Some words of wisdom associated with having conversations…
HAVE MILLIONS OF CONVERSATIONS
“Now comes the inevitable and all important, call to action. For those of you in this room, your first task is to maintain your own enthusiasm and optimism – and your own mental health and wellbeing – as we move deeper into a climate change affected future. You can protest, change the terms of your super fund, install solar panels, vote for parties with strong climate policies, but one of the most important things you can do is understand why people who aren’t like you feel the way they do about climate change. And learn to talk to them effectively. What we need are thousands, even millions, of everyday conversations about climate change.”
Dr Rebecca Huntley
link to ‘Renewing Democracy in Time of Environmental Crisis’ MSSI Oration
CONVERSATIONS ARE THE MOST POWERFUL LEVER FOR BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
“having conversations is the driving force for any kind of change… conversation is the most powerful lever for behaviour change… behaviour change really comes out of human interaction and conversations”
And it starts with ourselves…. There’s no way around it. It’s from the inside out. And so it starts with actually tuning in to “how am I feeling?” And being compassionate. I know it’s easy to say but really being compassionate, it’s like, these are hard issues. This is a hard moment to be a human being <…> we can give each other permission to just be who we are, and again, this allows us to move into the higher level of functioning.”
Dr Renee Lertzman
WE CAN CHANGE BY DELIGHT… AND EATING CAKES
“I attended a conference on sustainability. And among the sessions… I found myself listening to a woman talking about delight. And in many ways her presentation changed the course of my life.
She stood up and said: “We can change by delight.”
She talked about how she used to be an angry activist and how she’d go to parties and yell at people eating meat, angrily attempting to shame them into different behaviour. She said, “people stopped inviting me to parties! And I love parties!” So she started making cakes. Beautiful cakes made of environmentally friendly in season ingredients, beautifully presented and totally delicious and of course the party invitations returned.
But her story didn’t stop here. She took this model and ran with it, offering cooking courses for dairy farmers’ wives who wanted to get more vegetables into their children’s diets. As a result of cooking and talking and celebrating good food, she said that nine out of the ten women went back to their farms and made changes to their farming practices to ensure greater sustainability.
She said, “We can change by delight.”
Dr Millie Rooney
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