Event details
The Speaker Series enables us to grapple with the ongoing consequences of political inaction and to raise necessary considerations in the year leading up to the Climate Change Education Summit and Action Plan.
Invited speakers offer provocations, considerations and they will share their own perspectives regarding the challenges of climate change education.
To participate, register your interest and we will share the details of each speaker event.
Our diverse and exciting range of speakers will grow throughout the year. You'll need to register your interest for each speaker. We'll also record these webinars and they will be available right after the event.
Yin Paradies
Professor Yin Paradies is an Aboriginal animist anarchist actionist, who is committed to understanding and interrupting the devastating impacts of modern societies. He seeks mutuality of becoming and embodied kinship with all life through transformed ways of knowing, being, doing, perceiving and relating. Yin is a Wakaya man and Chair in Race Relations at Deakin University where he conducts research on topics such as racism, anti-racism, cultural competence, Indigenous knowledges and decolonisation. Join us for what will be a stimulating discussion.
Professor Marcia McKenzie
Join us for our conversation with Marcia McKenzie – Global Studies and International Education professor at Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne.
Professor McKenzie works at the intersections of comparative and international education, global education policy research and climate and sustainability education. She is Director of the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) Project and the Sustainability and Education Policy Network (SEPN) and is an inducted member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
Marcia’s work with UNESCO has culminated in three international reports: 'Country progress on climate change education: a review of national submissions to the UNFCCC', 'ESD and GCED up close: cognitive, social and emotional and behavioural learning in Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education from pre-primary to secondary education' and 'Learn for our planet: a global review of how environmental issues are integrated in education'.
This will be an internationally focussed conversation, one that draws connections between policy and practice in relation to climate change education and climate justice.
Speaker profiles
Craig Reucassel
Join us for our conversation with Craig Reucassel, writer, comedian, director and documentary maker.
Craig and a group of university mates founded The Chaser newspaper – leading to a number of ABC TV Chaser programs including The Election Chaser, CNNNN, The Chaser’s War on Everything, Yes We Canberra, The Hamster Wheel and the satirical consumer affairs show The Checkout.
In 2017, 2018 and 2023 he presented the multi-award winning ABC TV series War on Waste. In this series Craig took a critical look at household and retail waste. In 2020, Craig presented the ABC TV climate documentary series Fight for Planet A and Big Weather (and how to survive it). For his Big Weather series, Craig drew on unique access to Australia’s emergency services, first responders and local communities to create a gripping series filmed over one intense summer.
Craig’s work in film and television as a writer, director and comedian highlights how we can create change, what change governments need to make and the role of education.
Eve Mayes in conversation with Natasha Abhayawickrama, Netta Maiava & Grace Vegesana
Dr Eve Mayes (she/her) will facilitate this panel discussion. Eve is a senior research fellow at Deakin University in the School of Education (Research for Educational Impact), living and working on unceded Wadawurrung Country.
Natasha Abhayawickrama (she/her) is an undergraduate university student at the University of New South Wales with over five years of experience as a community organiser, living and working on unceded Gadigal Country. She is currently employed as an organiser with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and as a research associate at Deakin University.
Netta Maiava (she/her) is a Pacific Climate Warrior, a volunteer community organiser under 350.org, living and working on unceded Wadawurrung Country. Netta currently works as a research associate at Deakin University.
Grace Vegesana (she/they) is the National Director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and a 24-year-old woman-of-colour who has been building youth power to end fossil fuel expansion since she was 17. Her legacy includes co-founding the People of Colour Climate Network, pioneering climate justice organising on Dharug Country in Western Sydney with AYCC and mobilising 3000 Australian businesses to join the Climate Strikes.
Listen to the recorded conversation where climate justice organisers discuss their experiences and the possibilities for transformative climate justice and education.
Alessandra Sutti and Lavenia Ratnarajah
Dr Alessandra Sutti is an associate professor at the Institute for Frontier Materials at Deakin University where she leads a team focused in polymer and textiles research. At IFM, Ale leads a team whose mission is to bring greater “circularity” in the world of materials manufacturing, especially textiles. The team is also investigating aspects such as the marine degradability of textile materials, to inform their design of new materials and processes towards a more sustainable future.
Ale’s “spare time” is spent in supporting efforts in environmental education world-wide through The GLOBE Program – a US Global environmental education Program sponsored by NASA. Ale leads a world-wide microplastics monitoring protocol trial, collaboration with GLOBE Italy. The trial has so far involved over 10,000 students and 500 teachers in 20 countries, with many students, teachers and communities involved.
Dr Lavenia Ratnarajah is a marine biogeochemist, currently investigating the mechanisms that drive carbon export in the Southern Ocean through the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership. Lavy has worked on projects and with research organisations in Europe, the Americas and across the Asia-Pacific – including conducting fieldwork in Antarctica.
In 2023, Lavy launched Project EVE (Empowerment Via Education) with the aim of engaging school students with contemporary research and related problem solving.
Watch this conversation where we explore important citizen science projects and consider their role in climate change education.
Damon Gameau
Damon Gameau is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), appearing in the Australian films Balibo, Thunderstruck, Razzle Dazzle and a range of television series including Raw, Wentworth and Underbelly. Damon wrote and produced That Sugar Film, documenting the impacts of a high sugar diet on his body which became a phenomenal success.
As the co-founder of Regen Studios, Damon has created documentaries including 2040, a visual letter to his then four-year-old daughter, and the film Regenerate Australia 2030 exploring what Australia would look like in the year 2030. His latest documentary Future Council is screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2024.
Watch this conversation where we ask what drives Damon and discuss how his work intersects with climate change education and climate justice.
Tanja Beer
Dr Tanja Beer is a senior lecturer at the Queensland College of Art and Design and the co-director of the Performance + Ecology Research Lab (P+ERL) at Griffith University.
She is an award-winning community artist, ecological designer and creative researcher. Since 2011, Tanja has been focused on the development of ecological arts practices across theatre, performance design and community arts. Her most significant work is The Living Stage – combining stage design, horticulture and community engagement to create recyclable, biodegradable, edible and biodiverse performance spaces.
The Living Stage enables people to develop a greater appreciation of the living world and brings a regenerative focus to cultural practices that creates opportunities for thrive-ability across more than human systems.
Watch this webinar recording where Dr Beer discusses her research and practical work in the arts – specifically focussing on eco-conscious performance design ‘eco-scenography’ and how such work considers climate change education and climate justice.
Marilyn Palmer
Dr Marilyn Palmer was a foundation member of the Social Work Program at Edith Cowan University, actively involved in researching and teaching in the areas of ecosocial work, domestic violence, ecojustice activism and transformative leadership in disaster recovery.
Since formally retiring in 2022, Marilyn has continued her engagement with the university through tutoring and supporting research on cultural humility and ecological grief and loss. Beyond the university, she practices activism through the Alongside Women’s Action Group weekly vigil in Bunbury, as a member of the Waratah Management Committee, and as an active member of Greens WA.
Watch the recorded webinar in which Dr Palmer shares her thoughts about activism and advocacy and how we generate change in our society.
Lisa Siegel
Dr Lisa Siegel brings over 30 years of experience as an educator and environmental advocate. Lisa is the current national president of the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) and a member of the Sustainability, Environmental and Arts Education (SEAE) Research Centre. She has been acknowledged as an Australian Environmental Educator of the Year and NSW Tertiary and Community Environment Educator of the year.
Watch this recorded webinar in which Dr Siegel shares her thoughts about the conjunction of environmental education and climate change education.
Costa Georgiadis
Surfing at Bondi is a passion for Costa who is a qualified landscape architect and studied at the University of NSW. Costa believes in embracing and celebrating mother nature’s cycles and seasons and nurturing her balance, beauty and bounty organically. His holistic approach is all about gardening the soil and the soul. He is the host of ABC Gardening Australia and a well known environmental education activist as the Patron for NSW AAEE.
Tim Flannery
A scientist, explorer and conservationist Tim Flannery has undertaken over 20 expeditions to remote regions and written over 30 books.
He was described by Sir David Attenborough as one of the great explorers and as a scientist who’s discovered more new species than Charles Darwin. His landmark works The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers have changed the way we think about the environmental challenges facing the world.
Named Australian of the Year in 2007, he works with governments and businesses globally on climate change action. In 2011 Tim became Australia’s Chief Climate Commissioner and in 2013 he founded and heads the Australian Climate Council.
In May 2021 Tim Flannery was awarded the prestigious Geddes Environment Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
In his new film, Climate Changers, Tim searches for the missing ingredient in our fight against climate change.
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