The Healthy Waterways Alliance workshop and symposium are nearly here, so make sure if you have the opportunity to get to Mackay, make sure you register. Sal Gray and her team at Reef Catchments have been really busy putting together the:
I am really looking forward to speaking about the power of story for science communication at the end of the wetlands workshop, and then starting off the Symposium with a talk about ‘yellow or blue: promoting resilience in ourselves and our communities’. I hope to see you there! Register Here
Siwan
Did you know that people who are optimistic live longer lives by 20% – this is an amazing statistic when you think about it and one that all of us can do something about being a part of.
The Mayo Clinic undertook research into the impact of optimism with one of the staff psychiatrists (more here) saying:
“It confirmed our commonsense belief. It tells us mind and body are linked and that attitude has an impact on the final outcome, death.”
This statement is further supported by a Yale University researchers statement that:
‘Positive self-perceptions can prolong life expectancy’.
So what can you do about becoming more optimistic? I have been doing quite a bit of reading on this subject and it seems that 30 days is the magic time needed to start forming new habits and ways of thinking. the Family Health Guide team in the UK have put together 10 strategies for becoming more optimistic which including enjoying the moment, practicing gratitude, starting the day on a positive note and sharing your professional and personal life with positive people.
Take a look at the list, I have printed it out and put it in front of my work desk for the next 30 days as my very own ‘Happiness Project’, why don’t you join me? Siwan
I had a wonderful experience this morning and I want to share it with you in the hope that it might inspire you to share your story with those around you. I was asked by Year Five at Radford College to come and speak to them about water and biodiversity, as they are studying this topic for their unit of inquiry.
Well, it is a pretty big topic to cover in an hour and a half! I decided to focus on Australia’s rivers and take the children on a journey through temperate, tropical and ephemeral streams, and then out to Cooper Creek and the ‘boom and bust’ of floods.
We ‘acted out’ how a riparian zone works, with my blue scarf the water and two children standing on either side being trees. One of the ‘trees’ got quite old and ended up in the river where it provided habitat for fish (much to the hilarity of the children). We then looked at dirty bathtubs, and that scum around the edge to understand how rivers in the Cooper Creek ‘function’. Two children became algae lying in a curve on either side of my unfolded scarf which became a floodplain – my ‘algae girls’! It may all sound a bit silly, but it meant that we shared knowledge with each other and had a lot of fun.
We watched a great Desert Channels Film on the floods moving through Cooper Creek to show the children what our ‘natural’ systems can look like. This was then contrasted with a video called ‘caring for Macca’ which is about the actions being taken to protect Macquarie Perch in the Cotter Dam project.
These children are our future river managers, scientists, communicators, policy makers – we need to spend time and share what we know with them so that they can be motivated to act and take an interest in the world they live in. Let the teachers at your local school know what you do for rivers in Australia, share your stories – the sharing is as enjoyable as the receiving!
Siwan
Wow, do I feel ‘blue’. Is anyone out there?
In my last lot of posts I asked for nominations for people who are ‘yellow’ and who light up the lives of those around them through their optimism and ability to think positive, not negative – I did not get a single nomination!
I do know that there are ‘yellow’ people out there, so please, can you contact me about someone you feel is worthy of the ARRC Yellow Award. Taking the time to do this one small thing is a step in developing your own ‘yellowness’. I hope to hear from someone soon. Contact Siwan
Siwan
Congratulations to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority in delivering the new Proposed Basin Plan which has:
involved a major effort by basin communities, State Governments, local councils, catchment management authorities, community groups, people in towns, people on the land, indigenous communities and business groups. This is not an inclusive list either – so many individuals and groups have contributed considerable time and energy to help us to build this Plan.
It has been an intensive process over the last 12 months, involving hundreds of round table meetings and briefings in council facilities, on farms, racing tracks or town halls. There have been formal and informal meetings, conversations and thousands of phone calls. Based on local preferences and at your invitation we have responded to your desire to talk and to share information.
Our role now, is to summarise and present what we have heard and the associated changes we have made to the Plan as a result. (MDBA)
The MDBA website has summaries of the proposed Basin Plan, the full document and other supporting information to encourage people to read, watch a video, consider and discuss with others.
Siwan
Events, News | Siwan Lovett | 
31 May 2012 2:32 pm | 
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