Getting To Better Together

From time to time, something happens in the Australian political sphere that restores our collective faith in a grassroots participative democracy that places Getting to Better Together at the forefront of consideration.  Cathy McGowan's community-based election and parliamentary tenure on the crossbenches of Federal parliament from 2013-19 as the independent member for Indi in northern Victoria, provided a quite remarkable example of such an episode.  In this interview with our host Richard Bawden, Cathy shares her thoughts and critical reflections on 'doing politics differently'.

In this episode, our host Richard Bawden has a conversation about differing views of the world with Maria Raciti who is a professor of marketing and director of the indigenous and transcultural research centre at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

In this episode, our host Richard Bawden talks with Oliver Freeman who is a futurist and one of the pre-eminent scenario planners in Australia.  The conversation ranges over a number of issues related to the theme of developing foresight or learning from the future. This is of huge significance given the turbulence of the complex and ever-changing times in which we are living.

Professor Richard Bawden explores ideas, opinions, provide facts and evidence in support of the aim of getting to better together.

Jen Dollin is responsible for education for sustainable futures at Western Sydney University and in this conversation with Richard, she explains what this entails. With her emphasis on networking both locally and internationally, Jen provided a wonderful example of Getting to Better Together within the vital context of sustainable futures.

All too often when we talk of participation in the search for community and environmental betterment, we forget about the role that corporations could and should play and indeed are playing in actuality. In this episode, we speak with a past business leader, Howard Dare, whose personal story certainly deserves to be heard in this regard.

In this episode, our host-Richard Bawden has a conversation with Tony Wellington, the author of a wonderfully evocative book illustrated with Noosa and Cooloola's beautiful photographs. In this well-researched book, Tony narrates the 50 years history of the Noosa Parks Association that provides a very powerful and relevant 'living example' of the powerful impact that a group of "thoughtful and committed citizens" can have on shaping a local region's developmental visions and strategies.

Roger Packham is an Associate Professor at Western Sydney, who has had a long passion for, and practical experience as an educator with the vital issue of how our values, especially our ethical and moral beliefs, influence the way that we live our lives. These are matters that lie at the very foundations of our characters. In this episode, Roger will outline some of the basic principles that characterise these foundations. 

In this episode, the emphasis will be on the significance of the 'Together' part of our message. Our guest will Tami Harriott who is the General Manager of CIDSEL and the primary source of the original idea and the inspiration for its establishment. This conversation highlights the importance of engagement and social inclusion within the process of development as the equitable quest for 'betterment'. 

In this episode, our host, Richard Bawden, does some brief clarifying reflections on the podcast episodes that we have produced so far. He revisits some of the issues that we have aired to date, within more specific contexts of Getting to Better Together including the UN’s sustainable development goals.