribution, and markets Integrated Capital: Utilises an investment blend that is fit for purpose in terms of the capital requirements of each food hub’s context. Community-led & Place-based Investment: Ensures benefits remain within regional communities rather than extracted by external capital Values Integration: Explicitly incorporates social and environmental goals alongside economic sustainability.
Democratic Governance: Provides community agency over economic decisions affecting local food systems Regenerative Design: Creates positive feedback loops that strengthen rather than degrade social and environmental systems Bridging Current Reality with Systemic Change Transitional infrastructure acknowledges that we cannot wait for government policy reform or market transformation to address urgent food system challenges. Instead, communities can build alternative infrastructure now that demonstrates viable models for post-growth, regenerative economic development while advocating for supportive policy change
The Regional Food Hub Response
Practical Idealism
Regional food sheds represent practical idealism - they work within current economic and regulatory constraints while modeling alternative approaches that could be scaled through policy support. They demonstrate that community-controlled economic development is not only possible but more resilient and sustainable than extractive models.
Systems Change Strategy
Rather than opposing existing food systems directly, regional food sheds create parallel infrastructure that offers producers and consumers better alternatives. This approach builds power through demonstration rather than protest, creating facts on the ground that influence policy and market development.
Investment in Agency
Funding transitional infrastructure means investing in community agency - the capacity for communities to make decisions about their economic future rather than accepting whatever outcomes market forces or government policy produce. This represents a fundamental shift from treating communities as passive recipients of economic development to active agents of their own prosperity.
The framework also demonstrates that public investment achieves greater returns when governments facilitate community-driven development rather than directing it, specifically by creating enabling environments and avoiding policy frameworks that favour established interests over grassroots innovation.
Jagjit Plahe
PRESENTATION TITLE - Indigenous and Local Community Led Carbon Offset: Australia and Kenya Experiences (co-presenting with Kristen Lyons and Brian Warner)
ABSTRACT - Carbon offsets have been singled out as vital to reach net zero targets – including Australia’s net zero ambition by 2050. Between 2022- 2024 the sector tripled in value, and Australia is expected to realise some of the largest global growth, especially in blue carbon offsets – with marine ecosystems recognised for their significant offsetting potential. This panel will showcase some of the ways Indigenous communities are leading Australia’s development as a ‘blue carbon hotspot’. It will also reflect on recent developments in Indigenous and local community led projects in Kenya, where similar spectacular growth in blue carbon is occurring. Our discussion will consider the significance of cultural heritage protections and caring for sea country in ensuring viable blue carbon projects, and the possibilities and challenges in expanding Indigenous and local community led blue carbon economies in Australia and Kenya. We will also outline some of the economic, community and other benefits for Indigenous communities tied to high integrity carbon offset projects that uphold Indigenous rights.
BIO - Associate Professor
Anne Poelina
Professor Anne Poelina is a Nyikina Warrwa woman from the Kimberley region of Western Australia. She is an active community leader, human and earth rights advocate, film maker and respected academic researcher, with a second Doctor of Philosophy (First Law) titled, ‘Martuwarra First Law Multi-Species Justice Declaration of Interdependence: Wellbeing of Land, Living Waters, and Indigenous Australian People’ (Nulungu Institute of Research, University of Notre Dame, Broome, Western Australia).
Anne, winner of the 2024 Geoethics Medal is also the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) inaugural First Nations appointment to its independent Advisory Committee on Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences (2022), and member of Institute for Water Futures, Australian National University, Canberra. Poelina was awarded the Kailisa Budevi Earth and Environment Award, International Women’s Day (2022) recognition of her global standing. Poelina is also an Ambassador for the Western Australian State Natural Rangelands Management (NRM) (2022).
Catherine Reynolds
PRESENTATION TITLE - The role of 'professional mavericks' in paving the way for new economies (co-presenting with Bronwen Morgan and Kiran Kashyap)
ABSTRACT - Rethinking existing political and administrative boundaries, and considering transboundary, borderless or reconstituted approaches that respect eco-bio-cultural linkages has the potential to foster creative and constructive responses to climate change and ecological crisis. It would likely, however, profoundly challenge, at a granular level, the way existing professional expertise and knowledge is deployed in everyday governance. Bronwen Morgan will chair a conversation between four ‘positive mavericks’, professionals who push the boundaries of their expertise in constructive ways to respond appropriately to contemporary challenges. The panel will begin by placing two fields of knowledge that so often act as a barrier to non-extractive governance – legal expertise and financial expertise – in conversation with each other: Nathan Robertson-Ball (TBC, if not then Amelia Thorpe) and Catherine Reynolds have recent experience in both forms of expertise to place-based governance. Next, Michelle Maloney and Kiran Kashyap will bring to bear transdisciplinary perspectives from community (human and non-human) development and design respectively (each also has specific experience in legal and public policy knowledge). The panel will then segue into a facilitated reflection amongst all panellists and the audience on the practical and ethical limits of how far professional expertise can challenge peers and norms in its fields without losing legitimacy and influence.
BIO - Catherine Reynolds is an accountant, systems auditor and transformational governance specialist who after a long corporate career now focuses on co-creating the conditions for moving towards a regenerative future
Ben Robra
PRESENTATION TITLE - Sufficiency through commoning relationality: Transcending business as usual
ABSTRACT - In the face of ever-accelerating climate change and ecological degradation, the concept of sufficiency has been proposed as a way to achieve socio-ecological sustainability. Sufficiency implies limits on consumption and production, posing critical questions for economic organizing and social provisioning. A just definition of such limits is, arguably, challenging or even incompatible within capitalism, which prompts calls for a normative perspective based on alternative value systems challenging dominant capitalist notions. We depart from a relational understanding of the commons and explore how commoning as a social practice can be a potential vehicle for the emergence of sufficiency organizational values. Through an illustrative case study of a Greek network of commoning organizations, we highlight how organizational values based on the commons articulate an alternative value system that contrasts the dominant capitalist value system. Our findings emphasise a relational approach reproduced through commoning practices, which helps address ethical questions around sufficiency by transcending discourses around limits and preferences. Investigating sufficiency through commoning also helps qualify considerations of use-value over exchange-value, reifying a political view that contrasts the dominant perception of value and organizational values.
BIO - Dr Ben Robra teaches at the University of Queensland's Business School in sustainability. He's a co-founder of the Degrowth Journal and a research fellow at the Greek research collective P2P Lab. His research focuses on organisations, technology, and innovation in connection to degrowth. Ben holds an M.Sc in Ecological Economics and a PhD in Sustainability from the University of Leeds.
Warwick Smith
PRESENTATION TITLE - Panel discussion: Pathways to sustainable, ecological economies (with Katherine Trebeck and Mark Diesendorf. Facilitated by Nina Gbor)
ABSTRACT - From climate action, circular economy to sustainability, there are many ‘solutions’ to humanity’s worsening environmental and existential crisis. What if it's not enough? What if the solutions require more profound political, economic and social systemic change along with a significant culture shift? How can we create a system that prioritises & safeguards human needs and the ecosystem above infinite economic growth while maintaining a stable economy? What are the key social, economic and government policies that could secure Australia's sustainable future and an ecological economy? The panel of experts will aim to provide ideas of what a transition could look like.
Join acclaimed environmentalist, Mark Diesendorf, political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change, Katherine Trebeck and economist, ecologist, writer and policy analyst, Warwick Smith in a rare but powerful talk. The discussion will feature themes such as social movements, innovations, postgrowth, international trade systems, degrowth, sharing & wellbeing economies, universal basic services, economic democratisation of public services, state capture, social progress, grassroots initiatives, etc.
BIO - Warwick Smith is an economist, ecologist, writer and policy analyst. He has worked across many areas of economic research including labour, environmental, gender, development and taxation economics. Warwick is also an honorary fellow at the University of Melbourne’s School of Social and Political Sciences and co-founder and economist at the Castlemaine Institute. He has previously worked at Per Capita Australia, the University of Melbourne and for state and territory governments. Warwick lives with his family in Castlemaine in central Victoria and has a strong interest in regional development and industry policy.
Cooper Smout
PRESENTATION TITLE - Valuing what matters: a participatory framework for collective recognition and coordination
ABSTRACT - Metavaluation is a participatory framework designed to address a persistent challenge in commons-based and community-led projects: the lack of fair, inclusive, and interoperable systems for recognising and rewarding diverse contributions. Originally developed in the open science space, it has since evolved into a simple yet highly flexible mechanism that can be adapted to virtually any community or context.
BIO - Dr Cooper Smout is a designer, researcher, and social entrepreneur working at the intersection of collective governance, regenerative collaboration, and post-market economics. He founded Open Heart + Mind (OHM), a DGR-registered charity, where he leads Metavaluation—an inclusive, participatory framework for collectively recognising and rewarding diverse contributions to the commons, enabling coordination and shared purpose across aligned communities.
Carmen Stewart
PRESENTATION TITLE - Reimagining Northern Rivers
ABSTRACT - Presentation on the initial findings of Imagine Northern Rivers - an initiative engaging 28 place-based communities in articulating what regenerative, adaptive & safe futures could look like for the northern rivers and the actions needed to get there. Imagine NR is exploring the future through the lenses of climate adaptation, housing, the economy, natural environment, governance and social wellbeing. By October, it's envisaged the majority of workshops will have been hosted and an emerging story of what people want for our shared future will be evident. Big shifts to our economy are part of what's coming through already.
BIO - Carmen is a regenerative futures practitioner and facilitator who lives and works in Northern NSW, a region significantly impacted by climate change. She currently leads Imagine Northern Rivers, an initiative to articulate the stories and pathways that can help activate and guide the region towards regenerative and life-giving futures. Historically she led It Takes a Town, a movement focused on building a culture of trust, generosity and responsiveness (in preparation for the fall-out from the polycrisis). Carmen is a futurist with a passion for community-led change.
Peter Tait
PRESENTATION TITLE - How to win against capitalism: participatory democracy
ABSTRACT - Currently we are losing the struggle against commercial entities who are using their power and influence to override or subvert the ecological and public good that we and other civil society groups strive to achieve.
This presentation argues that civil society must become more directly active in changing the political process to promote measures that will ensure good governance.
There are two pathways proposed:
• making parliaments and MPs actively work for good governance by creating measures to bring pressure to bear on them at the electorate level;
• by setting up local alternative community governance arrangements.
Beside briefly presenting evidence for why good governance leads to better social outcomes, I will outline practical actions that we can take at personal and organisational levels. I will use the experience of the Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy electoral education and citizen initiatives experience to illustrate one way of doing this. I will also draw on Tim Hollo’s Living Democracy and the idea of democratic confederalism to open a discussion about the way we can take action. Political change is hard. I will include in the discussion some of the practical obstacles encountered and look at ways to get around them.
BIO - Peter Tait believes a person’s wellbeing is grounded in a well society, and a well society in a well-functioning ecosystem. Peter believes good government is essential to protect and promote wellbeing and the public good. He convenes the Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy, is a general practitioner, member of the Public Health Association Australia and teaches Population Health at ANU.
Kerry Tozer
PRESENTATION TITLE - Building circular economies
ABSTRACT - A short, high-energy workshop designed to engage participants in the practical and playful exploration of a circular economy network. The session will introduce the concept of distributed value creation within collaborative circular economy systems—where individuals take on a variety of roles in the value chain, including as ‘prosumers’ rather than passive consumers—highlighting the environmental, social, and economic potential of bioregional circular economies. The core of the workshop is a gamified experience using a condensed version of MAKE IT CIRCULAR! A Gamified Introduction to Circular Business Models, developed by acatech (National Academy of Science and Engineering, Munich).
Participants will work in small groups to play abbreviated versions of Rounds 5–7 of the game, focusing on Partnerships, Enablers, and Barriers. The format balances structured gameplay with open discussion. The goal is to foster insight, collaboration, and creativity while demonstrating how circular business models can be built to distribute shared value. This workshop is ideal for attendees interested in alternative economies, systems thinking, and participatory business models. It promises to be both intellectually stimulating and genuinely fun.
BIO - Kerry Tozer is a PhD candidate at UTS’s Institute for Sustainable Futures, researching CE value chains and implementation barriers. With a background in supply chain management, industrial design, and environmental management, she brings professional expertise to the subject matter. Kerry is an experienced facilitator, having led corporate sustainability training, and tutors in the Bachelor of Sustainability & Environment at UTS.
Katherine Trebeck
PRESENTATION TITLE - Panel discussion: Pathways to sustainable, ecological economies (with Mark Diesendorf and Warwick Smith. Facilitated by Nina Gbor)
ABSTRACT - From climate action, circular economy to sustainability, there are many ‘solutions’ to humanity’s worsening environmental and existential crisis. What if it's not enough? What if the solutions require more profound political, economic and social systemic change along with a significant culture shift? How can we create a system that prioritises & safeguards human needs and the ecosystem above infinite economic growth while maintaining a stable economy? What are the key social, economic and government policies that could secure Australia's sustainable future and an ecological economy? The panel of experts will aim to provide ideas of what a transition could look like.
Join acclaimed environmentalist, Mark Diesendorf, political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change, Katherine Trebeck and economist, ecologist, writer and policy analyst, Warwick Smith in a rare but powerful talk. The discussion will feature themes such as social movements, innovations, postgrowth, international trade systems, degrowth, sharing & wellbeing economies, universal basic services, economic democratisation of public services, state capture, social progress, grassroots initiatives, etc.
BIO - Katherine is a political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change. She co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (International) and also WEAll Scotland, its Scottish hub. She sits on a range of boards and advisory groups such as The Democracy Collaborative, the C40 Centre for Urban Climate Policy and Economy, and the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity. She has published numerous books and articles, most recently as co-author of The wellbeing economy in brief: Understanding the growing agenda and its complications, Centre for Policy Development, February 2024.
Further details about Katherine's writing and work can be found on her website - https://katherinetrebeck.com/
Jim Turnour
PRESENTATION TITLE - A place-based approach to achieving sustainable development a Wuthathi First Nation case study (co-presenting with Keron Murray)
ABSTRACT - Case studies can provide localised in-depth analysis of governance systems supposedly designed to support sustainable development revealing how they in fact continue to perpetuate discrimination and injustice. This case study of the Wuthathi peoples struggle for self-determination reveals how current programmatic funding and land tenure systems marginalises First Nation’s peoples in Cape York Peninsula. The Wuthathi people of northeastern Cape York Peninsula removed through colonisation are slowly regaining their lands and sea country and returning to manage and protect it for future generations. The Wuthathi Aboriginal Corporation representing Wuthathi people has identified strong governance (tribal and corporate), planning, long term investment partnerships, capacity and capability building as important to achieving Wuthathi peoples’ development goals and self-determination.
This case study explores how Australian governments’ policy and legislation has often hindered Wuthathi peoples progress towards sustainable development and self-determination. The reasons for this are discussed including structural power imbalances between First Nation and mainstream Australian Institutions through specific examples in relation to land and sea management and community development. These power imbalances hide discrimination and systemic injustices within the system which is perpetuating the process of colonisation. New First Nation place-based approaches are discussed to better support community and regional development.
BIO - Dr Jim Turnour, The Cairns Institute James Cook University researching regional and community development. He has previously worked as the CEO / GM for Aboriginal Corporations in Cape York Peninsula including Wuthathi Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC the case study that will be discussed. Jim has a PhD (Economics) from James Cook University and undergraduate degrees in Agricultural Science and Economics from the University of Queensland.
Martin Tye
PRESENTATION TITLE - Sustainable Degrowth
ABSTRACT - This talk looks at our current predicament from a big picture angle. It promotes a new response framework based on the work of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy and answers questions like:
What is degrowth? What is it's goal? and how to thrive long term in a state of "dynamic balance".
BIO - Martin Tye is Director of the Australian Regional Communities Division of CASSE. He also does social media and marketing for Sustainable Population Australia, is a 3 time political candidate and has long been active in the overshoot awareness area.
Catherine van Wilgenburg
PRESENTATION TITLE - Arts and the economy (co-presenting with Jo Fay Duncan, Andy Grodecki, Barbara Lepani and Angharad Wynne-Jones)
Yolanda van Gellecum
PRESENTATION TITLE - Rethinking Power: Practical Tools for Participatory Governance with Sociocracy
ABSTRACT - Purpose-driven organisations frequently unite big-hearted people around a bold mission, yet without a conscious governance design cooperation can fray: Meetings become long and draining. Decisions stall or spark conflict. Power imbalances and burnout creep in.
BIO - Yolanda van Gellecum is a co-operative developer and accredited sociocracy facilitator. She is a support teacher with Sociocracy for All, an international NGO supporting democratic decision-making. With a background in social research, Yolanda works at the nexus of the social economy and community-led enterprise. She is Director and Secretary of Co-operative Bonds and serves on the board of the New Economy Network Australia.
Susan Wanmer
PRESENTATION TITLE - Communication tools for social change
ABSTRACT - Organisations often see communication as an admin or marketing task rather than a relational act. But every email, mailout, or event announcement carries energy. If that energy is rushed, misaligned, unclear, or mistimed, even well-meaning messages can create resistance, confusion, fatigue. This weakens engagement, trust, readership, donations, bookings - without noticing why. Unless the essence of care underpins your communication.
Explore how values-based communication must be reader-centred. Go beyond boring narratives, facts, friendly messages. Drawing on decades of experience in ethical strategy, facilitation, group dynamics, Susan Wanmer unpacks how timing, tone, the right-to-offer, and relational awareness shape the felt sense of every exchange.
Participants will learn: Why misjudged or extractive messaging erodes fragile relationships, How the difference between invitation and imposition changes engagement instantly, How to write messages that invite, align and land - without pressure or noise.
Through live examples and an embodied communication demo, Susan will show how communication is a team sport: a message passed, not thrown. Attendees will leave with tools to shift from transactional to relational - creating messages that feel good to send, and even better to receive. Because in a truly new economy, for congruency, humans have to communicate elegantly - without AI.
BIO - Susan Wanmer specialises in trust-based communication, leadership micro-skills, and ethical engagement. With a proven track record cross-industry, sectors and scale, she helps values-led organisations align messaging with mission—building trust, momentum, and meaningful connection that increases engagement, income, and impact. Every project is shaped through her benchmark of truth, beauty and justice. Curriculum developer for Byron Bay Business College.
Brian Warner
PRESENTATION TITLE - Indigenous and Local Community Led Carbon Offset: Australia and Kenya Experiences (co-presenting with Kristen Lyons and Jagjit Plahe)
ABSTRACT - Carbon offsets have been singled out as vital to reach net zero targets – including Australia’s net zero ambition by 2050. Between 2022- 2024 the sector tripled in value, and Australia is expected to realise some of the largest global growth, especially in blue carbon offsets – with marine ecosystems recognised for their significant offsetting potential. This panel will showcase some of the ways Indigenous communities are leading Australia’s development as a ‘blue carbon hotspot’. It will also reflect on recent developments in Indigenous and local community led projects in Kenya, where similar spectacular growth in blue carbon is occurring. Our discussion will consider the significance of cultural heritage protections and caring for sea country in ensuring viable blue carbon projects, and the possibilities and challenges in expanding Indigenous and local community led blue carbon economies in Australia and Kenya. We will also outline some of the economic, community and other benefits for Indigenous communities tied to high integrity carbon offset projects that uphold Indigenous rights.
BIO - Secretary Kabi Kabi Peoples’ Aboriginal Corporation
Tianda Williams
PRESENTATION TITLE - Nourishing Our Communities, Re-Localising Our Food System
ABSTRACT - Did you know that the average Aussie shopping trolley travels roughly 70,000 km? That’s enough to circle the globe twice, emphasising the massive resource waste embedded in our global food chains. Meanwhile, 83 million people face hunger worldwide, while a third of all food is wasted annually, costing our economy over $940 billion. The solution? Localisation.
uForage is a global platform connecting local growers, foragers, makers, and conscious consumers to create vibrant, community-driven food networks transforming surplus and locally grown food into accessible nourishment. Whether you’re sharing excess garden produce or sourcing local honey, uForage grows sustainable and equitable food systems.
In just 18 months, uForage has empowered thousands of users across multiple countries, created thousands of listings, and fostered a cultural shift toward re-localisation. Our recent partnership with Falling Fruit will soon bring the platform to 1.6 million listings, positioning us as the largest community-driven food map in the world. uForage represents an opportunity to re-localise our food system and re-localise our economy. Living our lives in connection with place. Opening the deep possibilities of what a more local way of being can do, in terms of nourishing our stomachs, nourishing our communities, and nourishing life itself.
BIO - Tianda Williams is a passionate advocate for sustainable, community-driven food systems in rural Australia. As a mother and survivor of domestic violence, she’s committed to creating fair, local food networks that ensure no one goes hungry. Her work with uForage supports resilient communities by connecting local growers, foragers, and consumers.
Angharad Wynne-Jones
PRESENTATION TITLE - Arts and the economy (co-presenting with Catherine van Wilgenburg, Barbara Lepani, Andy Grodecki and Jo Fay Duncan)
BIO - Angharad is a visionary leader with 30 years in the arts and culture sector, specialising in strategic cultural planning and public engagement. She has led major projects at Arts House, the State Library of Victoria, and Arts Centre Melbourne, with a focus on climate, community, and cultural innovation.