If you could wave a magic wand and make a fundamental and transformative change that would set humanity on a course for the better, what’s the one thing you would make happen?

I’d suggest that making sure that every one of us was environmentally literate, that we each understood the interconnectedness and co-dependencies of all life has each other and with natures varied systems. If we were able to experience sense of connection that we might better understand why we need to live collectively and more gently on this precious and unique planet. This would be an important first step.

This is what, in a myriad of ways and approaches, we are all working towards. The Australian Association of Environmental Education has a long history of promoting and working towards educating people to live more wisely and more sustainably. We also aim to influence the decision makers to provide more support for this work we all do and we aim to support you, our members and friends, who are actively engaged in trying to enable this awareness and the shift we need to see.

We are an organisation dedicated to some of the most important and effective future proofing work that currently exists. If we are to truly meet the demands and challenges our world faces right now, then we have a particularly important role to play.  It is imperative that we build the value and understanding of our work and its many approaches. We need to share the stories, the models, the evidence of how transformational our work can be, as well as showcase the remarkable outcomes that we can create.

AAEE has achieved much to be proud of to date and I acknowledge those who have enabled AAEE to become the highly regarded and known organisation that it is today. But the complexity of the crisis confronting us demands we do more. Our task now is to grow this work and to increase its reach and impact and ultimately, its influence? We need to see environmental and sustainability education embedded into the hearts, minds and hands of all people, young and old, across Australia and beyond. The answer lies with you individually, but with us all working collectively, together!