Neighbourhood Matters

12/02/2024

More and more people are today feeling disengaged from the world. But there is hope: we are not as powerless as we think.

What evidence of hope and change have you seen in your neighbourhood? How can we move from being a passive, "well-informed consumer" to a "hands-on citizen" in our neighbourhoods?

You can be so much more than a well-informed consumer: it is in your (and our) power to change society from the ground up

09/01/2024

As we face a perfect storm of global crises that can sometimes make us feel hopeless, how can we build loving, flourishing neighbourhoods that can learn to survive - and resist - together?

"It takes a village to survive. ... We can get … almost everything that we need online. Yet even though our societies are connected by technology, the rule of law, and a global economy, our relationships are deeply rooted in the memory of local spaces."

In the podcast The Cosmic We, CAC faculty member Dr. Barbara Holmes considers the collective resilience needed during times of crisis: It takes a village

09/11/2023

The last few years have left many of us depleted, burnt out, bored and cynical. We have experienced a pandemic the likes of which many of us have not seen before. Our world is shrouded by war and teetering on the edge of a possible global conflict. Our climate scientists only give us bad news about the deterioration of the planet.

This has left a lot of people wondering about the meaning of life. What is the point if so much around us seems hopeless? It's easy to lose hope in the goodness of humanity in these times and we struggle to see the light.

Yet as messed up as the world is, cynicism seems to be an inappropriate response. Cynicism and hopelessness lead us nowhere; they drain us of life. So, what to do to counter the malaise of our times?

In Finding Wonder and Astonishment: Six reflections on flourishing in a messed-up world from the wisdom of Mary Oliver, we explore how we can recapture wonder and astonishment in our turbulent and disorienting times. Each of the six reflections looks at a different topic: paying attention, modern day life, spirituality, living well, dying well and wonder. The reflections can be used by individuals or in groups, and by people of faith or no faith.

The cost is $7. If you’d like to use this resource in a group, email us with the number of people who will be using it and we will invoice you at $7 per user.

For more information visit our website, email us or just message here.

18/10/2023

These days people talk about "the end of the world" with a sense of doom because of the crises we see around, us especially regarding our environment. But how can we maintain hope? How can we see it not so much as "the end of the world" but perhaps "the end of a world", with an opportunity to together create something better?

We are holding a climate distress workshop at the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre on Saturday 11th November 3pm with academic and facilitator Dr Sally Gillespie. We'd love to see you there. Please share.

To book click the link below.

What do we do with our grief about climate change? Where do we find hope? What are some strategies for coping with our emotions and the reality of what is going on in our environment? How can we become a more resilient neighbourhood? Discussions around climate change can often feel daunting. Sometim...