PANEL ONE
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The Tasmanian Breath of Fresh Air (BOFA) Film Festival is a festival with a conscience.
In 2013 some of the Friday films have focussed on Tasmanian political, economic, environmental and social issues.
The film - Bidder 70 - was used to address the issues regarding Tasmania being the battleground for many issues to do with sustainable development, the environment and same sex rights, and the ways that change can (or cannot) take place.
Following that a panel made up of David Adams of UTAS, Vica Bayle of The Wilderness Society, Jan Davis of TFGA and Heidi Douglas, filmmaker responded to the issues raised in the film in the light of the Tasmanian situation, with audience participation.
StartUp Tasmania and BOFA will attempt to assist the actions become realities.
Discussion
Do we change - YES
Yes we can change, we do and we have – e.g. Gunns and the pulp-mill. There was a groundswell of people and they cared, we love each other and we love the planet
Change is often forced upon us
Change happens because information can be spread at a higher Velocity, Volume, Variety and (perceived) Veracity than ever before
Why different sides of a conflict don't understand each other
Difference in language. e.g. what does “growth and development” mean to each party. Change it to talking about “how this will benefit the people of Tasmania”
Different ways of engaging people
Differences of values eg the purpose of land and what it should be used for
Preconceptions about the other side’s motivations and ability to see other perspectives
Government's roles
There is a limit to what governments can do – communities and businesses have a role to play
Language about "governments" should be about "parliaments" which are connected to people through place through electorates and are accountable whereas governments are less so
Vested interests and special interests have a lot of power over governments
How can change happen effectively?
Negotiation 101 – if change is to stick it has to be based on a clear understanding of what the shared outcomes are, what group’s drivers are, where is the space where there is some agreement. Then you can expand that as conversations and trust grows.
Recognize the successes rather than arguing about a change not being perfect or everything YOU want
Coming to solutions that are actually achievable which have tangible results
When you’re being criticized – ask for an alternative
Thru negotiation and dialogue we were able to find more of a win-win outcome. Talk to each other on a personal level. Broke down a lot of pre-conceptions
Internationally documentaries are being used a lot to create social change e.g. An Inconvenient Truth – was rolled out with a strategy and an intention and use the film as a tool to create something. Story medicine – finding the stories that people need to hear to heal around a certain issue.
Positions need to be NOT taken on emotions but thought through to their logical conclusions so they are possible or achievable or logical
Put the data on the table and work from there. Remember, statistics are incredibly fraught in a public debate and can't always be trusted
When the laws are unjust you have to break the laws. Remember, laws are always evolving
Protest is still our right and responsibility – but in the case of the IGA.....
It was about strategy for the Wilderness society and the industry - both wanted change
Both sides put in the effort to sitting together and working out how – together
Both sides were deeply motivated by moving beyond the conflict – it’s divisive and holds us back
Be realistic - too many people have champagne tastes on a beer income
People want perfection they want it now and at no risk to themselves
Getting people to come to agreements where everyone’s got SOMETHING that they’re happy with is important because otherwise people get disenfranchised and angry and that’s dangerous and destructive
We need more participatory democracy
People don’t want to feel like the only way to be active citizens is to vote every 3 years
But not everyone can live and breath it – so if we can contribute to something that will take our issues up for us
ACTION:
We need:
Leadership training for youth is needed – for the next generation to take on change and to be confident to take on these issues.
Create safe spaces between different groups. Generate community leaders. Plenty of business leaders and sporting leaders - We need community leaders. Building credibility and status of community pathways.
Informed civic debate. It’s time for us to step up in society. We need to breakdown our silos and start conversations with those that are opposed to us.
We’re always changing. The question is just to what? The debate is we absolutely have to change, we just don’t know in what direction. Film, activism, compromise – we need a perfect mix to achieve this. Talk to people to understand perspectives, accommodate them, change value sets, reinterpret idea/ls. Shift perspectives and become advocates. It starts with respectful conversations and founded in the fact that we’re all humans and sharing the same space. Complicating factor is money and agenda.
We change and individuals and communities every day. We need to recognize the different levels and speeds of change. We need a willingness to change ourselves. “How would I feel if this was me?” Need to put enough importance on the nature of our society, about the “fair go”.
PANEL TWO
Three films - StartUp Kids, Renew Newcastle and Trailnotes- were used to address the challenges of economic renewal and new business opportunities in the light of the highest unemployment and worst economic outcomes of any state in Australia. Then a panel made up of Dale Cohen of Telstra Media, Marcus Westbury of Renew Australia, Rye Dunsmuir of Design Tasmania and Garry Sullivan of En-ZO Designs responded to the issues raised in the film in the light of the Tasmanian situation, with audience participation.
StartUp Tasmania and BOFA will attempt to assist the actions become realities.
Discussion
Failure leads to better things. Sometimes the problem is people failing to fail enough – no one taking the risks that could lead to failure but could also lead to success
Size Matters - or not?
Australian Innovation Census doesn’t capture the innovation in Tasmania because the cut-off is 5 or more people in the company.
Often one big thing is not going to come along to replace something that failed like the steelworks in Newcastle. It may be many small things that come along to replace it, and have a cumulative effect. The small stuff must therefore be taken seriously.
Start-ups don’t have to be huge. Start small and think big, so that failure doesn’t have such a devastating effect
Community ownership and groundswell
There needs to be a community desire to act. It might build up around an individual’s vision. But you can’t just wait for government to enable innovation and success to happen. You need to just do it.
Momentum breeds momentum. Starting something and actually doing it can influence other people and industries to build up around what you’re doing and the result may not be exactly what was intended, but that’s ok.
Collaboration
There is a need for businesses to work together to market an idea or an ethos
A need for innovative people to come together to support each other through the failures necessary for success and to share resources and ideas
The experience of Hollybank – of Forestry Tasmania working together with the mountain bike track – to log the area for the track and leave the rest alone.
Government’s role
Government are good at delivering large scale services to people, but are terrible at doing anything risky because failure has political consequences.
However, Government can create an enabling environment and remove some of the barriers for small businesses etc to “have a crack”
Tasmania’s competitive advantage
Tasmanians are just as smart as anyone else but we have lower cost base, so it’s actually cheaper and financial resources are less of a barrier to innovation
Tasmania is small, and well connected which can facilitate collaboration
Tasmanians need to not be afraid to do things that are completely new and could only happen here, and tap into a niche that has national and global appeal
The MONA effect – how can we as Tasmanians be inspired and capitalize on the model of MONA
Suggested Actions
Renew Australia already has a process set up to transform downtown business districts with empty shops. This model could be used to support Launceston either through a local group or with direct involvement to talk to property owners about offering empty shops to pop up store-holders at no rent to use until the property is rented out.
StartUp and the Catalyst Project (Digital Hub) are two initiative already doing many of the recommended things. Sign up with them or talk to them
The Tasmanian Innovations Exchange is about telling stories about Tasmanian innovation and needs content so they can promote the story and the organisations involved
Education – we need to directly involve secondary schools and young people in the Renew Launceston projects, by asking people what they want to DO, not what they want.
Detailed micro-study on innovation and success in Tasmania is needed.
Northern Tas Development sponsored the Tasmania Renewed session yesterday and UTAS the Can we really Change? session.