Our we20 Meeting Report & Action Plan

Riding the GFC Wave – we20 Surf Coast Meeting, Victoria, Australia

With the news of the G20 meeting in London ringing in our ears, 15 of us met on Friday 3 April to have our own we20 meeting. We firstly explored our challenges and decided upon utilising this crisis to stimulate change in the world for better – particularly in relation to consumerism and new models of economy as our focus.

We explored this challenge using a world cafe approach.

Our Action Plan is all about CONNECTION and RESILIENCE. You can vote on our plan and read other plans at the we20 web site.

Build community resilience- starting with ourselves. Appreciate ourselves and others, actively.

Coordinate resources and reconnect with skills in the community – specifically knowing what skills we have and connecting groups through traditional means and on-line forums and social networking.

“Be the change you want” – encourage a way of being that embodies sharing and abundance. Use an ‘open source’ approach to information, build it together and share openly, and operate from an ‘abundancy paradigm’. Coordinate resources and share responsibility to build linkages.

Reconnect with the environment through the arts and being in the bush, building on what we already have.

At events, move from ‘consumer’ to ‘active participant’ and piggy-back on local events.

Celebration during and after hard times = support, reconnection to self, others and the environment

Change the focus to encompass a gross happiness indicator – write letters to the editor about positive stories in the community, share our stories of what works within our own networks and develop locally-relevant, specific indicators eg the state of the surf!

Take up the we20 model – to continue to build links locally, and globally. Invite today’s group to join ‘Connecting Sustainable Communities’, and link to other we20 groups locally.

Discussion

Our discussion about these actions raised the following:

·      We need to all take personal responsibility – just go out and do it!

·      Need both face-to-face connection and on-line

·      Rapid change is happening now. We CAN live with uncertainty. We are in its midst and it affects us all, so we need leadership -and that leadership is within us all, whether it be leading within our families and friends or more broadly

·      The opportunity to meet and have a conversation is enough – let go of the need to have an action plan. The actions will emerge as a consequence of us being re-charged and from meeting new people and having new stories to tell. Create a ‘viral conversation’ that spreads through word of mouth.

·      Use our stories to promote change and to explore different ways of knowing