SDN Newsletter – December 2023

Long before the new kids on the block got to it, Ned Iceton was producing his own newsletter, as this scan from an original 1979 edition shows:

Note the ‘Confidential’ – and we thought Ned wanted his ideas to be heard far and wide! (It was there in case of personal information being included, but we don’t use newsletters in this way – they are open for anyone to read). Here’s an extract of what Ned said about his newsletters many years ago:

I look for items that cover the stuff of social development. That is, values and their effects when put into action, and ideas about how growth occurs in individuals, families, groups, communities and across society. I also see the newsletter as a space for us to move towards inventing a future that we can all agree we want, and then finding ways to go after it.

There’s a lot more of Ned’s writings, but it will have to wait for another newsletter.

Invitation to the SDN workshop in January

Registrations are now open for the annual SDN workshop, from 15-19 January, at the Don Bosco Retreat Centre, Lysterfield, east of Melbourne. This is an excellent venue, having good facilities and surrounded by a rural landscape – https://donboscoretreats.org.au/

As always, this will be an open-space workshop – no hierarchy and no fixed agenda – we create our own. Bring your contributions and share your concerns, from the personal to the political, the local to the global, and become part of this workshop’s dynamic agenda. For more information see the workshop flyer with this newsletter and go to the SDN website – https://sdn.ned.org.au/workshop/sdn-2024-annual-workshop-don-bosco

To speak to someone about the workshop, call Lesley Shuttleworth on 0428 488 215, or Harry Creamer on 0431 158 252.

Adelaide workshop in September

A regional workshop was held at the Riverdell Spiritual Centre north of Adelaide from 1215 September. Fourteen people attended, with 62% coming from South Australia and a gender distribution of 57% men and 43% women. A fascinating variety of presentations was on offer.

 

SDN goes conferencing

NED Foundation board member David Crew and project coordinator Lesley Shuttleworth attended two community development (CD) conferences – the World CD conference in Darwin and the CD-QLD conference near Brisbane. There were opportunities to better understand CD in Australia, reconnect with community developers and reflect on the challenges we face as a society.

A key message was the need to keep a focus on our values and become a defender of human rights. Many presentations provided an opportunity to dive into CD processes while others questioned the philosophies that underpin our CD work. The reflections by CD elders Tony Kelly, Jim Ife and Peter Westoby were useful in exploring how CD evolved in Australia. A highlight was a presentation by Faumuina Felolini Tafunai who used the cultural metaphor of a canoe and the knowledge and wisdom of sea peoples to develop the Wayfinding model. See https://www.flyinggeesepro.nz/

The Brisbane conference had a strong focus on building community and relationships with a high participation of the many neighbourhood centres in QLD which receive support from the state government. Connections were made with fellow CDers - Dave Palmer and Jennifer Buchanan from WA, and Carmel Daveson, Peter Westoby and Susan Allan, regarding strengthening and sustaining CD. Time was also spent unpacking the results of the Voice referendum and what approaches can now be undertaken.

Ears of the Heart retreat

David Crew, Mark Spain and Harry Creamer represented NED-SDN at an unusual weekend workshop south of Canberra, with 23 women and just one other man. The retreat was co-hosted by Heather Lawrence and Olive Knight, also known as Kankawa, who is from the Goonyandi, Walmajjari and Bunaba people of the Fitzroy Valley in WA. She is a translator, transformation expert and accomplished musician and artist.

The retreat gave us space to reflect on ideas like de-colonising, separation, trauma, deep ecology and more, and how these ideas can come together to transform individuals, organisations and systems. Chief among the questions we considered was, ‘how can this retreat assist us to reconnect with our ‘Indigenous self’ and enable us to act in ways that stay connected to place?’

We found this a rich experience that offered new meanings for social developers and helpful in moving us out of our heads and into our bodies and hearts to experience deeper insights into caring for country and caring for people.

Thanks to Mark Spain - http://globallearning.com.au

Facilitating change, leadership and innovation.

Restorative practice (RP) workshop

Mark is working with others in the NED Foundation on an SDN-Themed workshop next April near Canberra to bring together RP practitioners from around Australia.

Mark is also inviting people who are interested to join the RP seminar series on Zoom, established as a way of enabling practitioners to share their personal stories and challenges in their specific streams of RP https://restorative.org.au/restorative-practice-seminar-series

SDN podcasts

We have joined the podcasting boom! David ‘Sal’ Salomon has produced five podcasts now available for download. Listen to SDN podcasts to embark on an enriching experience filled with valuable insights and inspiring stories from our passionate community. To join visit https://sdn.ned.org.au/podcast/community.

To listen to all five, or just one go to https://sdn.ned.org.au/podcast

The Voice

I feel sad and bitter about the Voice result. Sad for my dear Aboriginal friends, and bitter that 60% of my fellow Australians voted NO. On that day, Australia disgraced itself. So little to ask, to extend the hand of goodwill to a people who have suffered so terribly and lost so much. But I know that Australia has always been divided on Indigenous issues, since 1788.

I tell people about the Myall Creek massacre of 1838 and how the colony was divided between those who thought it acceptable to kill Aboriginal people to clear the land for the squatters and their farms, and those who said it’s not acceptable, these murders must be stopped and the perpetrators brought to justice. Now, after the disaster of the Voice, Aboriginal people need allies as never before. I am told by Aboriginal friends how much they appreciate ‘support for the Mob’, and ‘find it heartening to see people standing up for proper advancement’.

Truth telling

David Marr’s new book is called Killing for Country. One of his ancestors served in the Native Police as a white officer. These were killers – at least 40,000 Aboriginal killed in the southern states and many more in QLD to make way for the giant land steal. David gave a powerful interview on ABC TV 7.30:

https://iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2301H148S00 (starts at 23.08 into the program)

NED Projects

NED Foundation supports people who are working to make a contribution which is aligned with our goals and would like to work in a relational way. This support may take the form of limited funding, the offer of mentoring, or assistance in seeking further resources.

We have supported a diverse range of projects, for example: First Peoples Arts and Culture, the preparation of a business plan for a cooperative to build and sell solar batteries, films which advocate for peoples land rights and the protection of the environment, programs to support men who may have caused harm.

If you have a public benefit idea, please talk to our Projects Coordinator, Lesley Shuttleworth on 0428 488 215, or e-mail lesleyned.org.au. She will be happy to discuss the NED support program and can assist in the development of your idea into a project.

Harry Creamer, SDN Coordinator 02 6582 6187; 0431 158 252

For more information about NED Foundation, the parent organisation of SDN, go to https://ned.org.au/