Throughout history,
every significant gain for human rights, social justice
and environmental protection has come about because of
the pressure generated by concerned groups of people
talking up, standing up and taking action.
The power of this
collective voice in Australia has resulted in the
creation of our National Parks, the halting of river
damming, the refusal of radioactive waste dumps, the
closing of uranium mines on sacred land, and the
ongoing struggle for Indigenous sovereignty.
There are many different
levels on which social change can be effected, but
activating change starts from the grass roots up. From
the actions of each individual, to groups of friends,
community groups, non-government organisations,
government and finally industry.
Different groups work in
very different ways. The way that you like to work with
people, and the level of involvement you wish to have
will determine how much satisfaction you get out of a
particular group. Groups in this directory are ordered
from the grass roots up in an attempt to reflect these
differences.
GRASS ROOTS GROUPS (collectives, community
groups): The success of small grassroots
groups is determined by the amount of energy each
person puts in. Each person has an equal opportunity to
contribute and be involved in making key decisions.
This level of involvement is great for passionate
people with the time and energy to take on personal
responsibility for group projects.
CAMPAIGNS:
A long term campaign will have long term campaigners
who have experience and knowledge about the issue.
While grassroots campaigns still function on the idea
of consensus decision making, which gives every
participant an equal voice, other campaigns will have a
set strategy with less room for involvement in key
decisions. This level of involvement is great for
people who have the patience to work on a big issue
where the campaign's impact is not always immediately
visible.
NGOs: are usually established groups
with set procedures and formal structures. Getting
involved with an NGO usually means being a volunteer,
where you decide to work on a specific task which makes
up part of a pre-determined campaign strategy. However,
some NGOs are more community based and have action
groups that allow greater involvement in decision
making. NGOs have the resources and public presence to
allow for a broad impact. This level of involvement is
great for people who may not have the time to take on
big responsibilities but want to be part of an
established campaign, and learn more about a specific
issue and how large groups operate.
GOVERNMENT AFFILIATES: Government
affiliates are similar to NGOs, however their strategy
options may be limited due to their dependence on
government funding. Consequently, these organisations
usually work within designated social structures rather
than campaigning to affect broad scale change. Formal
procedures are adhered to more strictly and involvement
is usually restricted to internships or participation
in set community programs. Local councils have more
room to maneuver than State and Federal bodies and
often run community based programs that allow for
greater involvement. This level of involvement is great
for people who are satisfied with following set
procedures or who have the time and energy to
participate in events rather than organise them.
COMMERCIALLY
FUNDED: Some environmental organisations rely
on funding from large businesses in order to run their
programs. In return, the business can use its
affiliation with the organisation to convey a public
image of environmental concern. This situation has
become common place as large corporations attempt to
"green up" their image, especially within high impact
industries such as the auto industry, energy and
mining.
On the one hand this
situation allows environmental organisations to utilise
corporate profits for the benefit of the environment.
On the other hand, corporate funding restricts
environmental organisations in their ability to address
the causes of environmental harm, if this involves
damaging their relationship with their corporate
sponsor (ie an environmental organisation is unlikely
to criticise or campaign against the industry within
which their corporate sponsor operates, even if this is
a high impact industry).
Due to the strong
objections that many people hold in relation to working
with an organisation that accepts funding from
corporations that show disregard for their
environmental or social impacts, we have indicated when
an organisation uses commercial funding or
support.
INDUSTRY:
If you want to work on affecting change from within a
particular industry (especially a high impact industry)
as a CEO, manager or employee, good on you, and good
luck! An example of an initiative developed from within
industry is the Packaging Covenant created by the paper
and packaging industry which encourages the maximum use
of recycled inputs and total lifecycle responsibility
for packaging.
While such industry
reform helps to reduce the immediate harm of high
impact industries, the creation of fundamentally
sustainable industries (such as the organics industry)
as an alternative is essential to sustainable
development and the future health of the
planet.
You will find a
description of where each group fits within the above
spectrum (as best as can be described) after the name
of each group listed in the Active Groups directory.
