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Archive for Wellness

Bit by bit

by CAHA
November 14th, 2013

Street based campaigning to engage people in climate action can be challenging, and sometimes campaigners wonder if it’s worth it!

People don’t always want to engage directly, and for some members of the community, hearing about climate change is confronting and so they would rather not talk about it – or even accept a flyer about a climate-related event.

But every little interaction like this is a building block for further interaction and can help in providing an opening for those people to think more about the issue down the track.

Here’s what psychologist Dr Bronwyn Wauchope had to say to some campaigners handing out flyers for the National Day of Climate Action this Sunday:

“Some people just aren’t willing to accept it’s a real problem, but don’t underestimate those momentary interactions – it’s about breaking it down for people bit by bit. Like building a house, we need to lay our foundations brick by brick. Over time this will build into a strong structure, one that people will see and want to replicate.

It can be hard when people refuse to see this reality or refuse to care about nature or others, but let’s not confuse that with how we feel – your efforts to engage and encourage others to stand up for this issue are admirable so be sure to congratulate yourselves! 

Plus it’s more depressing to stand aside and do nothing, and you’re protecting our own health and well-being by taking action.

While those who declined may not give this another thought, just by having that brief interaction will increase the chance they will have a conversation later or fleetingly think about it when they see it on the TV or when a movie star speak about it.

Over time those interactions will build up, and when they hear others in their circle express concern, they’ll be more likely to share that concern.” 

Categories Advocacy, Behaviour change, Climate, Energy, Health, Psychology, Sustainable, Wellness
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Climate and health ‘Clinic’ at SLF 2013

by CAHA
April 15th, 2013

A big shout out to the wonderful health promotion practitioners and students who participated in the Climate and Health Alliance’s initiative at the Melbourne Sustainable Living Festival for the second year in 2013.

Here, volunteer Sally talks about what they got up to and what the Climate and Health Clinic is about.

Categories Advocacy, Allied health, Behaviour change, Climate, Emissions, Energy, Health, Health professionals, Healthy, Heat, Heatwaves, Nursing, Public health, Sustainability, Well-being, Wellness
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The project known as ‘now’

by CAHA
December 2nd, 2012

An exciting project is evolving…

The Climate and Health Alliance recently had the opportunity to crowdsource ideas for a new publication in the New News Incubator at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival event.

Guided by Daniel May, Fiona Armstrong, Paul Ramadge, and Bronwen Clune, this workshop worked to develop an idea to create a new online publication in the area of climate and health – from scratch! Participants helped build the publication’s identity, sketch out a community development strategy,  a business case and a story list. The workshop was moderated by the incomparable health journalist and Croakey blogger Melissa Sweet.

It has evolved into an proposal to create an online ‘hub’ provisionally called now to showcase what healthy sustainable societies look like through sharing stories of existing low or zero carbon initiatives to help create an appealing narrative for positive change.

now is proposed as an online ‘hub’ to showcase what healthy sustainable societies look like by aggregating and documenting stories and images and case studies of existing low or zero carbon initiatives as a vehicle to help create an appealing narrative for positive change.

Human health and wellbeing are dependent on sustainable environments.

now uses health as a ‘hook’ to build support for environmental sustainability and bio-sensitive societies. Stories and content will range from the micro to the macro – i.e. what’s possible in low carbon food production in Cindy’s backyard all the way to stories about what’s possible in terms of transforming our large scale industrial agricultural systems and infrastructure.

now will function as a library as well as a ‘publication’ with rich archival and background materials while presenting a dynamic and lively ever changing ‘face’ with fresh content, and evocative images that will be equally appealing to consumers/community as it is to experts.

A report on the MWF event is available here. A collaborating group is working together to further develop the idea.

Watch out for further details!

Categories Behaviour change, Climate, Ecology, Health, Healthy, Sustainability, Sustainable, Transformation, Well-being, Wellness
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Crowdsourcing a new e-publication on climate and health

by CAHA
September 3rd, 2012

CAHA’s suggestion for a publication focused on the ‘health implications of climate change’ was chosen from a pool of ideas for a workshop at the Melbourne Writers Festical last month.

The idea was conceived by Melissa Sweet from the health blog Croakey who invited readers to submit ideas for new, health related online publications so that one could be selected for development at the New News Conference as part of the Melbourne Writers’ Festival.

Around thirty eager participants showed up for a high speed product development workshop dubbed “crowdsourcing a new publication”.

Workshop participants were asked to come up with strategies for community building, editorial, digital news and business development as well as next steps.

After just one hour, we had a core idea: a publication/website that would to showcase the benefits of healthy sustainable societies through user generated content which was underpinned by scientific research and literature.

A key message was that it should be about ‘showing’ not ‘telling’, and the content ‘brains trust’ advocated the creation of an appealing visual narrative – to help show what low carbon living IS, feels like, looks like, and in doing so, illustrate what the benefits are – creating a pull rather than push factor.

Read about some of the ideas generated and observer’s thoughts on this fast moving workshop on Croakey and in a Melbourne Press Club report.

CAHA’s take on the outcome appears below in a brief overview of what a proposal for publication might look like:

******

Purpose/Aim of the publication

To communicate climate change and global environmental issues in a public health frame that leads to changes in policy/influences policy

Strategy

To aggregate and connect community efforts to respond to climate change in a visible way through social media and digital platforms using stories, pictures, personal narratives and profiles

Audience

Various groups – community, policymakers, media

Groups with various levels of engagement with the issue – the unsure, the confused, the early adopters

Partners/Collaborators

Others who are driving changes in community whether it is local initiatives such as a suburban food forest or transformation change through to national initiatives such as thought leadership and research on low carbon pathways

Methods of Engagement

Launch through social media and social networks

Link to environmental and health groups

Use various mediums to connect with various groups ie include blogs, research papers

Need to approach from the point of view of “showing” not “telling”

Opportunities and challenges  

The Big One: Capturing, modelling and communicating what healthy sustainable societies look like, feel like, are like!

While there may be a range of different audiences requiring different strategies of engagement and messages/stories it may be possible to influence other groups ( ie policymakers through demonstration of community engagement)

Building a community of interest around a personal connection to environmental change using a public health frame

Provides an ability to interweave the evidence with community experience

Using data journalism to demonstrate the cumulative impacts of individual action and sectoral change ie demonstrate the real life implications of policy ie Bill’s compost achieves the following results for him, but what the implications of rolling out his approach to every household?

Ie what are the economics involved in scaling up? What might the savings be – in emissions, and in financial terms?

Challenges – How to connect with different audiences eg experts, policymakers, community, media?

*********

Do you think you’d like to see this idea developed further?

If you would like to be involved in taking this project forward, contact [email protected]

Categories Advocacy, Health, Health policy, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Wellness
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Transforming economics and governance for better health

by CAHA
August 31st, 2012

We’re very excited about our upcoming workshop at the Population Health Congress in Adelaide on 9th September. We’ll be really giving our brains a workout as we think about how to transform Australia, and society for that matter, to more sustainable, healthier ways of living.

Sunday 9th September – Pre-conference Workshop, Population Health Congress,  Adelaide Convention Centre

This workshop will bring together some of the thinking that is emerging around the world that recognises that as a species, we are responsible for driving changes that are affecting global systems and our current systems of economics and governance are contributing to destructive practices that mean we are hitting up against ecological limits.

What can we do about this? What contribution can health professionals make to reshaping our thinking about what it means to have healthy sustainable societies? What new systems are being envisaged and/or are emerging to respond to these challenges?

Come and join us for a stimulating Sunday afternoon sesssion in Adelaide, from 1-4.30pm on the 9th of September 2012.

PROGRAM

1.00pm               Welcome to country, introduction to workshop – Peter Tait

1.10pm               Presentation: Transforming democracy – Peter Tait

1.25pm               Presentation: Reshaping economics for better health and sustainability – Fiona Armstrong

1.40pm               Presentation: The nuts and bolts of making things happen – Bob Douglas

1.55pm               Questions and discussion

2.10pm               Break into small groups: What does this mean for me and my practice?

3.00pm               Afternoon tea and networking

3.30pm               Report back from groups

4.00pm               Synthesise discussions, brief outline of workshop report, and next steps            

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

Dr Peter Tait is a general practitioner who worked in Alice Springs for 20 years before relocating to Canberra in 2011. He is involved in clinical work, public health and teaching. He has had a long involvement in the environment and peace movements. He was RACGP General Practitioner of the Year in 2007. He recently completed a Masters of Climate Change at the Australian National University.

Fiona Armstrong is a health professional, journalist, and climate and health policy expert. She is the founder and convenor of the Climate and Health Alliance, a Fellow of the Centre for Policy Development, and author of Our Uncashed Dividend: The Health Benefits of Climate Action and Shifting from Fear to Hope: Climate Policy Options for Australia.

Emeritus Professor Bob Douglas is the former director of the National Centre for Population Health and Epidemiology at ANU. Following his retirement in 2001, he founded Australia 21 – a non-profit organisation developing research networks on issues of importance to Australia’s future. Bob is the founder and chair of SEE-Change Inc which seeks to empower local communities to take action on climate change and their ecological footprint. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2000.

Download the Workshop Flyer here (pdf) and download the Workshop Registration Form here. The Workshop Program is available here.

The full program for the 2012 Population Health Congress is available here.

This workshop is sponsored by the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) Ecology and Environment Special Interest Group (SIG).

Categories Advocacy, Behaviour change, Climate, Ecology, Health, Health policy, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Wellness
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Upcoming event: Habits and sustainable living

by CAHA
July 4th, 2012

If you don’t understand habits, how can you hope to change them?

The challenges and opportunities of habits to encourage sustainable living

A seminar with Professor Bas Verplanken, University of Bath, England

In this seminar, one of the world’s leading experts on habits—Professor Bas Verplanken—will discuss the importance of understanding habits when developing interventions to influence behaviour (with a particular focus on environmental sustainability).

He will highlight how habits can be measured, broken and created, and will offer guidance on timing interventions at key “moments of change” when habits are particularly vulnerable. Bas will argue that habits can serve as barriers as well as opportunities, and should take centre stage in behaviour change interventions.

About the speaker: Bas Verplanken is a professor of psychology and the head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, England. He specialises in theory-informed applied research, with a particular emphasis on habits in the health, consumer and environmental behaviour fields.

When: Tuesday, 24 July 2012

5.30 – 6.30 pm

Where: The 242 Telstra Conference Centre

242 Exhibition Street

Melbourne

Cost: This is a free public event.

All welcome

RSVP: [email protected] by 20 July 2012

CAHA members and supporters are encouraged to attend.

Categories Behaviour change, Health, Psychology, Sustainability, Wellness
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