Welcome to NTI’s new Conversations series, a dynamic new initiative offering a series of informative free talks, designed to spark curiosity and foster knowledge sharing within our communities.

Each session will feature an expert speaker or panel who will tackle a range of topics covering contemporary issues relating to health, wellness, faith and spiritual practice, mental health and mindfulness. Join NTI Conversations online or in-person to discover the latest thinking on a range of issues and approaches to practice that can change the way we live.

If you would like to catch up on our previous NTI Conversations series, please visit our YouTube page.

Presented by Dr Aunty Barbara Nicholson, Dr Anthony McKnight and Barbara Lepani

Our special guests for this conversation are Wadi Wadi Elder, Dr. Aunty Barbara Nicholson, Awabakal/Gumaroi/Yuin Cultural Man, Dr. Anthony McKnight, and Blue Mountains author and senior Buddhist practitioner, Barbara Lepani. Each of these speakers, in their own unique way, is deeply familiar with cultural wisdom found in both ancient and modern systems of knowledge. Together they will lead us to explore how the deep ecological consciousness of Indigenous and Buddhist knowledge systems can inform a new story of education—one that is holistic, ethical and responsive to our shared future.

About the Presenters

Dr Aunty Barbara Nicholson is a Wadi Wadi Elder and the 2024 Wollongong Citizen of the Year. She who holds a degree in English Literature (Newcastle), an Honorary Doctor of Laws (UOW), and started the Ngana Barangarai (Black Wallaby) project which collects and publishes creative writing from First Australian inmates in Junee Jail. Aunty Barb received the First Nations Australia Writing Network’s lifetime achievement award in 2023.

Dr Anthony McKnight is an Awabakal, Gumaroi and Yuin Cultural Man who is an Associate Professor and the Curriculum Transformation lead within the Indigenous Strategy Unit at the University of Wollongong. His work centres Country in Aboriginal approaches to curriculum, teaching, learning and research. His publications include a 2023 3rd edition of his book ‘Research for Educators’ (Cengage).

Barbara Lepani is the Co-convenor of the New Economy Network Australia’s Arts & Culture Hub (NACH) and National Coordinator of The Enlivenment Network, which works for a new/ancient way of human community acknowledging Australian First Nations’ Caring for County. She has authored numerous works based on her life of cross-cultural relationship and deep cultivation as a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner.

In collaboration with NENA, we will host webinars in 2025 where leading eco-arts practitioners who are working with citizen arts and science and projects and First Nations elders will talk about how their work is part of the shift to an ENLIVENMENT paradigm, making deeper connection to the Indigenous relationist ethos of Caring for Country. The first of our webinars,  Wilami Wunmabil, took place on 31 May

Where will the Recording Go ? And what is the best procedure for uploading these Recordings as we build up the Webinar series? Will you need to do it or can I upload if you dont have time? 

Here is the NENA link:  https://youtu.be/7ljuhWfl_eM?si=YEGCzqqA_MSO3-tD

Webinar 1: the Wilami Wunmabil Trail 

Blurb: Catherine van Wilgenburg is a founding member of The Chain of Ponds Collaboration, a seventeen stakeholder group of organisations and individuals reinvigorating Moonee Ponds Creek catchment,, Melbourne Victoria Australia: Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Corporation, Hume City Council, Parks Victoria, Yarra Water, Greater Western Water, City of Melbourne,  Melbourne Water, Kensington Association, Victorian Planning Authority, Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek Inc, Living Colour Studio Art & Architecture, Conservation Volunteers Australia, MooneeBUG (Bicycle Users Group)

This Webinar poses questions about effective collaborative environmental action with: 

Wurundjeri Aunty Julianne Axeford, Chain of Ponds Collaboration Wurundjeri Liaison Troy Pedersen, Experience Designer Scott Killeen from Kelp Creative,

Rachel Lopes-Collaboration Lead Chain of Ponds Collaboration and EcoArtist Catherine van Wilgenburg  

Collaborative EcoArts-Citizen Science Webinar Series

Here is a blurb – edit as you will —

 2025h, led by local Indigenous Elders in restoring Country, and featuring a multi-party collaboration across several local governments involved in the restoration of the Moonee Chain of Ponds from its life as a concrete culvert. 
—Project Lead: Catherine van Wilgenburg

Join us for a fascinating webinar, hosted by the Enlivenment Network, the anchor organisation of NENA’s Arts & Culture Hub, about the Wilami Wunmabil Trail, along Moonee Ponds Creek, Naarm/Melbourne. This new/ancient trail is a living example of Collaborative Creative Community Practice, and connects local knowledge, culture, ecologies and economies. Featuring Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Julianne Axeford, Troy Pedersen Wurundjeri Liaison, Chain of Ponds Collaboration Moonee Ponds Creek Melbourne and Scott Killeen, Experience Designer at KELP Creative.