Australia has a choice - will we create a flourishing future across social, environmental, and economic dimensions for everyone today and in the generations to come? Or will we continue to be hamstrung by decades of policy inertia, public dissatisfaction with our nation’s performance, distrust in institutions, widespread pessimism, and ongoing global disruption?
Our recent research from Next25 Recoded uncovered four levers that, if addressed, will change the way Australia makes its future. We plan to work on each of these challenges to build improvements. They are all substantive, so we engage emerging and established leaders to decide where to start. This year, we will focus on lever three – Enabling and Embracing Constructive Discourse. The next phase of our work will deeply explore the challenges and potential solutions to improving Australia’s discourse. This is a big task, particularly in the face of media polarisation, the rise of misinformation, and the dysfunctional relationship between media and politics (Recoded, 2021). We know we cannot do this work alone, so we enrol and equip leaders and the public to join us.
We are thrilled to announce that we have enrolled four big-thinkers to the Steering Committee who will bring their expertise and knowledge to the solution development process. We are grateful to each of you for engaging with us and supporting our work:
Prof James Arvanitakis at the Australian American Fulbright Commission, Author, Professor of Humanities. Former Pro Vice Chancellor (Research and Graduate Studies) at Western Sydney University. A former economist and free market advocate, James changed his position after witnessing child and indentured labour. His research areas include citizenship, resilience, piracy and the future of universities. In 2012, James was the Prime Ministers University Teacher of the Year Award - Australia's most prestigious teaching award. He has authored hundreds of articles and is a regular commentator on ABC News.
Morgan Cataldo has worked for over a decade in the for-purpose sector in a range of policy, advocacy and service development roles. Her passion for participatory practice and peer education stems from her own intimate lived experience of service systems. She is currently the Senior Manager Youth Engagement at Berry Street where she leads the Y-Change initiative, and consults independently as part of her private practice. Morgan also sits on the Board of 100 Story Building.
Dr Lynne Reeder is the Founder of the Mindful Futures Network, Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Science, Psychology and Sport at Federation University Australia, National Director of the Australian Compassion Council. Lynne is a Trustee on the Global Board of the Charter for Compassion, and is the global Coordinator of its Science and Research Sector. In her role as the National Lead for the work of the Charter in Australia she established the ACC Scholars Network to bring together compassion researchers across Australia. Dr Reeder also created the Mindful Futures Network, to map innovations in the science of mindfulness, empathy and compassion within Australian organisations. She has previously worked at the University of Melbourne and ANU in both academic and knowledge transfer roles, and has extensive experience in policy development working for national associations such as the Committee for Economic Development of Australia and Professions Australia.
Prof Chris Riedy is Professor of Sustainability Transformations and Director of Higher Degree Research at the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney. Chris is a transdisciplinary action researcher with a focus on sustainability transformations. He uses sociological and political theory, narrative theory and futures thinking to design, facilitate and evaluate practical experiments in transformative change towards sustainable futures. Chris is an Advisor to the Transformations Community, a Senior Research Fellow of the Earth System Governance project, a member of the Sustainability Transitions Research Network and the New Economy Network Australia, and is on the Editorial Board of Futures and Action Research. He has authored hundreds of articles and writes a blog on living within planetary boundaries called Planetcentric (planetcentric.net).
Along with the Steering Committee, we will invite individuals from across politics, public service, business, media, community organisations, and experts to participate in the incubation process. Our incubator workshops seek to engage a broad range of groups and individuals - from lobby groups who seek to influence discourse, to those who have conversations as their job, or those who have a voice but are not always heard, such as young people and marginalised groups. By the end of June, we will have at least one improvement developed and ready to pilot with support from a diverse group of individuals and organisations.
Stay tuned for our next blog post which will delve deeper into the process and method of how we incubate improvements.
You can learn more about the process and method of Next25 Recoded by visiting our website. To stay up to date with our progress, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.