Women Leading Climate Change Action on Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung Country
Ballarat, VIC | Tuesday, 18 July 2023

Event report:

It was a pleasure to come to Ballarat as part of the Road Show to talk about the Charter for Change. We were fortunate to be seated in a room full of dedicated women, active in their communities around important issues. It was particularly notable that Councillor Belinda Coates joined us and was keen to act on the proposals that arose, that Lynne Reeder of Compassionate Ballarat was key to organising the event and that Ballarat Hospice Care generously donated the venue. 

A persistent theme was climate grief - we were reminded that the following 2 days were forecast to be the hottest on record in the Northern Hemisphere. Women spoke generally about how climate change was affecting them and how taking action on climate change helped them address their fear and grief. Some of those activities included:

• Inviting First Nations people onto a farm for conversations;

• Building and monitoring wildlife boxes;

• Practising compassion in the community;

• Joining other women to talk about climate change - it’s not always easy to find like-minded people.

Around the circle, women discussed almost every Action of the Charter for Change, and once again, people expressed gratitude for being able to participate in a positive discussion about how collectively we can make a difference. Some of the ideas for action that arose included:

• Engaging more with First Nations people, politically, culturally and personally

• Calling for a duty of care to future generations;

• Reading about and coming together to discuss how we can make a difference;

• Create low-carbon burial options in the community;

• Find opportunities for children and young people to connect with the natural world;

• Ask local government to declare a climate emergency;

• Build relationships with local politicians.

The full Harvest can be found here. 

It’s interesting, as we move between communities, that there are many common themes and always new ones. We hope to hear more from the women of Ballarat, and to see some of their great ideas come to fruition. 

Perhaps this discussion inspires you to take action in your area. If so, please let us know what you’d like to do and whether WCC can offer you any support. If you would like us to hold a Road Show in your area, we’d love to hear from you about that as well.