Di Bell was at the Environmental Activists’ Conference on October 11 at the Australian Education Union in Adelaide. It was an opportunity to meet with colleagues, exchange ideas and hear from climate change experts such as Mark Diesendorf from University of New South Wales, David Spratt, co-author of Code Red, Paul Downtown, Ecological Architect, Darren Ray from the Bureau of Meteorology, David Noonan, Australian Conservation Foundation and many others. [program at www.climateemergency.org.au]
The need to recognise and act on the climate change global emergency was at the heart of the conference. Participants echoed Di’s challenge on the campaign trail: “No more business as usual”. A new progressive politics is afoot. It is grounded in local communities of knowledge, entails coalition-building, working across different interest groups and disciplines. The task ahead requires asking the right questions and that will require clear conceptualisation of the complex factors underlying the climate change crisis.
