Take me to the River

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! In this episode, facilitator and coach Belinda Chapman shares with us the importance for people working in river management to bring their ‘whole person’ to work. We look at ways this can be done and what it means to use our head, heart and gut brains in the workplace. Belinda's company, Working Wheel, works with organisations wher...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! This podcast episode continues the discussion on the proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall in Western Sydney by up to 17 metres. We talk with special guest Kazan Brown, a Gundungurra elder from the region, who is incredibly concerned that if the proposal goes ahead it will endanger 5700 hectares of UNESCO World Heritage-listed natio...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! In this episode, I speak with the Honourable Bob Debus, former Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Minister for the Arts for the Blue Mountains electorate and Chairperson for the Colong Foundation For Wilderness . We dive into a discussion about the proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall, and highlight the flawed rational...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! My guest for this episode is Andy Lowes, author of the Letter from the Murrumbidgee River to Canberrans. Andy is Canberra born and bred, growing up swimming, fishing and walking by the Murrumbidgee. His lifelong interest in rivers has also seen him work at the Commonwealth level on the management of rivers in the broader Murray-Darling...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! In this episode, Siwan is joined by author Rod Taylor to discuss Rod’s new book ‘Ten Journeys on a Fragile Planet’. Rod’s book follows the stories of ten inspiring Australians who are confronting our changing climate in unique ways. Rod broadcasts a weekly science show and appears on ABC and BBC radio shows. He also writes a column in t...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! In this episode, we have a Conversation over a Cuppa with Associate Professor Lorrae van Kerkhoff about why thinking about the future is hard, and the importance of institutional environments that allow for uncertain futures. Lorrae is the Director of the Institute for Water Futures and Associate Director of the Fenner School of Environ...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! In this episode, Siwan and Professor Jamie Pittock discuss whether raising dam walls is an effective management strategy to address our changing climate. They discuss the current proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall in outer Sydney, and whether the stated aims of it being to address flooding and protect downstream communities, will...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! In this episode, Siwan talks with Professor Mark Howden about how we can retain hope in the face of a changing climate. Mark is the Director of the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University, as well as being the Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As a global expert on climate science...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! ‘Their Stories’ is a mini-series of conversations, exploring the complex and messy ways in which humanity interacts with ecology. In this episode, Siwan talks to Professor Ross Thompson, Director and Chair of Water Science in the Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra. Their talk focuses on work currently underway i...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! In this episode, I have a conversation with Dr. Simon Mould, on what makes a river champion and why we need to support those people who are working for better water and river management. The ‘champion’ concept usefully highlights the importance of critical leaders in environmental management initiatives. However, our experience tells us...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! Paul Ryan – founding director of the Australian Resilience Centre, and a global leader in resilience, adaptation and transformation practice – joins us today for a ‘Conversation over a Cuppa’ as we look into the idea of ‘bouncing forward’. The term stems from the notion that the popular belief about resilience being our ability to ‘boun...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! Suzy and I reflect on the tough few months we’ve had in Australia, which has caused people to be in a heightened state of anxiety and fear for longer periods of time than we are used to. This episode talks about a resource called ‘Take Care to Give Care’ – a Guide that Two Green Threads has produced for wildlife carers, but which also a...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! Over the past few months we have seen the devastation bushfires have caused across many of our beautiful forests – photographs of dead and injured koalas, kangaroos and echidnas have been upsetting, galvanising people to knit booties, put out water and fund food drops for wildlife. But what of those less charismatic species, the ones th...

Questions, comments, feedback? Tap here to send us a message! The first episode of our new podcast ‘Conversation Over A Cuppa’ focuses on the impact of the recent devastating Australian bushfires - the loss of people's homes, death and injury to wildlife, and vast tracts of burnt bushland.   Siwan talks about how it has affected her personally, leading to feelings of anxiety, fear, anger and...