> Water & climate change.
Mary Crooks
Solutions to our obstacles and challenges workshop. Glenn Todd
Converting creative responses into an action plan. Recommended action
for different Climate Change sectors (eg, community, government and
business) that are most appropriate to tackle specific challenges.

> Animal Products
Contribution to Climate Change. Bruce Poon
Presentation of research, analysis and review. Discussion of strategies to communicate findings.

> Helping people change – essential skills for saving the planet. Susie Burke
Human beings, their motivations and their behavior are important causes
of environmental problems. Profound changes in human behavior are
therefore required to bring about improvements in every area of concern
where the national and global environment is threatened.
Changing human behavior, however, is much harder than people think.
This workshop will provide an overview of current psychological
research into understanding human motivations, perceptions, attitudes,
and behaviours about the environment.

> Anti coal campaign [Greenpeace]
what is planned for 2008, how you can get involved

> Forests and climate [forests for climate]
Losing our forests means losing the battle against climate change.
Native forests around the world are the greatest land-based carbon
sinks, containing three to four times more carbon than is now in the
atmosphere. Deforestation is globally the second greatest contributor
to climate change, affecting every human being. The mature, tall, wet
forests of Victoria are some of the greatest carbon sinks in the world.
One hectare of such forest can store the equivalent of 5,500 tonnes of
carbon dioxide.
Logging in Victoria and Australia is close to 10% of our total greenhouse gas emissions

> Working in and with unions. [Ben Courtice]
This workshop will briefly look at what unions have done, can do and
are doing; and then focus on how environmentalists can work with
unions, whether as a member, or as community campaigners.

> Local government elections in November. [Angela Munro]
The many separate campaigns, such as to oppose the Port Phillip Bay
dredging, the East West Freeway and the Gippsland desalination plant
highlight the need to mobilise adequate influence within government
where citizens' views are currently seriously under-represented. The
November local government elections are a great opportunity to mount a
concerted statewide campaign to make climate change the main issue, to
look at ways climate change activists might be supported to stand for
their local council or to support those willing to stand. Come and
discuss whether this is worthwhile and if so, what needs to happen in
the next 9 months?

> Declaring the climate emergency [Yarra climate action network]

> Food Production and Agriculture – Eating Away At Climate Change
Food production and agriculture contribute over 17% of global
greenhouse gas emissions. Any solution to mitigate climate change is
going to need a serious rethink about how we farm, what we farm and
what we eat. You’ll learn how food production and agriculture are
contributing towards climate change.

> Join the anti coal campaign
You are invited to come and learn about the expansion of the world's biggest coal port in Newcastle, NSW and the Camp for Climate Action. The Camp for Climate Action (July 10th - 15th) will be an inspiring convergence of people from all over Australia who are serious about taking action on climate change. The 5 day camp will be a participatory, sustainable space, where people are invited to share, learn and take action.

> Low income & unemployed people & climate change
The workshop presentation looks at the problem, raised in _Chain Reaction_, of the increased costs of basic commodities, for unemployed people as a consequence of measures to avert global warming, leading to a situation where ecologists are viewed as a middle class group who disregard the problems of the poor.

The paper argues that the green movement’s response to this issue should not be that advocated by the mainstream welfare sector, of pressing the government to disburse higher benefits. Rather, the green movement should take steps to increase its support for unemployed groups which are already active on green issues. (Some of these groups are listed in the VSJC’s statement of its aims and activities). Unemployed success in ecological direct action would increase unemployed power vis-à-vis the state as well as their ability to struggle for further ecological change, their ecology which would benefit them materially, immaterially, and socially _their_ ecology, not the carbon emissions traders ecology.

The aims of modern voluntary unwaged activism involve the denial of any value to certain kinds of industry, and to the waged work done in them. These industries and those who work in them are considered socially destructive in their facilitation of global warming. A voluntary unwaged direct action stands opposed to specific forms of business activity and waged work. Victory for activists implies substantial change in the economic structure. What it is confronting is what Stern called the biggest failure of the modern economy. The opposition of unemployed activists to waged workers radicalises this conflict by calling waged work itself into question and unemployed activism its alternative.

We are looking therefore directly at the forms of a future green economy, where the usefulness of activity can no longer be measured by money. This presentation will suggest some of the issues involved. Presenter: Owen Gager

> Victorian Social Justice Council.
The Victorian Social Justice Council takes its name from an advisory organization to the Kirner government abolished by the subsequent Kennet government. Like its name sake it seeks to research and publicise unemployment issues, but outside of the state system of which it is no longer part.

> Local government elections in November
Angela Munro

The many separate campaigns, such as to oppose the Port Phillip Bay dredging, the East West Freeway and the Gippsland desalination plant highlight the need to mobilize adequate influence within government where citizens' views are seriously under-represented.

The November local government elections are a great opportunity to mount a concerted statewide campaign to make climate change the main issue, to look at ways climate change activists might be supported to stand for their local council or to support those willing to stand.

Come and discuss whether this is worthwhile and if so, what needs to happen in the next 9 months?

> Climate Code Red: A framework for climate change campaigning
It is time for urgent and rapid action to combat climate change. Climate Code Red provides a clear framework and platform for our movement to campaign from.  It leaves no doubt that indeed we need to act now and supports and extends existing climate action campaigns for targets and alternative energy. 
This session aims to

   * discuss why climate code red is a powerful and accurate message
   * build and develop ideas of how we can take this message out from
     closed circles to the masses

   * plan for action by a network of representatives to steer in a
     clear and unified direction

This session will be run jointly by Shannon Higgs (Yarra CAN) and Carol Ride (Darebin CAN)

If you would like to propose a workshop please send a brief description to Cam: