Past Community Cafe Events

Climate Change – What Does Science Tell Us

Dr Tim Davis has a PhD in physics from the University of Melbourne and was at the CSIRO for many years which included research into global warming. He is now doing research at the University of Stuttgart and is an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Tim provided a brilliant talk ranging from popular climate denial memes, how climate data is obtained, the physics of the processes involved (in a way we could all understand) and the possible consequences and future. We were all priviliged to attend such a comprehensive presentation. A basis of the talk is included as the video below.

Wind Power: Harnessing Nature

Martine Holberton addressed the topic of how a clean energy future can enable a well-being economy and the difficulties of ensuring community engagement is genuine, participatory, upfront and followed through which is essential to the development of any project. It is imperative that outcomes for people, communities and the environment create a legacy well beyond tomorrow.

Martine discussed how bodies such as the Wagtail Collective can provide a bridge between the urgent need to take action on climate change and some conservative views on the need to build renewable infrastructure.

It is clear it is a challenging space to be working in!

Are our Waterways on the Brink?

Juliet Le Feuvre provided a fascinating insight into the threats management issues with regard to our waterways, in particular the Murray Darling Basin. The availability of water for all the competing consumers showed how unrealistic the current assumptions are for water availability are.

Juliet is on the Board of Environmental Justice Australia. She has recently been head of the Healthy Rivers Campaigns with Environment Victoria.

She continues to work with river champions and community groups across Victoria and throughout the Murray-Darling Basin, providing leadership, mentoring and expert advice. Link to presentation slides

Saving Energy, Saving Costs

Tim Baxter from Rewiring Australia and Howard Elston from Eastern Climate Action Melbourne presented on ‘Saving Energy, Saving Costs’.

Tim has a long history in community engagement including several years as an elected local government councillor. He is passionate about building the network needed to support Australia’s clean energy transformation.

Howard Elston is an expert on the environmental and economic benefits of improving the thermal efficiency of our homes to lower costs and reduce impacts on our environment. Howard has received a sustainability awards for his home.

Both provided esssential information on how to save home energy and costs. 

Flying in the Face of Climate Change

The speaker at our last Community Cafe event was Geoff Collis who had been a Jetstar pilot for 20 years. He resigned as he was outraged at the lack of accountability of the aviation industry for the high level of emissions it is responsible for. To find out more about this topic, go to: https://flightfree.net.au/. If you missed the talk, you may wish to hear from Geoff here: https://flightfree.net.au/flying-in-the-face-of-climate-change-or-how-a-jetstar-captain-fell-out-of-love-with-aviation/

We were very fortunate to have such expert guidance through quite a complex and important topic.

Invertebrates Animals

Max Campbell, President of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) and an expert on wildlife invertebrates, provided a fascinating insight into the interactions and interdependency of the huge variety and numbers of all living organisms, from viruses to mammalia such as ourselves.

We often hear of examples of wildlife that are extinct or endangered but have limited understanding of their interdependence with other life forms. Just one example is the increasingly recognised dependence we humans have on a healthy gut microbiome.

Human and Environmental Health Forums

Dr Peter Johnston, an accredited practising dietitian with a Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics and a PhD in Human Genetics, provided an insight into diet and the impact on environment and climate change. Peter is also a fellow of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine and has completed health coaching training with Well Start Health.

Peter runs a private practice: Perfect Human Food Consulting, offering individual consultations, public speaking, webinars, workplace health programs, and residential reboot programs. Peter is an a member of the advisory council for health charity Doctors For Nutrition.

He has expertise in the prevention, treatment and reversal of chronic diseases through the use of whole food plant based diets and the holistic approach of lifestyle medicine. He enjoys empowering peopleacross all life stages to attain optimal health. He has presented at numerous national and international conferences. He has a special interest in the links between food and environment and has also run university lectures in this area.

Dr Karen Kiang is a Consultant Paediatrician, including in international child health, and is an active member of Doctors for the Environment. As someone who is dedicated to advancing health equity and environmental sustainability, she spoke about the effects of changes to our climate on human health.

Election Candidate Forum

2025 Candidate Forum

Blackburn Market Stalls

SPECIAL COMING TOGETHER EVENT

May 23 2026

The program included a Welcome to Country presented by Kai Lane, a screening, and background discussion of, the ‘7 Seasons’ short film and a screening of the ‘More Than a Fish Kill’ short film.