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Community action/Australia

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Location Australia
Coordinates 24° 46' 33.99" S, 134° 45' 18.00" E

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Australia. It's an introduction to local networks, groups, and events.

Australia
Oceania
Cosmolocal
  • News The household battery revolution that could change energy bills … and the world, Adam Morton and Petra Stock, theguardian.com (May 15, 2026)
  • News Sick of power outages, this remote Indigenous town is planning to build its own renewable grid, theguardian.com (Apr 26, 2026)
  • News Australian environment laws set for biggest overhaul in decades, BBC News (Nov 27, 2025) — The changes include more protections for native forests, stricter rules for land clearing and a limit on fast-tracking of coal and gas projects but critics say more is needed.
Read more
  • News Hope is contagious and science is king: 10 big lessons on ending the fossil fuel era, theguardian.com (May 01, 2026)
  • News Santa Marta Process Begins: Tuvalu and Ireland to Host Second Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in 2027 in the Pacific, fossilfueltreaty.org (Apr 29, 2026) — The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, concluded today marking a historic breakthrough in building international cooperation for the phase out of coal, oil and gas extraction and production. This step fundamentally shifts power toward a growing coalition of courageous nations engaged in a new international process to manage an equitable phase out of fossil fuels
  • News How a Groundbreaking Indigenous Treaty on Whales’ Rights Could Change National Laws, insideclimatenews.org (Feb 22, 2026)
Read more
  • News Amsterdam, along with other major European cities, bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels [BBC], Daily Alternative (May 22, 2026)
  • News Solidarity fields in Syria: Reviving local seed production, globalvoices.org (May 21, 2026) — A community garden on Damascus's edge is quietly rebuilding Syria's agricultural memory
  • News How reindeer herds, nature and Sámi culture can thrive when forests are restored across northern Europe, theconversation.com (May 15, 2026)

Networks and sustainability initiatives

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CDC videos

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Cosmolocal discovery club

Each week 3 different short videos from across the world.

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What Is Hylo? A Quick Overview
Authors: Hylo, 1.01 mins.
Date: 2026-05-20
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A resilient island, Guiuan, Philippines - trailer
Authors: Partners for Resilience, 3.50 mins.
Date: 2020-03-30
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First Timers Welcome Explained
Authors: parkrun, 2.14 mins.
Date: 2022-01-27

Community networks, Community action/Philippines, Arts, sport and culture / ...This week's featured UK videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism

International events

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Global or International events

  • Event Jun 03, 2026 (Wed) — World Bicycle Day, The bicycle is a "symbol of sustainable transport and conveys a positive message to foster sustainable consumption and production, and has a positive impact on climate." (United Nations), June 3 each year, un.org
  • Event Jun 05, 2026 (Fri)World Environment Day, June 5, annually, worldenvironmentday.global
  • Event Jun 08, 2026 (Mon) — World Oceans Day, June 8 each year, worldoceanday.org
  • Event Jun 12, 2026 (Fri) — World Day Against Child Labour, every year on June 12, ilo.org
  • Event Jun 17, 2026 (Wed) — World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, each June 17, un.org
  • Event Jun 21 and all of June — World Localization Day, worldlocalizationday.org
  • Event Jun 22, 2026 (Mon) — World Rainforest Day, June 22 is World Rainforest Day, worldrainforestday.org

2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events

Australia video

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I planted a forest four years ago
Authors: Beau Miles, 11.19 mins.
Date: 2025-08-21
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The Australian teen climate activists fighting for change - BBC World Service
Authors: BBC World Service, Apr 22, 2021
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Eco Villages Australia Intro
Authors: Eco Villages Australia, Jun 18, 2020
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Community Power Agency - Full length video about us
Authors: Community Power Agency, Jul 18, 2019
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How this all came about
Authors: Platform C, Oct 14, 2019
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Community involvement

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  • The Australian Centre for Social Innovation, tacsi.org.au, added 15:57, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Climate action

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Beyond Zero Emissions is an Australian climate change solutions think-tank, working with academics and in particular the University of Melbourne-based Melbourne Energy Institute. Driven by an understanding of climate change as an urgent threat to the wellbeing of both human societies and the broader Earth system, it releases detailed information on proposed policy packages and technological plans, to help enable informed debate on climate change mitigation. The goal of these reports and plans is to demonstrate that a move to a net zero emission economy in Australia is achievable and affordable in a relatively rapid timeframe.

Campaigns: The Transition Decade (Wikipedia): non-partisan shared campaign which is coordinated by an alliance of Australian community, social, and environmental groups, non-profits and NGO's. The initiative forms a unified plan to campaign, lobby and work to restore safe climate conditions and a sustainable future.

Climate change in Australia

The per-capita carbon footprint in Australia was rated 12th in the world by PNAS in 2011.

In 2013, the CSIRO released a report stating Australia is getting hotter. In 2014, the Bureau of Meteorology released a report on the state of Australia's climate, which highlighted several key points, including the dramatic increase in Australia's temperatures (particularly nighttime temperatures) and the increasing frequency of bush fires, droughts and floods which have all been linked to climate change. W

Ethical consumerism

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Ethical consumer guide, The Ethical Consumer Group is a community based, not-for-profit network set up to help facilitate more sustainable purchasing practices for the everyday consumer.

Sustainable transport activism

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Cycling activism

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Cycling in Australia is a common form of transport, recreation and sport.Many Australians ride regularly because it improves their health and is a convenient and fast way to get to their destination.

In 2020, 1.7 million bicycles were sold in Australia. As of 2023, around 15% of Australians rode a bicycle (including e-bicycles) in the previous week and 36.7% over the previous year. Australians no longer only ride for recreation - bicycle commuting is on the rise around Australia, with an increase in every state where counts took place. It is estimated that 20% of shared bike trips are replacing car travel. Across Australia, over one-third of riders used a bike for transport and various governments around Australia are encouraging more people to start riding. The New South Wales Government wants walking and bike riding to be the preferred way to make short trips and a viable, safe and efficient option for longer trips, and the Department of Transport (Victoria) recognises that active travel is the preferred choice for short trips.

Across Australia, 19% of people are cautious or confident bike riders. A further 42% of people are interested - do not currently ride but would like to. In NSW, 48% of people are "interested" in cycling but are "concerned" about safety. Cycling is a safer method of transport than driving. Cycling is less popular in Australia than in Europe, however cyclists make up one in forty road deaths and one in seven serious injuries.

In areas with more investment in safe cycling infrastructure, cycling is becoming a mainstream mode of transport. In the City of Sydney, over one quarter of residents surveyed cycled within the last month. Twice-yearly counts at 68 intersections show a 15% increase in people riding year-on-year and a 168% increase since 2010. From 2019 to April 2024, there were more than 2.9 million share bike trips taken in the City of Sydney. In 2024, there were over 1.94 million share bike trips in the City of Sydney area.

Urban sustainability

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Australia is one of the most urbanized countries in the world. Many Australian cities have large urban footprints and are characterised by an unsustainable low density urban sprawl. This places demand on infrastructure and services which contributes to the problems of land clearing, pollution, transport related emissions, energy consumption, invasive species, automobile dependency and urban heat islands.

The urban sprawl continues to increase at a rapid rate in most Australian cities, particularly the state capital cities, all of which (with the exception of Hobart) are metropoleis. In some centres, such as Sydney and Greater Western Sydney, Greater Melbourne and South East Queensland large metropolitan conurbations threaten to extend for hundreds of kilometres and based on current population growth rates are expected to become megacities in the 21st century.

In recent years, some cities have implemented transit-oriented development strategies to curb the urban sprawl. Notable examples include Melbourne 2030, South East Queensland Regional Plan and the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy. W

Urban Reforestation, organization in Australia, which focuses on sustainable living in urban places. W

Education for sustainability

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Cool Australia, educating for a sustainable future

Ecological restoration Australia

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This page is the beginnings of a portal for Australia community action in response to Ecological emergency. See Ecological restoration for topic overview.

Oceania news

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  • News Hope is contagious and science is king: 10 big lessons on ending the fossil fuel era, theguardian.com (May 01, 2026)
  • News Santa Marta Process Begins: Tuvalu and Ireland to Host Second Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in 2027 in the Pacific, fossilfueltreaty.org (Apr 29, 2026) — The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, concluded today marking a historic breakthrough in building international cooperation for the phase out of coal, oil and gas extraction and production. This step fundamentally shifts power toward a growing coalition of courageous nations engaged in a new international process to manage an equitable phase out of fossil fuels
  • News How a Groundbreaking Indigenous Treaty on Whales’ Rights Could Change National Laws, insideclimatenews.org (Feb 22, 2026)
  • News After landmark climate win, lawyer hopes for a ‘new legal order’ to protect Indigenous rights, theguardian.com (Nov 28, 2025)
  • News The Right Livelihood Award - also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize” - goes to Audrey Tang and others, Daily Alternative (Oct 04, 2025)
  • News The Pacific won a stunning climate victory at the International Court of Justice. What's next?, abc.net.au (Sep 13, 2025)
  • News ‘It’s a lot of fear’: the rise of ecoanxiety on the frontline of climate breakdown, theguardian.com (Sep 12, 2025) — As study shows 78% of UK under-12s worry about the issue, people in their 20s around world share their experiences
  • News ‘I couldn’t watch the forests vanish’: the man restoring Solomon Islands’ vital mangroves, theguardian.com (Jul 15, 2025)
  • News How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution, theguardian.com (Jun 20, 2024)
  • News Papua New Guinea's two large new marine protected areas “one of the first and most ambitious community-led MPA wins”, news.mongabay.com (Dec 14, 2023)
  • News Pacific groups celebrate Ocean Week by opposing deep sea mining, Global Voices (Jun 20, 2022) — Pacific groups have unveiled an alternative agenda promoting a “blue economy” that focuses on ocean protection and grassroots development

About Australia

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Campaigns

Don't Frack the Territory

Past events

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a land area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast.

Near you

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Adelaide - Melbourne - Sydney
New South Wales - Queensland - South Australia - Tasmania - Victoria (Australia) - Western Australia

External links

Greenlivingpedia: Australia (category)

Page data
Keywords Countries
SDG SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 829 pages link here
Redirects Australia, Australia community action
Views 124 page views (analytics)
Created December 22, 2006 by Lonny Grafman
Last edit May 7, 2026 by Phil Green
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