It takes a town with Carmen Stewart
10/23/20 • 33 min
It Takes a Town — with Carmen Stewart
It Takes a Town (ITAT) started in 2017 in the 2484 postcode area, which includes Murwillumbah, Northern New South Wales and surrounding villages. It operates under the premise that we all — residents, services, clubs, churches, businesses, schools and government—have a role to play in creating change. With 1 in 3 children below the poverty line in 2484, children and families have become ITAT's primary focus. ITAT focuses on nurturing the qualities of collaboration, generosity and responsiveness, with the understanding that if we get the culture of community ‘right’ and provide support for the seeding of new collaborations and initiatives then it will benefit of children, families and individuals.
In this episode we ask Carmen how the project is progressing how the community is engaging with it.
In this interview we discuss how:
- natural disasters, like the 2017 floods, impact local communities and help build resilience
- to tap into the generosity of a community willing to help those in need
- ITAT attracted funding to support the movement
- ITAT's managed to respond more quickly to people in need during the floods than larger organisations subject to bureaucracy
- the community gathered together to determine how they could be more self sufficient.
Bio of Carmen Stewart
Carmen has a Masters in Applied Science (Social Ecology) and a background in government, education, community and not-for-profit sectors. For the past 17 years she has worked as a consultant, specialising in community engagement, project design and management, the facilitation of workshops and strategic planning.
Carmen’s key role at present is the design and activation of ‘It Takes a Town’. This is a collective impact project focused on the 2484 postcode area. It aims to grow a culture of trust, generosity and responsiveness, in order to create opportunities and environments for children to thrive.
Prior to this she designed and managed the award winning Making Places project, an initiative to imagine safer, healthier and more sustainable futures in communities across SEQ and Melbourne.
Carmen has worked extensively as a consultant with organisations in the Northern Rivers, including Social Futures, The Family Centre, Momentum Collective, Tweed Ballina Byron Community Transport, the NNSW Local Health District and the (former) Tweed Valley Women’s Service. She has also worked for multiple government agencies including the Tweed Shire Council, Logan City Council, City of Gold Coast and the Queensland State Government.
Carmen is a highly skilled and engaging facilitator. She is passionate about inspiring and activating change to create futures we would all love to live in. Right now she is particularly interested in how we can collaborate post COVID-19 to NOT return to business as usual.
You can find out more about Carmen’s present work at www.thrive2484.com
Connect with It Takes a Town
It Takes a Town — with Carmen Stewart
It Takes a Town (ITAT) started in 2017 in the 2484 postcode area, which includes Murwillumbah, Northern New South Wales and surrounding villages. It operates under the premise that we all — residents, services, clubs, churches, businesses, schools and government—have a role to play in creating change. With 1 in 3 children below the poverty line in 2484, children and families have become ITAT's primary focus. ITAT focuses on nurturing the qualities of collaboration, generosity and responsiveness, with the understanding that if we get the culture of community ‘right’ and provide support for the seeding of new collaborations and initiatives then it will benefit of children, families and individuals.
In this episode we ask Carmen how the project is progressing how the community is engaging with it.
In this interview we discuss how:
- natural disasters, like the 2017 floods, impact local communities and help build resilience
- to tap into the generosity of a community willing to help those in need
- ITAT attracted funding to support the movement
- ITAT's managed to respond more quickly to people in need during the floods than larger organisations subject to bureaucracy
- the community gathered together to determine how they could be more self sufficient.
Bio of Carmen Stewart
Carmen has a Masters in Applied Science (Social Ecology) and a background in government, education, community and not-for-profit sectors. For the past 17 years she has worked as a consultant, specialising in community engagement, project design and management, the facilitation of workshops and strategic planning.
Carmen’s key role at present is the design and activation of ‘It Takes a Town’. This is a collective impact project focused on the 2484 postcode area. It aims to grow a culture of trust, generosity and responsiveness, in order to create opportunities and environments for children to thrive.
Prior to this she designed and managed the award winning Making Places project, an initiative to imagine safer, healthier and more sustainable futures in communities across SEQ and Melbourne.
Carmen has worked extensively as a consultant with organisations in the Northern Rivers, including Social Futures, The Family Centre, Momentum Collective, Tweed Ballina Byron Community Transport, the NNSW Local Health District and the (former) Tweed Valley Women’s Service. She has also worked for multiple government agencies including the Tweed Shire Council, Logan City Council, City of Gold Coast and the Queensland State Government.
Carmen is a highly skilled and engaging facilitator. She is passionate about inspiring and activating change to create futures we would all love to live in. Right now she is particularly interested in how we can collaborate post COVID-19 to NOT return to business as usual.
You can find out more about Carmen’s present work at www.thrive2484.com
Connect with It Takes a Town
Previous Episode
Circular Economy Villages
In this episode I speak with skilled planners and strategic engineers, Nilmini De Silva and Steven Liaros, who have more than 25 years local government and consulting experience. They share their vision of pioneering "Circular Economy Villages" (CEVs) in Australia . A CEV lowers living costs, covering the basic needs of residents, including water, food, energy and shelter. CEVs also integrate sustainable and innovative ideas and infrastructure, reinventing how 'residents and entrepreneurs' live and work together.
The couple have spent the past few years travelling Australia in their motor home and connecting with communities and councils to get important feedback that will inform their vision of sustainable, affordable and connected living.
In this interview they share:
- what their research findings on CEVs are, including anecdotal and academic research from Steven's PHD
- which local councils support the idea and are interested in developing it further e.g. Bellingen Council
- what the master plan of a CEV could look and how it might work
- how CEVs save on commute time
- what shared community amenities will be available, such as electric vehicles, entertainment rooms, pool, gyms etc
- how shared spaces like community gardens and meeting places create connection and enhance mental health
- what E changers are
- how CEVs offer nomads a home and a place in a community for as long as they want.
For more information about CEVs and Nilmini and Steven's vision, visit the links below.
Want to learn more click on the following links:
Link to Fifth Estate Article: Circular economy village Life: Pipedream or solution to all our woes
Social Media & Websites:
FB Page: Circular Economy Villages
Publication on Medium: Ecoliving Journeys
Steven’s PhD: Circular Economy Villages: Local Nodes in a Globally Networked City
Next Episode
How to face relationship and COVID challenges
I am really excited to be speaking with Henrike Schreer, a qualified Life Coach, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner and Hypnotherapist. I asked her what she would recommended for people who are experiencing difficulty in their relationships and in particular how COVID-19 seems to have exacerbated the situation.
In this episode Henrike shares how she used the techniques she'd learned to:
- deal with a relationship break up two years after moving from Germany to Australia with a young child
- create a vision for her future
- create support systems
- negotiate a mutually beneficial outcome for herself, her son and ex partner
- support her clients through tough times by drawing on her own experience.
We also speak about some of the challenges people are facing during COVID-19 and some of the support and tools they can access to overcome them.
BIO
Life Coach and Hypnotherapist Henrike Schreer teaches her clients how to harness their conscious and unconscious mind to create meaningful change. As co-creator and former manager of a busy yoga school and retreat centre, she draws on modern coaching tools like Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Hypnotherapy as well as ancient yogic philosophy and insights from Ayurveda, archetype work and related topics in the field of personal development.
Want to get in touch with Henrike?
Get in touch via Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIN
Find my latest Coaching Videos on Youtube
Book a free Discovery Call to find out if Coaching is for them
Beaming Green - It takes a town with Carmen Stewart
Transcript
Beaming Green Speaker 0:00
Hello, my name is Jeremy Melder, and I'm the presenter from beaming green. Before we start, I would like to acknowledge that this podcast is being held on the traditional lands of the bundjalung people and paying our respects to elders both past, present and emerging. The beaming green podcast is a weekly podcast, which will help you to take out some of the stress and confusion about how to live your life more sustainably. And we do this by introducing people tha
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