Storytelling for Systems Change Icon

SFSC Report 2: Listening to Understand

Report

Storytelling for Systems Change: Listening to Understand

Thea Snow and Asitha Bandaranayaka (Centre for Public Impact)
Rachel Fyfe (Dusseldorp Forum) 

Lila Wolff (Hands Up Mallee)

“Stories, in their many shapes and forms, are a part of human nature and humans are immersed in them: they are experienced as deeply individual and as integral to relationships between people; they provide explanations, meaning, and entertainment; people die for them, and people dismiss them as trivial; they enlighten and obscure; they enable judgement and reasoning and they seduce, persuade, and distort. We show that, by holding on, it is possible to listen to stories for the narrative evidence they provide, the cognitive value they possess, and the important ways in which they can enrich public reasoning”

Sarah Dillon and Claire Craig

Download PDF Report

Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which this project was created, and pay respects to Elders past and present. We also acknowledge First Nations’ ancient connection to storytelling and how it shapes our world and our connections to it.

This second phase of our Storytelling for Systems Change work would not be what it is without the contributions of many. See the names of everyone who contributed.

chapter 1: Our Invitation

This report doesn’t begin with an executive summary. It doesn’t have one at all. Instead, it begins with an invitation for you, our readers, to engage with the following pages in whatever way feels right to you.  

You may want to read this from start to finish, and that’s fine. Or, you may want to engage with the report using a less linear approach, focusing on what resonates most with you.

We have resisted summarising our findings into a single page because that’s what we heard good listening asks of us. Good listening asks us to avoid simplifying stories in order to fit neatly into a public-facing document.

We heard that when people listen to understand, they listen in a way which can hold tensions and contradictions. More often than not, executive summaries smooth over these tensions to pull out pithy key messages. We want to resist this.

We know that our decisions as authors matter. What we feature, exclude, and how we order and present the information is all an exercise of power. We want to try to subvert the traditional power dynamics as much as possible (noting, of course, that this is still very far from perfect).

We want to offer you insights into what we learned in a way that doesn’t centre us as authors, but centres the voices we heard, as well as those who are reading it. So, we invite you to dive in and explore as you want.

We offer suggestions at various points about where you may want to move to next. Of course, you may want to choose a different path altogether.

Each of you will bring your own perspectives to this report, agreeing strongly with some points while hopefully disagreeing with others. These differences are enormously valuable.

We hope you enjoy exploring the insights that follow as much as we have.

chapter 2: The story of how we got here

The seeds of this story were planted in 2021. They were planted in the rich soil of an observation from Teya Dusseldorp, Executive Director of the Dusseldorp Forum:

“I work with communities who are engaged in inspiring systems change work. Yet, so few of their stories are being heard. I want to understand why and support them to tell their stories more effectively.”

From these original seeds, a seedling grew, which needed tending and nurturing. And so emerged a partnership between the Centre for Public Impact, Dusseldorp Forum, and Hands Up Mallee, who agreed to work together to explore what these seeds might become.

As the seeds were nurtured, several branches began to grow. We called the first of these branches Storytelling for Systems Change: Insights from the Field. This branch offered a range of insights. We learned that stories can be used to change a system, as well as to evaluate, understand, and showcase the change occurring in communities. We also heard that stories require different approaches – stories that attempt to enable change look different to those seeking to celebrate change.

We learned that great stories privilege the voice of the storyholder; are resonant, clear, and relatable; and are guided and bound by agreed protocols. However, we also heard that technical, structural, and institutional barriers can hinder good storytelling.

In addition to offering insights, this branch also surfaced some questions. One question stood out to us – how might we increase the number of funders and enablers (from government and philanthropy) ready and willing to hear and respond to the stories that communities are telling?

This felt like a critical question. We know that to have an impact, stories need to be heard. So what does it take to create the conditions where people in government and philanthropy are able to listen deeply? As Fiona Merlin, Measurement Evaluation and Learning Coordinator from the Hands Up Mallee Backbone team, asked: how can we cultivate an audience who “listen to understand?”

This question catalysed the growth of this new branch in a different but related direction – a branch which explores “storylistening” in more depth. What follows is our attempts to gather and share what we’ve heard.

  • If you want to understand how we define “stories” and “listening”, move to the next page.
  • If you want to learn more about our ways of working, skip to how we worked.
  • If you’re keen to get straight into the findings, jump ahead to what we heard.

chapter 3: What do we mean by stories?

Our first phase of work did not offer a formal definition of stories based on the academic literature. That’s because we wanted our conversations to define stories for us.

Similarly for this branch, we have tried to resist being drawn too deeply into the tangle of literature which defines stories (and storytelling and narrative) in many ways. As Sarah Dillon and Claire Craig highlight in their book Storylistening: Narrative Evidence and Public Reasoning, “Wide-ranging reading reveals no consistency in the use of ‘narrative’ versus ‘story’ across disciplineand sectors.”

However, we noticed that in many of our conversations, people used the terms “stories” and “qualitative data” interchangeably. For us, they mean something different, and this distinction is worth exploring.

As we see it, the key difference between qualitative data and stories rests in where power sits. In the context of qualitative data, researchers shape the questions and decide how they will be asked, analysed, and interpreted. As Dave Snowden, founder of The Cynefin Co. explained, “In qualitative data, whoever is asking the question owns the story.” In the context of storytelling, however, the storyholder decides which stories to tell and how to tell them. Perhaps most importantly, the storyholder owns the interpretation of their stories and observations.

Participatory research approaches, such as Most Significant Change and Participatory Narrative Inquiry, go some way to addressing the power imbalances in qualitative approaches. However, many would argue that this is not enough. Dave Snowden pointed out that as soon as you ask someone to tell a story in an environment other than their own, you’ve changed their story. For this reason, he suggested that we need to involve those telling their stories in the gathering process, and “we need to listen to the stories being told in the street, not the stories being told in workshops.” While this may not always be possible, working to ensure that the locus of power sits with the storyholder, rather than the researcher, appears to be a key feature of effective story work.

One final thing to note is Cynthia Kurtz’s observation that the word “storytelling” in the report title is imperfect. Cynthia emphasised that “storytelling does not change systems. The universe of manifold interactions that surrounds stories changes systems…Calling the entire world of stories storytelling is like calling the water cycle rain. It’s so much bigger than that.” We agree. And we hope what we’ve written here goes some way to engaging with the important nuances that Cynthia highlights.

If you want to spend more time reading about styles of listening, move to the next page.

If you’re interested in learning more about our methodology, skip to how we worked.

If you’d prefer to move straight into what we learned, head there now.

chapter 4: What do we mean by listening?

Just as there is a vast literature on stories and storytelling, a lot has been written about different styles of listening. Again, we have chosen not to delve too deeply into this literature. And yet, we have deliberately called this branch of work Listening to Understand. So, what do we mean by listening?

Perhaps we can best define what we mean by “listening to understand” by reference to what it is not. As one senior public/civil servant, explained, “In government, we tend to listen to respond.” Listening to understand is not this. Listening to understand is grounded in humility, empathy, and heart. It means listening with curiosity and suspending our habits of judgement. Listening to understand is a generative practice which recognises that the process of listening is just as important as the insights that emerge.

chapter 5: The forest (the resources we drew from)

We want to acknowledge the rich forest of resources we have drawn from to shape this work.

We focussed most of our attention on the insights generated through conversations and workshops. However, we have also drawn on the vast literature and expertise that already exists, seeing our fledgling tree as one amidst many.

This includes:

If these resources feel like enough for now, move to the next page to learn more about how we worked or skip straight onto what we heard.

If you want to see what other resources we drew on, jump to the resources list.

chapter 6: How we worked

An essential part of this work is not just what we discovered but how we went about discovering it. We sought to create ways of working that were open and inclusive, sharing our learning, mistakes, and emerging insights.

We shared Storytelling Digests, which provided regular updates to everyone who gave their time to the listening sessions. We also invited everyone who participated in a listening session to a sensemaking workshop where we collectively identified key themes and insights. And finally, as we did for the first branch of this work, we shared an early draft of this report with everyone who contributed, inviting them to ask questions, offer comments, and highlight points we had either missed or misconstrued.

Like last time, we met weekly as a project team to deepen our relationships and share our journey of discovery. We also spent time upfront defining how we wanted to work together as a team and created a Team Charter to support this.

Whereas the first phase of this work focussed on listening to storytelling experts and those in community, this time we concentrated on speaking to people in government, philanthropy, and academia. We also extended an invitation to anyone interested in joining us for a group listening session, which introduced a richer diversity of voices and perspectives.

Finally, a key insight from our listening work was the importance of holding contradictions in stories rather than trying to smooth them out. We have tried to honour that approach in this report. For this reason, there will be tensions in what you read and not everything we explore will feel neatly resolved. This mirrors the richness and complexity of stories.

chapter 7: Team charter

As a team we value curiosity and new perspectives. In practice this looks like:

  • Asking questions of our partners, interviewees and of ourselves about why things are done a certain way, and what the underlying assumptions are
  • Encouraging diverse perspectives by actively seeking input from people with intersectionality and difference in backgrounds and experience
  • Embracing uncertainty through a commitment to adapting our approach based on what emerges
  • Being deliberately (but carefully) subversive by challenging stereotypes and pushing governments and funders beyond their comfort zones

     

As a team we value equity and inclusion. In practice this looks like:

  • Elevating the voices of storytellers
  • Avoiding exclusionary practices and reinforcing stereotypes
  • Incorporating diverse perspectives
  • Sharing our findings in different ways – for example through a micro-podcast, or perhaps engaging an artist

     

As a team we are committed to the idea that the process is as important as the product. In practice this looks like:

  • We are learning new things as a team and having fun
  • We prioritise coming together as a team through weekly meetings and (hopefully) a babka-eating session
  • Working in the open, through blogs, regular digests etc
  • Using listening sessions and workshops as a way of catalysing new conversations and connections amongst participants

 

We want this work to contribute to meaningful change. In practice this looks like:

  • Creating something that people value and use because it is clear and easy to understand and share
  • Generating valuable, inspiring and enlightening insights
  • Creating something that makes people feel hopeful and aspirational
  • Encouraging shifts in behaviours and mindsets (doing and being)

If you’re keen to understand how stories are currently used by government and philanthropy, move to the next page.

If you want to skip to the barriers that get in the way of stories being listened to, proceed to the section about what gets in the way.

If you’re feeling action-oriented and are keen to dive into ideas and initiatives, jump ahead to read about what might be done to build he readiness of government and philanthropy to listen more deeply.

chapter 8: What we heard

The insights from this work are organised around three main questions:

How are stories currently used by government and philanthropy?

What gets in the way of stories being listened to and understood?

What might be done to build the readiness of government and philanthropy to listen more deeply?

chapter 9: How are stories currently used by government and philanthropy?

When we asked this question, we didn’t expect a simple answer. However, the range of uses identified far exceeded what we anticipated.

chapter 10: Stories are used to deepen understanding

We heard that stories can deepen understanding about the impact that policies and programs are having on people and communities. Robyn Scott, Executive Director of JR McKenzie Trust, explained that “stories reveal gaps and help us make sense of what’s needed and what’s working.”

We also heard from our group listening session that stories:

  • “allow governments to hear and see the realities of their policies and practices from the ground up”
  • “highlight the embodied reality of those impacted by policies and practice, rather than the idealised outcome”
  • “capture the experiences, memories, questions, or concerns of groups in ways that are not able to be done via traditional research methods.”

 

Stories also deepen understanding by surfacing different perspectives. In their book Storylistening, Sarah Dillon and Claire Craig point out that “stories enable multiple points of view, increasing knowledge and understanding of a system.” They explain that this diversity of viewpoints “enables better understanding of both truths and untruths about a system.”

Others we spoke to pointed to the role of stories as a way of augmenting quantitative insights. As John King, former Executive Director of Analytics, Evaluation and Research at the Victorian Department of Health, explained that while data alone “gives you a thin sense of people’s complicated lives”, wrapping stories around that data “thickens it” and helps communicate the opportunities and impacts in ways that decision-makers can connect to. Colette Einfeld, Research Fellow at Crawford School of Public Policy, similarly shared how stories can be interwoven with statistical data to “give vibrancy and depth to the numbers.”

Finally, some felt that stories can highlight when policies and programs are working well and why. For example, Paul ‘t Hart, Professor of Public Administration at the Utrecht School of Governance, suggested that stories can help us celebrate when “the system is working as it should.” In contrast, others felt that we should focus on stories that help us understand failures or missteps. Donna Hall, Chair of New Local, suggested that it is “pointless listening to people who have had a good experience. Let’s listen to what went wrong.”

chapter 11: Stories are used to influence decision-makers

Many people highlighted that stories, particularly from people with lived experience, can inform the design of policies and programs. Tim Reddel, Professor at the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland, highlighted that stories and ethnography have an important role in shaping policy. Donna Hall, a strong proponent of ethnography in government, emphasised, “[government] needs to forge a new relationship with citizens centred around their stories.”

While she served as the Chief Executive of Wigan Council in the UK, Donna became interested in using people’s stories to shape public services. With her team, she trained every staff member – from frontline workers to the Executive Team – in ethnographic techniques. This taught staff to listen and engage with citizens differently, setting aside personal assumptions and taking the time to see the world through another’s perspective. As Donna explained, listening differently allowed staff to “be radical but humble public leaders who were able to embrace the reality of people’s lives and reshape our offer accordingly.”

While many agreed in theory about the importance of putting people’s stories at the centre of program and policy design, Deidre Mulkerin pointed out that this might require mindset shifts. She explained that “to privilege and honour lived experience means making space for it. It means turning down the volume on traditional tools and turning up the volume of lived experience.”

“Listening can be an act of transformative power provided it is done right.”

Ambelin Kwaymullina

chapter 12: Stories can offer new visions for the future

The idea that stories can be used to imagine and shape our future was a theme that emerged in our group listening sessions. One participant said, “We need stories to help us co-design what we want the future to be.”

This sentiment is echoed by Dillon and Craig’s book Storylistening: “Stories might not just describe the need for alternative models of the future, but provide them. Such stories might also be the product of collective imagining rather than of individual imagining.”

chapter 13: Using stories for ourselves

Several people we spoke to highlighted how stories are used for more internal purposes. This included stories being used in the following ways:

  • To build trust and connection within teams. One senior civil servant pointed to a range of narrative techniques for team building. Similarly, in the group listening session, someone shared that “stories help the people I work with build connections and trust.”
  • As a way of processing trauma. Paul ‘t Hart has seen storytelling used as a way of helping public servants process trauma. Sometimes, just telling stories can be an act of healing. As Meg Wheatley has said, “Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don’t have to do anything else. We don’t have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen. If we can do that, we create moments in which real healing is available.”
  • As a way of keeping people connected to the purpose of their work. Robyn Scott described stories as “keeping us feeling inspired and like we want to keep doing more of this work.” In the group listening session, we also heard that “stories keep those who are doing the work inspired, motivated, and connected.”

chapter 14: The shadow side of stories

It was clear from our conversations that stories are not always used as a force for good. We heard that stories can be used as a form of strategic mythology. For example, someone pointed to the infamous “Children Overboard” affair in Australia, where a particular story was told to drum up public support for stricter border controls. Cynthia Kurtz, author and Participatory Narrative Inquiry consultant, affirmed that stories can be used to “muddle and confuse people and trick them into believing things that aren’t true”.

Some people pointed to the danger of relying on a single story as a basis for decision-making. While the emotional nature of stories was identified as a strength, it can also create risks as single stories can capture people’s hearts and minds, leading to irrational decision-making. If a story doesn’t represent a larger pattern or trend, it shouldn’t be used as a basis for a big policy decision. In our conversation with Claire Craig, she stressed that in the context of social change, “it’s the collective impact of telling and listening that really matters.”

Others also pointed to the risks of simplifying stories to fit neatly into a public-facing document. To do this is to disrespect the storyholder’s agency and “tokenise” their story. This risks breaching trust, which can result in people not wanting to share their stories again, or even more significantly, risks compounding the trauma of storyholders.

This highlights that not all stories are worthy of our attention, and storylisteners need to be able to discern when this is the case. While not an easy task, it can be supported by focusing on collectives of stories rather than stories of individuals and using a mixed evidence base, which considers stories alongside other sources of evidence.

If you’re already feeling excited about this work and want to get involved in what comes next, jump straight to some more seedlings emerging.

If you’re keen to explore barriers and opportunities, keep reading.

chapter 15: What gets in the way of stories being listened to and understood?

In addition to understanding how those in government and philanthropy use stories, we also wanted to understand what gets in the way of stories being listened to and understood.

chapter 16: The perceived superiority of quantitative data

The strongest barrier that emerged through our listening sessions was the perceived superiority of quantitative data over stories. Numbers are perceived to offer a version of “the truth”, while stories are perceived to be “subjective”, “limited”, “jaundiced”, or even a “dark art”.

This acts as a real barrier to stories being listened to and understood. Frances Martin, Director of Service Development at Our Place, described being struck by “the perceived inferiority of stories as a source of information.” Similarly, Erica Potts, Director at the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, explained, “It is difficult for practitioners to find a place for a story because the pressure is to provide numbers.” We also heard in our group listening session that stories can be disregarded because they can “seem like marketing or fluff.”

There is a perception that while quantitative data offers a solid basis for decision-making, stories alone are insufficient. One public servant we spoke to suggested that “Politicians could safely make decisions just based on facts and figures; but not just based on stories.” Similarly, Bill Kermode offered that stories are helpful but “won’t go anywhere without sufficient evidence.”

Why is this the case? Erica Potts pointed to the “white coat” effect of data specialists. Erica explained that there is a perception that numbers don’t lie but was at pains to point out that, of course, they can:

“All the things people think about stories can also be true of data. There can be bias, inaccuracies, omissions… people should question data just as much as they question stories.”

Delving even more deeply into why numbers are seen as more “reliable and credible”, John King suggested that this bias is rooted in a Western worldview centred around scientific approaches and the logic of cause and effect. In their book Storylistening, Dillon and Craig elaborate on this:

“…the persuasive power of stories has contributed to their delegitimisation among the modes and models of rationality that have grounded Western democratic norms of evidence and public reasoning, norms consolidated in the Enlightenment, and rooted in rationalistic, positivist, and empiricist traditions.”

Robyn Scott’s work with Māori communities suggests that not all cultures prefer quantitative methods. Robyn explained how the communities she works with resist quantitative approaches because they tend to be used against them (as a weapon) far more than they’re used to support them.

chapter 17: Ensembles of evidence

Despite this apparent tension between scientific and narrative methods, Dillon and Craig argue that we should not see stories and quantitative data as opposing one another. Instead, we need to create ensembles of evidence. They explain,

“… What is needed is a pluralistic evidence base that combines the strengths of different forms of modelling and knowledge-generation.”

This was echoed by Erica Potts, who spoke about the “interweaving” of data and stories. Likewise, Tim Reddel asked, “How can we bring together storytelling and empirical work – not see them as dichotomies?” Nicola Hannigan and Suzie Warrick said,

“We talk about needing to shift hearts and minds. Stories are the heart. Data is the mind. And a combination of those leads to better decisions.”

The challenge with ensembles is that they can create tensions. We asked those we spoke to “what do you do if the quantitative data and stories paint different pictures?” For many, this tension is where the greatest insights emerge. As John King explained, “The tension that emerges is what forces the ‘why’ conversation, which is joyous. You have to embrace that tension and work through it with curiosity and humility, from multiple angles and sources.” This idea was reinforced by Dillon and Craig, who note that bringing together different forms of evidence creates greater uncertainty but makes “the future more visible and enable[s] those uncertainties to be engaged with more effectively.”

chapter 18: Additional barriers

Our listening sessions also surfaced a range of additional barriers that can get in the way of stories being heard, listened to, and understood. These include:

  • Skills deficit: “People in government are not skilled, empowered, or expected to work with stories.” Erica Potts
  • Power imbalances: “Governments, philanthropists, academics, and others who hold institutional power are in a position to decide which people are given the stage and which are not. They can decide whose stories are valid and whose are worthy of being heard.” Amy Denmeade, Ph.D. Scholar at the Crawford School of Public Policy
  • An efficiency imperative: “In the drive for efficiency in the public service, we too often don’t invest enough time in storytelling” John King
  • Unconscious bias: “People are cherry picking the stories that already fit with their narratives.” Daniel Daylight, Manager of Mt Druitt, Just Reinvest NSW
  • Dominant narratives: “Stories occur in the context of other stories. The story of capitalism, for example, shapes how we understand other stories. We need to better articulate the assumptions underpinning our stories.” Amy Denmeade
  • Narrative deficits: “Narrative deficits are areas in which there is a falling short either in terms of the ability or willingness to take stories seriously or because there is, in fact an (actual or perceived) absence of stories.” Sarah Dillon and Claire Craig
  • Lack of relationships: “If you want to hear a good story, you need to build a good relationship. For people to share the history of who they are, it’s a very personal thing!” Turei Mackey, Strategic Communications at The Southern Initiative
  • The desire for certainty and clarity: “We are required to have a neat answer. This doesn’t lend itself well to stories, which capture the variances and diversity that make up human nature.” Rachel Roberts
  • A sense of professionalism: “People often assume you need to put walls up and have a professional distance. This gets in the way of genuinely hearing the stories of someone else. It’s not just the head; it’s the heart. This requires us to be vulnerable. And not everyone is comfortable with that.” Deidre Mulkerin
  • Lack of connection between “story” people and “data” people: “It can feel like there is an oil and water effect between story people and data people. They often don’t collaborate well.” Erica Potts

 

In addition, one person we spoke to felt that there were few opportunities to speak to communities. They described feeling “blocked” from community, explaining that “fear, risk aversion, and a lack of good process to support the engagement” were the biggest barriers. However they did acknowledge that they knew of other governments who were “doing it much better than we are.”

We also heard from some that using stories in government is still not expected, while it is becoming the norm in the philanthropic sector. This sat in tension with the views of others who suggested that storytelling in government is now commonplace. For example, one senior public servant we spoke to suggested that most policy submissions she sees now include stories. She shared that as a leader in the public service, she’s constantly asking for stories from her team to illustrate the practical implications of a particular policy or service and observes others doing the same.

Finally, some people we spoke to highlighted that they are reluctant to ask for stories from community members in case nothing changes. Daniel Daylight explained, “What I’m protective of is seeing young people having to retell their trauma over and over again for things that don’t get results.” Similarly, Erica Potts pointed to her fear of “retraumatising people for a compelling story.”

One senior civil/ public servant stressed that if decision-makers listen to stories, they must be committed to making change:

“Our job is to work out how we can create opportunities for people to tell their stories and have them influence change. When people share their stories, we also need to have feedback mechanisms to let them know how we’ve used the information.”

In a similar vein, Frances Martin suggested that “honouring the story means feeling responsible for ensuring the story translates into change and action.”

While some people we spoke to suggested that failure to act on what is being heard will make people reluctant to share their stories again, Cynthia Kurtz offered a different perspective. She suggested that “if people feel disrespected and not heard, they will still tell stories. But they will tell different stories.”

If you haven’t read about how we captured the insights you just read about, jump back up to how we worked.

If you want to take a break from reading our insights and want to read the work and thinking of others, jump to resources.

Read on if you want to learn more about what might be done to support better listening.

chapter 19: What might be done to build the readiness of government and philanthropy to listen more deeply?

For our final element of this phase of work, we wanted to move from insight to action. We wanted to understand what might be done to build the readiness of government and philanthropy to hear, listen to, and understand stories. Below, we share some of what we heard.

For each initiative, we offer examples of what this might look like in practice, drawing on ideas and inspiration from around the world.

Given this section is about moving to action, we encourage you to read it in that spirit. Explore the themes below, pick those that resonate most, and think about how you might be able to use them in your context.

chapter 20: Build storylistening skills

Invest in ethnographic skills.

Develop the storylistening skills of decision-makers.

Explicitly recruit for narrative skills.

  • Cities are recruiting Chief Storytellers, and some are focusing on listening.
  • Burnie Works recruits local Community Knowledge Collectors who are skilled and supported to collect stories.

chapter 21: Invest in relationships

Create a culture which values building relationships with storyholders.

  • The Southern Initiative focuses on building relationships first and gathering stories once trust is established.

 

Bring government, philanthropy, and storytellers together to have brave conversations.

  • Our Place has shared their experience building relationships between government, philanthropy, and community.
  • Community Conversations are commonly used to bring people from different sectors together to have generative conversations.

 

Embrace a relational approach to funding and grant-making.

 

Consider whether payment for stories feels appropriate. 

  • Cynthia Kurtz suggested that when people are paid, stories become commodified and performative. Others have written about the importance of remuneration.

chapter 22: Invest in co-design skills

Invest in developing co-design capabilities and mindsets. 

chapter 23: Create dedicated storytelling or storylistening spaces

Create safe spaces where people who don’t traditionally occupy positions of power can tell their stories and have them heard.
  • Mounty Yarns is a youth-led project presented as stories, expertise, and knowledge by and with Aboriginal young people with lived experience of the criminal justice system.
  • Digital Stories Canada suggests creating and holding safe spaces for stories to emerge.

chapter 24: Bring together data and story people

Train people in ensemble thinking.

Draw on the expertise of organisations blending data and story in ways that acknowledge complexity.

  • Seer Data and Analytics empowers data-led decision-making for communities, while Kowa amplifies the voices of First Nations peoples in impact measurement, evaluation, and learning.

Utilise technology-based tools which blend stories and data.

  • SenseMaker® is a distributed ethnographic tool that empowers community members to tell and interpret their story and gather material.

chapter 25: Some more seedlings emerging

This second branch of work, like the first, has revealed new insights, raised new questions, and offered a range of possibilities and ideas for how we might grow new branches and strengthen those that are already established.

Like last time, we approached this work with the intention of generating value beyond the report. We know that the conversations we’ve had over the past several months have already generated new ideas and opportunities, and we are keen to continue these and see what emerges.

If you would like to be part of a community of people interested in exploring this work further, join our Storytelling Community of Practice.

If you work in philanthropy or government and are keen to explore these ideas in more detail, we’d love to hear from you.

“Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them”

Eudora Welty

Resources

Digests

The following are an archive of the Digests we shared along the way to provide regular updates to everyone who gave their time to the listening sessions.

Further acknowledgements

We want to thank Imogen Baker for her work in magically weaving together people’s voices to create the audio pieces you will find throughout the report. Thank you also to Kirsten Moergelein who has brought these voices to life with her beautiful artwork.

A big thank you to Rosie McIntosh and Carmella Grace De Guzman from the Centre for Public Impact who have played an integral role in shaping this report and helping us share it with the world.

We also want to thank those who gave up their time to speak to us and share their stories. A big thank you to:

Share

Dusseldorp Forum acknowledges the First Peoples of Australia and the Traditional Custodians of the Country on which we work and live. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, and to Elders past and present.

Centre for Public Impact Logo
© Dusseldorp Forum 2025   |   All rights reserved   |   Privacy Policy   |   A Nicely Done Website

Mannifera

Dusseldorp Forum are proud to be a part of Mannifera, a collective of Australian funders working together to support a fairer democracy and economy for everyone. Since its inception in 2019, Mannifera have invested over $4.3 million in civil society organisations that actively collaborate and advocate for structural change.

In the past 12 months Mannifera has continued to advance its mission of fostering a fairer democracy and economy in Australia through strategic grantmaking and collaborative efforts. Key impacts from the year include:

Strengthening First Nations Economic Inclusion: Mannifera’s First Nations practice, guided by a panel of Indigenous advisors, allocated grants to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations focusing on economic inclusion and enterprise development, reinforcing Indigenous-led economic networks.

Advocating for Fairer Economic Systems: Partners working on tax and economic reforms effectively brought issues like intergenerational fairness and the wellbeing economy into mainstream policy discussions, influencing lawmakers and public debate.

website
Grant impact report

Combating Disinformation: In response to the challenges posed by misinformation, especially following the 2023 Voice referendum, Mannifera supported initiatives aimed at protecting public understanding and democratic decision-making from the impacts of disinformation amplified by technology and social media.

Promoting Transparency and Accountability: While early successes were noted, progress on federal integrity reforms was mixed, with some legislation falling short due to bipartisan resistance. Mannifera’s partners continued to advocate for higher standards of transparency and accountability in government.

Defending Democratic Participation: Through litigation, advocacy, and coalition-building, Mannifera’s partners worked to resist antidemocratic reforms and enhance civic participation among underrepresented groups, including drafting bills, engaging in legal challenges, and forming national coalitions to advance key reforms.

Read the Mannifera 2025 Grant Impact Report for more.

Mannifera
Dusseldorp Story Highlight
  • Philanthropy

Collectives Amplifying Impact

Like many philanthropic foundations, we face the challenge of how a relatively small family foundation—can make an outsized impact on the complex and intertwined issues that affect people and the places they live. We find the answer embedded in our DNA as an organisation, and the clue is in our name – Dusseldorp Forum.
Read more
Narrative Practice: Strong Stories and Connections

Dusseldorp Forum partnered with the Dulwich Centre to deliver the Narrative Practice Project, a series of travelling workshops across Mt Druitt, Bourke, and Kempsey. These workshops equipped community leaders with Narrative Practice skills, supporting communities to tell their own stories of change.

Narrative practice is an approach that supports people and communities tell their own stories in a way that highlights their strengths, values, and knowledge. It focuses on listening deeply, asking meaningful questions, and recognising the skills and wisdom people use to overcome challenges, so their experiences shape solutions and change.

Through these workshops, communities developed new engagement techniques, improved practices in youth and family support systems, and deepened relationships across regions.

Participants received Level 1 accreditation in Narrative Therapy, and ongoing coaching ensured they could apply these practices in their work.

Narrative Practice in Action

These two-day workshops led to meaningful changes across the communities:

Bourke: A local judge praised the shift in how young people’s stories are communicated to the court using these techniques.

Mount Druitt: Narrative practices have been integrated into case planning, community support, and training for Youth Justice staff.

Kempsey: The community is using narrative techniques to enhance communication and engagement strategies.

“It was like flood water, seeing the effect the workshop had. Everyone was talking about how good it felt to be part of something.” – Buddy Moore

Community Connection: Strengthening Relationships​

Beyond the skills learned, these workshops deepened connections between communities, individuals, and Country. Participants travelled together, shared meals cooked by locals, and visited significant cultural sites like the Brewarrina Fish Traps and the Dunghutti coastline.

They also participated in cultural activities, including Bourke’s cultural dance night and the 100th anniversary commemoration of Kinchela Boys Home.

Through this experience:

  • Teams strengthened bonds within their communities
  • New relationships formed between different regions
  • Connections to Country and cultural identity were reinforced
  • Family links were rediscovered
  • Dusseldorp Forum’s connection with communities deepened
Collectives: Amplifying Impact

Forming alliances, partnerships and joint initiatives has been the approach of Dusseldorp Forum since inception; making an impact that reaches beyond the sum of our parts.

Creating a more just and equitable society requires more than one program, organisation, or initiative. There is great value in connecting diverse individuals and organisations across sectors to foster collaborative relationships and collective actions which generate more coordinated strategic effort towards structural reform.

That’s why we have joined Mannifera Collective, Groundswell Giving, and the Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children (IDAC). These partnerships demonstrate the transformative power of working together.

Pooling resources allows us to increase funding scale and provide long-term support for critical issues. Sharing knowledge strengthens decision-making and fosters innovation. Risk-sharing enables us to tackle complex or underfunded challenges, and collaboration builds trust, accountability, and influence – ensuring better education, health, cultural and environmental outcomes.

Mannifera Collective: Strengthening Democracy​

Mannifera is a collective of funders committed to a healthy democracy and a fairer economy. Since 2019, the collective has backed civil society organisations to drive policy change and public advocacy investing over $4.3 million.

Mannifera works with organisations across the following areas:

  • First Nations economic inclusion
  • Building fair tax and economic systems
  • Improving quality public debate
  • Ensuring accountable and open government
  • Fostering inclusive political participation

Read about their 2024 impact here.

Groundswell Giving: Driving Climate Action​

Through Groundswell’s Major Giving Circle, we joined 20 other funders in distributing $1.2 million to climate-focused organisations in 2024.

These organisations are working to:

  • Support communities in the energy transition
  • Counter climate disinformation
  • Hold leaders accountable on climate action


You can read more about Groundswell’s 2024 impact here.

Collectives
Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children: Aligning Efforts for Impact​

Dusseldorp Forum is also part of IDAC, a 10-year partnership between government, philanthropy, and communities focused on improving outcomes for children and families.

In 2024, IDAC spent time bringing its members together to align efforts and lay the foundations for ongoing collaboration.

You can read more about IDAC here.

PLACE: A Milestone for Place-Based Collaboration​

“PLACE will help make the invisible, visible. It will enable us to share our successes and accelerate shared learning. It is a genuine opportunity to invest in future generations with the support and resources to enable the true ambitions and aspirations of our communities.” 


Alister Ferguson, Founder, Maranguka, Bourke NSW

For over a decade, communities across Australia have been leading place-based collectives that tackle social, environmental, economic and cultural challenges. By working in genuine partnership, these initiatives are driving positive change for children and families.

Dusseldorp Forum has been deeply involved in five place-based initiatives that have sparked new ways of working. Maranguka’s success influenced state and federal Justice Reinvestment policy, Logan Together helped shape the Stronger Places, Stronger People (SPSP) policy, and Our Place’s school-based model was adopted by the Victorian Education Department.

Yet despite their clear impact, place-based efforts struggle to access the coordinated support required to embed the positive changes they demonstrate. 2024 marked a turning point with the establishment of PLACE – Partnerships for Local Action and Communities Empowerment, a national centre designed to strengthen place-based collaboration.

PLACE
A National Shift Toward Place-Based Policy

Announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth on 30 October 2024, PLACE represents a fundamental shift in how government, philanthropy, and communities work together.

“Place-based support has and can have a profound impact, and now more Australian communities will benefit from these initiatives.”
 – Treasurer Jim Chalmers

A National Shift Toward Place-Based Policy
Key Partnerships That Led to PLACE

As a co-investor in the $38 million initiative, Dusseldorp Forum has worked alongside community partners like Maranguka (NSW) and Logan Together (QLD) and other leading foundations to bring this vision, of working in a different way with government, to life. PLACE will act as a support system – a hub for shared learning, partnership, and policy innovation for place-based initiatives.

With this national infrastructure in place, we have an opportunity to embed community-driven change in policy and back the vision for thriving people and places for generations to come.

Read more about PLACE here.

Wilya Janta

Wilya Janta is an innovative Aboriginal not-for-profit cultural consultancy that promotes community agency in the design and construction of housing in Indigenous communities. They seek to put the tenant at the centre of the design process to build culturally appropriate, climate-resistant homes for remote Indigenous communities.

They believe the current Indigenous remote housing development model has several key issues, including a near non-existent design consultation process with the tenant and community, poor thermal efficiency, overcrowding, a lack of cultural consideration, and insufficient maintenance. Due to the expensive nature of maintaining their homes, residents often face health issues and financial hardships. Wilya Janta seek to overcome these issues by introducing a new, affordable, more sustainable, and scalable standard for remote housing through a culturally sensitive collaboration, design, and building process.

website
Wilya Janta

As part of the project’s first two phases, they undertook community and site engagement and a highly collaborative design process with residents in 2024. Operating under a unique constitution written by Warumungu Elders, Wilya Janta are creating houses by and for First Nations people that are fit for purpose, culturally safe, off-grid, and climate-resilient.

Wilya Janta will commence building two demonstration and display houses as part of their Tennant Creek Housing Pilot in Jurnkkurakurr/Warumungu in 2025. With ongoing reviews, they hope to refine and replicate the process and see it widely adopted by other communities.

Wilya Janta
Dusseldorp Story Highlight
  • Climate Action, First Nations Voice, Housing

Wilya Janta – First Nations knowledge informing housing solutions

Dusseldorp Forum is supporting the Wilya Janta Housing Project that is enabling visionary First Nations housing solutions to come to life. Combining innovation and sustainability, Wilya Janta is engaging community from the design process to the construction phase and beyond, in order to create homes that are viable for the climate and for meeting the needs of First Nations communities.
Read more

Our Place

Our Place take a holistic, place-based approach to supporting the education, health, and development of all children and families. It facilitates partnerships to help overcome the barriers to educational achievement, using schools as a central location to provide high-quality learning environments and integrated support services for early prevention and intervention.

An initiative of the Colman Education Foundation, Our Place operates in 11 Victorian schools in 9 communities in a 10-year partnership with the Victorian Government. Last year, their partnership with the Victorian Department of Education introduced a new data-sharing agreement to provide richer data for future evaluations.

website
our place roadmap

In 2024, national interest in the Our Place approach and school community platform models increased significantly. Over 30 groups ⎯ including Victorian Government departments and interstate organisations ⎯ visited Our Place sites to learn how to adapt the approach into new contexts. The Australian Government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee and The Review to Inform a Better and Fairer Education System also recommended that school community platform models be adopted to tackle inequitable educational outcomes.

Robinvale College, one of their sites in northwest Victoria, also achieved progress. New family engagement approaches, including craft sessions, and a school attendance action plan were introduced. Initiatives like The Language Cafe, funded by the Department of Job, Skills, Industries, and Regions (DJSIR), connected adults with services like employment, driver licenses, and working with children checks. Negotiations are underway to introduce local health services like speech pathology and occupational therapy to the school.

Read the 2025 Our Place Roadmap for more information.

Our Place
Dusseldorp Story Highlight
  • Education, Our Place

Walking alongside – revisited

In 2023, with more than 5 years of experience and learnings from the Partnership and implementation in nine diverse communities, Our Place has developed Walking alongside – revisited as the next chapter in their Walking Alongside series.
Read more

Mounty Aboriginal Youth and Community Service (MAYCS) Mt Druitt

Mounty Aboriginal Youth and Community Service (MAYCS) are an Aboriginal-controlled youth service in Mt Druitt (Darug Country in Western Sydney) that strives to enable young people to lead solutions that protect and free them from harmful systems. The organisation was created in response to Mounty Yarns, a storytelling project by Aboriginal young people from Mt Druitt with lived experience of the criminal justice system. Mounty Yarns showed the impact the criminal justice system has on the Mt Druitt community and presented young people’s ideas for change.

Last year saw the MAYACS team grow from five to 12 full-time local Aboriginal staff members, four youth ambassadors, and one community-led programming role. MAYCS secured $3.3 million in government grants ⎯ $2.3 million to continue their justice reinvestment work over the next three years and almost $1 million for their Youth on Track (YOT) early intervention program. They have secured the YOT funding for a futher three years. MAYCS also expanded their youth-led programs, adding a weekly women’s healing day and are planning a women’s retreat.

website

Continuing to elevate young people to play a significant role in leading the organisation was another highlight, with young people being involved with setting the strategic direction and governance of the organisation. Using the Mounty Yarns advocacy tool, five young people in the MAYCS team were paid to run a workshop for 15 members of Youth Justice sharing how their policies impact Aboriginal young people in the juvenile justice system. The Mounty Team and their Youth Ambassadors presented at many important events this year including at government, sector and community conferences sharing their expertise in Justice Reinvestment and youth-led work, including presenting in multiple workshops at ChangeFest.

The Mounty Team also took part in the Narrative Practice Workshops, supported by Dusseldorp Forum in 2024, to build narrative skills and create connections to support their long-term efforts.

Dusseldorp Story Highlight
  • Place Based Change, Youth Justice

Rise of Young Leaders in Mt Druitt

Mounty Yarns shares the intricate details of Aboriginal young people in Mt Druitt’s experiences of injustice, but within these stories of hardship are sparks of resistance, skill, and knowledge. These flickers are being nurtured into flames of a new generation of youth leadership, rising in Mt Druitt.
Read more

Maranguka

Maranguka, meaning ‘caring for others’ in the local Ngemba language, is a community-led, place-based initiative in the New South Wales town of Bourke that seeks to create better futures for local children and their families. A collaboration between the Bourke Tribal Council, community, government, and non-government organisations, Maranguka is the first justice reinvestment site in Australia. It forms part of the federal government’s Stronger Places, Stronger People initiative.

In 2024, Maranguka experienced many meaningful highlights. The youth hub in Bourke was reestablished, and youth development officers were recruited. The hub now serves as a vital platform for local young people to access mentorship, cultural programs, and essential services. Maranguka’s ongoing work in youth justice and out-of-home care provided pathways away from the justice system, while increasing access to training, education and job opportunities for young people in Bourke and beyond.

website
Maranguka

The formalisation of the NSW Western Health District Data Sharing Agreement last year will greatly enhance health outcomes for First Nations communities and ensure that community-led insights drive health policy and service improvements. New government grants and partnerships will also expand Maranguka’s reach, services, and capacity in youth justice, family support and services, justice reinvestment, and community development.

Members of Maranguka’s team also took part in the Narrative Practice Workshops, supported by Dusseldorp Forum in 2024, to build narrative skills and create connections to support their long-term efforts.

Maranguka
Dusseldorp Story Highlight
  • Learning the Macleay, Maranguka, Place Based Change, Storytelling for Change

Sharing Strong Stories – The Narrative Practice Project

On the banks of the Darling River in Bourke, NSW, under a warm winter sun, community members from Mt Druitt, Bourke, Kempsey, and Moree came together for the second in a series of Narrative Practice workshops to learn and share practices that help them tell stories in ways that make them stronger.
Read more

Learning the Macleay 

Learning the Macleay (LtM) is a community led initiative that aims to bring the entire community together to understand the issues and design the solutions. It draws on community’s collective wisdom and locally tailored, evidence-driven solutions to empower families and children for a stronger future.

Listening, connecting and sharing with community were central to LtM’s work in 2024. Championing the belief that no one understands the local community as well as the community itself, LtM conducted a six-week community survey at pop-up stalls across Macleay Valley. The survey generated 443 responses and offered insight into the community priorities for 2025 and beyond.

website
Learning the Macleay
Inspired by a digital storytelling workshop at ChangeFest, the national movement for community-led systems change in Australia, LtM held various digital storytelling training workshops in their community. Understanding the importance of elevating community voices from across the Macleay Valley, LtM invested in media equipment, including cameras, formed a community media team, and have been creating and sharing stories across their social media channels.

Another highlight in 2024 was the Yuwa Nyinda Dream Academy, designed and delivered by LtM and Dhina Durriti Aboriginal Corporation (DDAC) to inspire young people to dream big. The two-day event, held in August, brought together over 1,500 children and young people to spark creativity and discover purpose and passion. The event included creative workshops, a career zone, a cultural space, social activities and a community celebration with live performances.

The LtM team also took part in the Narrative Practice Workshops, supported by Dusseldorp Forum in 2024, to build narrative skills and create connections to support their long-term efforts.
Dusseldorp Story Highlight
  • First Nations Voice, Governance, Place Based Change

Healing the Heart of the Macleay

When Dunghutti woman Jo Kelly speaks about her work, it becomes evident that her decades of experience as a fierce advocate, compassionate leader and community connecter have profoundly shaped her approach today.
Read more

Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT)

Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT) was established in 2010 by Traditional Owners of the Warddeken and Djelk Indigenous Protected Areas to support their vision for healthy Country. KKT serves as a shared resource to eight First Nations community-controlled organisations in West and Central Arnhem Land ⎯ one of the largest Indigenous estates in Australia ⎯ and spans 50,000 square kilometres of land and sea Country.

KKT is a philanthropic trust whose work centres on supporting people on Country, protecting native biodiversity, educating future custodians, managing fire and climate, safeguarding Indigenous culture, and investing in women rangers. Last year saw them continue to invest in multiple community-controlled projects ⎯ 20 in total ⎯ with a focus on traditional land management, on-Country employment, and bi-cultural education initiatives.

website
annual report
KKT

Highlights include the establishment of the Homeland School Company, which delivers bi-cultural, community-led education to children in the Djelk Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), and the Bush University (called Bidwern Butj Uni), an on-Country adult training and education initiative for rangers and their communities. KKT also supported the Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation (ASRAC) to establish new permanent ranger positions across the proposed ASRAC IPA: an area that includes Gurruwiling (Arafura Swamp), the largest freshwater ecosystem in Arnhem Land, and 27 nationally listed threatened species.

KKT
Dusseldorp Story Highlight
Karrkad Kanjdji Trust – Arnhem Land NT
  • Education, Karrkad Kanjdji Trust

Educating Future Custodians with Karrkad Kanjdji Trust

Education underpins individual, family and community development with benefits to health, social mobility, employment, economic growth and equality. It is a basic human right that also has cascading positive impacts on mitigating climate change and nature loss. As a wealthy nation with compulsory education, every child in Australia should have access to quality, full time teaching.
Read more

Groundswell

Established in 2020, Groundswell is a community of individuals passionate about tackling climate change in Australia. Through the financial support of its members, they provide grants to assist and accelerate the work of organisations driving high-impact, strategic climate action.

Groundswell believe that fixing the climate crisis requires a multifaceted approach, so they fund a diverse network of changemakers across a range of approaches and geographies. By embracing a collaborative approach to climate action, Groundswell hope to create change from all angles. In 2024, they raised $2.09 million in funds, supported 45 grants, and hosted 14 events to forge new partnerships and raise awareness of the climate crisis.

website
impact report

Last year, this included a $40,000 grant to the Australian Associated Press (AAP), which enabled the newswire to establish its specialist climate desk to cover climate issues and help combat climate misinformation; an $80,000 grant to Rewiring Australia, which secured $5.4 million in federal funding to launch Electrify 2515, a world-first pilot program for home electrification; and a $40,000 grant to Lock the Gate, whose campaigning helped to shut down two proposed coal mines in NSW.

Dusseldorp Forum is one of the 23 founding members of Groundswell’s Major Giving Circle (MGC), which launched last year. MGC forms part of Groundswell’s overarching grants program, alongside their Caring for Country and Community grants. Each MGC member contributes $50,000 annually to the $1+ million dedicated funding collective that aims to empower communities on the frontlines of the energy transition and support the rollout of renewable energy and climate solutions.

Dusseldorp Story Highlights
  • Philanthropy

Collectives Amplifying Impact

Like many philanthropic foundations, we face the challenge of how a relatively small family foundation—can make an outsized impact on the complex and intertwined issues that affect people and the places they live. We find the answer embedded in our DNA as an organisation, and the clue is in our name – Dusseldorp Forum.
Read more
  • Environment, Philanthropy

It’s Up to Us – Climate Funders Handbook

For ten years we’ve been partnering with communities with long-term plans to improve social, cultural, and economic outcomes for children and families. Over this time the impact of climate change has become a clear and present danger to the success of any gains towards equity and justice.
Read more

Supercharge Australia

Supercharge Australia is an initiative supporting Australia, as the biggest lithium producer in the world, to become a hub for battery technology innovation and to boost the clean energy transition. The initiative is a partnership between EnergyLab, Australia’s largest climate tech startup accelerator, and New Energy Nexus, a global clean energy startup accelerator.

A major highlight of 2024 was the Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge 2 (SAIC2). This competitive program featured 12 innovative startups with solutions that could rapidly convert half of Australia’s commercial vehicles (around 10 million) to electric vehicles (EVs) and help accelerate progress towards building Australia’s lithium battery value chain. Melbourne-based Veepower was chosen as the winner for its accessible and affordable Veepilot plug-and-play EV retrofitting technology.

website
Supercharge Australia

Other key achievements last year include the launch of the Supercharge Australia Incubator. The new program will provide expert support, connections to industry, and technical capability to relevant early-stage startups and empower them to bring their pioneering solutions in the lithium battery value chain to life. Supercharge Australia’s advocacy efforts also contributed to key policy advancements, including the allocation of $500 million in the federal budget to advance battery technology and manufacturing. Meanwhile, their participation at industry events, such as the All-Energy Australia Conference, helped grow awareness of their mission and fostered further partnerships for growth.

Dusseldorp Story Highlight
  • Climate Action

Supercharge Australia: Clean Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future

Dusseldorp Forum is partnering with Supercharge Australia to unlock the potential of lithium battery technology to drive environmental progress and economic growth.
Read more

Australian Progress

Australian Progress are helping to build the advocacy capacity of Australia’s civil society organisations to ensure that community interests shape our nation’s priorities. Working with thousands of social change organisations and changemakers, they transform the skills of community leaders and play a pivotal role in convening the sector to foster knowledge sharing, collaboration and driving forward shared action.

In 2024, Australian Progress grew the skills and networks of over 880 advocates and campaigners through a range of thought-provoking webinars, multi-day training workshops, and their flagship program, the Progress Fellowship. They also brought together over 500 changemakers at two major events — Common Threads, a summit for and by First Nations people to connect, yarn, share, strategise, and plan for action, and FWD+Organise 2024, a coming together of digital campaigners and community organisers to collaborate, innovate, and share skills and ideas.

website
common threads
Australian Progress

Last year, Australian Progress and its partners and community showcased the power of scaled action and collaboration in making real change possible. Through the support of the Economic Media Centre, which connects journalists with economic spokespeople, 336 stories from community leaders and advocates were shared in the media and generated over 5,400 syndications. Developed in partnership with Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) and Common Cause Australia, Australian Progress also released the By Us, For Us disability messaging guide, a pioneering intensive research project aiming to reshape public narratives about disability and drive support for transformative policy change.

Australian Progress

Surfers for Climate

Surfers for Climate (SFC) are an Australian charity that empowers and mobilises surfers and associated communities to pursue positive climate action. It does this by supporting surfers in campaigning against new coastal and offshore fossil fuel developments, helping surfers implement climate solutions into their everyday lives, and respectfully engaging MPs in surfing communities to act on climate change. 

One of SFC’s biggest wins in 2024 was the introduction of historic legislation to ban offshore sea mining and infrastructure for oil and gas projects in New South Wales coastal waters with bi-partisan support. SFC’s campaigning helped NSW become the first state to adopt the much-needed Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Seabed Mining and Exploration) Bill 2024.

website
impact report
surfers for climate

Other SFC highlights in 2024 include the scaling up of the Trade Up program, which helps surf-loving tradespeople promote climate-positive behaviours at work, the launch of the inaugural Water Women Campout, an annual wellbeing weekend for women, alongside Blue Minds, a mental health program to address eco-anxiety amongst youth and empower them to act.

In 2024, SFC expanded its audience and the reach of its positive climate action message by hosting 26 community events, meeting with over 100 politicians and decision-makers, increasing its Australian media presence, and growing its collective social media follower base to over 50,000.

surfers for climate
Dusseldorp Story Highlight
  • Climate Action

Surfers for Climate’s Party Wave of Climate Action

Dusseldorp Forum is partnering with climate organisations that are working in smart ways to engage more Australians in climate solutions. We’ve formed a three-year partnership with Surfers for Climate, who are mobilising surfers and ocean lovers to play a powerful role in the climate movement.
Read more