Kon Karapanagiotidis
Founder and CEO of Asylum Seeker Research Centre
My dream is that 50 years from now we have not built tougher borders or higher walls to stop human beings finding safety and freedom but a longer table with a seat for everyone. We have met the challenge of climate change to not create future generations of refugees. And we have a global community where refugees are welcomed with open arms and provided with protection, safety and opportunity, simply for being human.
I hope we no longer follow the drumbeat of racism and fear that betrays our hearts and moral compass and we awaken the best of us – an us that sees and affirms what unites us, celebrates our beautiful differences and believes we are all equal, we all matter and that we must all be free and safe to have a society worth being part of and proud of.
Damon Gameau
Filmmaker (2040, That Sugar Film) and author
VOICEMAIL SENT: MAY 13, 2071. 7.33AM
Hi darlings,
As mum has probably shared with you, my health isn’t heading in the direction we would like and I’m not sure how much time I have left. I know I’m seeing you this weekend, but I just wanted to share some quick reflections so they are recorded somewhere:
Social systems need as much care and respect as ecosystems. Once we took the time to regenerate ourselves and our connections to each other, the landscapes and ecosystems soon followed. The two will always be connected.
Climate change was never a science problem, it was always a human problem. Graphs, data and statistics are useful but lifeless. What matters most are stories. Well-told stories shape culture, and culture then determines what survives, thrives or dies.
The deep bonds of community are built on the foundations of strong local economies. Reversing the cogs of the economic machine away from the global and towards the local was the smartest thing we ever did. Nature is diversity, not monoculture.
Embracing Indigenous wisdom and teaching our children that the real economy is the living world was an equally smart move.
Always remember that your moment on this planet is a gift and a privilege. Three hundred years from now, historians will mark the last 50 years as the most extraordinary period for our species. We have transformed energy, transport, agriculture and resource use all in my lifetime. There is still much to be done but this ‘Ecological Revolution’ will dwarf the achievements of the industrial one. People in the future will say, “Imagine living through that time?”
