Rebecca Gorman

I am sure everyone in the AEGN is like me, always on the hunt for a solution to solve our environmental emergency, our economic needs or excesses, and our community yearnings all at once. So, I was incredibly hopeful when, about five years ago, I came across the beautiful work of David Fleming through his books ‘Surviving the Future’ and ‘Lean Logic’. They are original, funny in parts and full of logical achievable answers – well they feel achievable. Originally, I was trying to fit the ethos of regenerative agriculture into the broader demands of economy and community, but throughout 2019-20, struggling with the intensity of drought, bushfires and plague, I began to use Fleming’s ideas as a bit of a ‘yellow brick road.’  

I know you will have also felt the urgency of this solution seeking, in fact I saw it in action. As the autumn rains began to fall and kept falling, as the blackened eucalypts on the road to Adelong began sprouting, as grasses began emerging to armour the soil, allowing farmers to take great big soothing breaths, many of the AEGN connected organisations began releasing their own ‘surviving the future’ blueprints. These were kicked into action by COVID-19 certainly, but were triggered by the trauma that came before – that extraordinary summer Australians should never forget, overlayed by the global existential climate urgency and the understanding that initiatives need to come from the grass roots as much as from government.  

Rebecca Gorman

These gratifying visions of hope came from many places and offered me clarity and motivation. The Morris Foundation added weight to their considerable existing work with the Blueprint for Impact report focused on regenerative ag and the Barrier Reef, The Next Economy kept up their quiet community building, the rapidly representative Farmers for Climate Action released their Regional Horizons vision, the open source enablers Open Food Network served up their blueprint ‘Recipes for Resilience’ and Beyond Zero Emissions went big with the Million Jobs Plan. And, of course, there is Climate Works continuing their thorough research and community building via the Natural Capital Road Map and the Future Food and Land Use initiative. All these visions began turning the punctuations of the recent year into reset markers instead of trauma points.  

Common themes from Fleming to Climate Works include refocusing our energies on building local capacity, setting our sights lower in fact, at the soil level, at the community level – all creating specific and achievable outcomes. There was a strong emphasis on renewables, redirecting investment to local economies, building adaptive community capacity and, specifically in regenerative agriculture, connecting up the food supply chain, to share equal responsibility for building ecological, mental and economic health rather than leaving this responsibility at the feet of farmers.   

Then in late November the Federal government called for submissions to create eight Drought Resilience and Innovation Hubs throughout Australia. This idea had already been flagged in the Farmers for Climate Action Regional Horizons initiative – and here was government making it happen. The Australian Holistic Management Cooperative representing Land to Market Australia, which offers ecological monitoring and marketing to farmers – audaciously stepped up to lead a regenerative agriculture hub consortium. I say audaciously because Land to Market is a small but growing cooperative of farmers all working pro bono. In a commercially competitive bidding process we were certainly minnows, but at the end of the six-week application process, we had drawn together an amazing group that I felt, represented many of the common themes pitched in the blueprint statements. Our consortium is: Land to Market, The Mulloon Institute, Soils for Life, Southern Cross University, Odonata Foundation, Tiverton Agriculture Impact fund, Farming Together and the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance. There are a further 43 partners from farmer organisations, to restaurants and philanthropists, pitching in cash, in- kind support and enthusiasm. On 23 December when we pressed the submit button at 9.30 pm, a full 1.5 hours ahead of deadline – we were exhausted yes but exhilarated by the capacity on offer. 

So, at the start of this new year 2021, I am tempted to say “look up!” as I am genuinely feeling optimistic with so many achievable ideas on offer – but in fact we need only look right and left, since it appears that through the AEGN and other networks, the answers lie here, between us.  

Debbie Dadon AM

The disruption and uncertainty of 2020 began with the devastation of the bushfires and then rapidly unfurled with the coronavirus pandemic and its far-reaching impact.  

My most dominant memory of 2020 is the sense of urgency felt at the Besen Family Foundation to respond quickly and deeply to ensure the not-for-profits working on the frontlines were resourced and supported. And that the organisations who suddenly found their activities and programs cancelled could adapt and survive. 

That sense of urgency set the tone for our granting. We consulted with NGOs to understand their immediate and longer-term needs and, significantly increased our distributions so that the Foundation could run rapid rounds of emergency grants without impacting our existing commitments. 

Debbie Dadon AM

Historically when natural disasters have struck, charitable trusts have waited for the funds raised through community appeals and individual giving to be distributed and then determine down the track where the gaps remain for philanthropy to fill. Philanthropy can play the long game.  

In the case of COVID-19 however, it was difficult to predict the long term individual, community and societal consequences of a crisis of this magnitude.  

We had to determine how best to support those suffering financially and mentally from the effects of restrictions, resulting business closures and social isolation, while not losing our focus on important causes such as climate change, conserving and protecting the environment, and tackling inequity in education, employment and healthcare. 

Of great concern is that the not-for-profits, which were established to further these causes and redress inequality, face a double blow in times of economic uncertainty: a reduction in donations and an increased demand for services.  

One of the strengths of philanthropy is how quickly we can respond and serve the public interest and arguably this is the time to give urgently and generously. 

As one community leader, JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny said, “If there is a time to dig deeper in our endowments, this is it. This IS the rainy day!”

Julie Mills

2020 was the year when the climate change impacts I had advocated on for decades professionally came to my doorstep. Summer at our wildlife sanctuary on South Coast in New South Wales was spent preparing to evacuate, fleeing, fighting fires when they reached us and rescuing and caring for injured wildlife.  

Julie Mills

The year that followed was one of recovery — watching the land and the people start to heal. But the year energised my commitment to environmental advocacy and the experience of the Black Summer forged great relationships that will endure forever — through applying cultural burning practices with the help of our local Indigenous brothers, bonds with colleagues involved with wildlife care, and also with a community passionate about preserving and seeing our beautiful southern forests regrow and support the recovery of native fauna.  

My hope for 2021 is to see humanity recognise that it has no dominion over the planet and that our survival is inextricably linked to the survival of the natural systems that sustain us.