I'm a bit nervous today... I am going to my first workshop with the Restless Dance Company (www.restlessdance.org), a leading youth dance company bringing together young people with and without disabilities.

I am going to be a participant in a 10-week series of contemporary dance workshops called "Swivel". I haven't done any kind of "proper" dancing before, although I have always wanted to, so this is going to be an interesting challenge (albeit nerve-wracking!).

Remember the philosophical song "Wear Sunscreen" from the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's film "Romeo and Juliet"? One of the lines (of the many) says: "Do one thing everyday that scares you." I think going to this dance workshop tonight qualifies for me!

I know that my nervousness will be all unjustified once I'm there and enjoying myself, but in the meantime, I'm still wondering where that confidence went that I had when I signed up for the workshop series...

Wish me luck!

Hi all,

Just letting you know that I am back from my galavanting around the country. It has taken a few days to recover and it is so hard to get back into the routine of things (work, studies, chores, etc).

Anyway, I had a wild time at the Eco-Innovate 03 Conference. I will fill you in about it in more detail later. It was a great chance to meet like-minded people FACE-TO-FACE and share experiences, stories of success, and generally talk about the thrill of being active and involved - something that many of the participants did not get the opportunity to do with their own families and groups of friends. It was a great re-energising week for me, and I was reminded about why I do the things that I do, and that it is possible to make a difference.

All-in-all, a fantastic (albeit tiring) conference!

Back again...

I know you are probably all thinking that all I ever do is work, work, work. Not so! I'm heading to Melbourne with a few friends after the EcoInnovate 03 Conference for a couple of days' holiday. I'm really looking forward to it, especially the chance to meet some of the Melbourne-based TIGers. So, if you'd like to get together one day between the 18th and 20th of July, please let me know and I'll see if I can organise a bit of a networking 'do'.

Hope to hear from you Melbourners soon!

I have finally had my last university exam for this semester, so I'm now free to catch my breath and live it up a little. Not to say that I won't be keeping busy these holidays anyway! It's back to work tomorrow to earn some money to get myself to the upcoming Eco-Innovate conference (as well as a bit of spending money). From the 7th to the 11th of July, I will also be taking part in the Students of Sustainability Conference here in Adelaide which should be very interesting. Have you heard the saying, "when it rains, it pours"? It seems that all these conferences have come at once, and while I am going to have a lot of fun during my participation in them, it's sapping my funds! Oh well!

I'll keep you all updated as to the goings-on at my upcoming conferences. Stay tuned!

WHAT IS ECO-INNOVATE 03?

This once in a lifetime opportunity is for those who want to play a greater part in shaping our future - as a family, as a community, as a business, or even as a nation. The key to a sustainable future to ensure that the very processes and systems that comprise a society are sustainable. Eco-Innovate 03 is about sustainable ideas and an opportunity to learn about the ways we can develop them. It is a new and exciting forum that will switch young people to the ultimate sustainability challenge – turning ‘eco-innovations’ into viable applications. Answering the call from Government and the business community to inspire tomorrow’s leaders to think differently, the forum will be held at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, from July 14 – 18, 2003.

THE PROGRAM

Eco-Innovate 03 will draw on key figures within the community to provide opportunities for learning and exchange. The program of the forum is based on the Eco-Innovate 03 key components: sustainability; eco-innovation, design, mentoring, eco-preneurship, leadership, worldviews and action.

ECO-INNOVATION

An innovation is the introduction of a new idea, that proposes a different approach. With effective design, we can develop this new idea so that it creates flexibility and opportunity in our current approach. In that sense, good design helps us to think outside the square when finding solutions. When we integrate sustainability principles into our ideas, our innovations become sustainable and produce positive outcomes for the environment. This kind of innovation is an ‘eco-innovation’. The challenge facing our leaders of tomorrow, is to look to eco-innovation as the way to address problems of resource inefficiency and convert them into opportunities for sustainable living.