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From the Network
5 Tips for Navigating the Intersection of Self-Care and Social Change in 2024
In the quest for self-improvement, many of us working in the social change space find ourselves torn between personal aspirations and the pressing demands of our impactful work. Balancing the pursuit of self-care with the urgency of social change often triggers feelings of guilt. At HCN, we understand this struggle and have embarked on a […]
We’re Transforming the New Economy with our Mutual Aid Cooperative
This past fortnight has been a whirlwind of ideas and actions for the HCN team as we work to transform the new economy. If you’re unsure of what the ‘new economy’ is, that’s okay because so are we – the new economy is whatever we make it. It’s perhaps better to frame the new economy […]
Navigating These Tough Times with a Solutions-Focused Mindset
You only need to open up social media or turn on your TV to see that we are in the midst of a challenging time for humanity, both here and Australia and abroad. Following the referendum which saw the majority of Australia’s population vote no to a Voice To Parliament, our screens are now dominated […]
Ready, Set, Grow! Kick-start your urban gardening journey while learning valuable skills like systems thinking & design
Following the launch of our latest handbook, Opening the Black Box, we want to equip our community of changemakers with an opportunity to apply their new systems-thinking knowledge to a real-world situation. So, through our Fixing Food initiative, we’re offering a FREE resource and DIY action-plan to apply systems-thinking while creating a more sustainable lifestyle: […]
The Left vs Right, Poverty as Empowering, & a Defence of Child Sponsorship: profound insights from my PhD research
This week I had a few books I needed to push through as part of my PhD research, which is about women’s empowerment and gender equality in rural development across India. My research has a deep focus on ontology (I’ll spare you the philosophical details,) and I was surprised to find that one of the […]
Why our social justice movements need mindfulness
Traditionally, mindfulness has been primarily focused on the individual. However, when placed within a social justice context, mindfulness can be a powerful tool for change at both the individual and collective level. At the individual level, mindfulness can help to increase self-awareness and understanding of personal privilege and bias. It can also help to cultivate […]
Andrew Tate’s Meta Ban isn’t the only exciting news for women’s safety
A few weeks ago, I was walking to my car around 4am after finishing work, and I was followed by a stranger. Usually, I’m fairly confident walking alone at night having worked in my industry for 9 years, but when I walked into the carpark stairwell which I knew didn’t have security cameras, and the […]
Why we’re launching an academic journal… for non-academics?
The importance of academic research in promoting social change cannot be understated. By conducting rigorous studies and publishing their findings, academics are able to shed light on crucial issues and offer solutions that can help to improve the lives of people all over the world. In addition, academic research can help to raise awareness of […]
We’re catalysing SYSTEMS CHANGE with our new initiative Fixing Food
As anyone who has ever tried to fix a problem knows, it’s not always as simple as it seems. Systems thinking is a way of looking at problems that takes into account the relationships between different elements. It helps changemakers see the big picture and identify potential unintended consequences of their actions. In other words, […]
Using LEGO to solve organisational and social problems
Believe it or not, Lego can do more than just keep children occupied for hours, or make for a pretty entertaining TV show. Lego are actually a great tool for communication for social change, and one that we love to use in our community workshops. Based on research which shows that hands-on, minds-on learning produces […]
Launching our transmedia storymaking experience at the Pacific Youth Adaptation Forum
Recently, our founder Tiyana J was invited to present at the Pacific Youth Adaptation Forum, an online event bringing together youth leaders from across the Pacific Islans, aimed at ensuring youth voices from the region are present, heard and considered in the climate adaptation agenda. As young Australians, Tiyana highlighted that we need to be […]
Pop-Up Reflections: Our Brisbane Community Art Space
Over the Easter break we held a 5-day pop-up exhibition and community art space for the Meanjin/Brisbane community to explore using art and creative communication tools to co-create a peaceful and sustainable world; and what a week it was! In partnership with the Peacecard Project, the Brisbane community was invited to draw, build paint, write, […]
🎧 Starting a Social Enterprise, Burnout, Career Tips, & more | Changemaker Chat with our founder, Tiyana J
In our latest podcast episode, Tiyana shared a recent interview that she did talking about her journey into the world of social advocacy, starting HCN, and sharing her tips & advice for young Changemakers. You can listen to the full episode, or read the full transcript below: Jayde Mialkowski 0:52 Hello everyone. My name is […]
We’re making “merch” more sustainable with Changemaker Co.
“One of the biggest challenges we face is funding,” says our founder Tiyana J, openly and candidly on her Instagram story. “I’ve been running HCN for about two years now, and funding our impact work is no doubt one of the biggest challenges.” As a social enterprise, we have previously relied school groups and other […]
Our Official Social Change Handbook: The Changemaker In You
The outbreak of Covid-19 has led to widespread panic and a decrease in demand for products and services across all industries, and in response, businesses have had to rapidly adapt their operations to conform to new guidelines. For many businesses, this has included a shift to remote work and an increased focus on virtual customer […]
Partnering with THOUGHT FOR FOOD: the movement leading a sustainable food and agricultural revolution
The world might now produce more than enough food to feed everyone, but our food systems are still out of balance. Malnutrition and access to food, environmental degradation, loss of agro-biological diversity, food loss and waste, and a lack of security for food chain workers are only some of the issues that underline this imbalance. […]
Offering FREE Social Change 101 Workshops to Brisbane-based Organisations and Groups
Like many others, Covid-19 was a challenging time, especially for a fledgling social enterprise like us, and as the world begins to adjust to it’s “new normal” and open back up again, we’ve added a new offering, by offering pro-bono workshops to give back to the community and help them find inspiration and motivation to […]
Networking For Change: Make networking more meaningful with LEGO Serious Play
The Lego Serious Play methodology is a unique approach to group facilitation that emphasises PLAY as a key ingredient in fostering creativity, collaboration, and learning. The benefits of using this methodology in group settings are well-documented and include improved communication, higher levels of engagement, and greater innovation. In addition, the Lego Serious Play methodology has […]
Adjusting our theory of change for primary students learning about human rights & sustainability
Throughout 2019 until the COVID lockdowns in 2020, our founder Tiyana J was a guest speaker at a number of primary schools across the south of Brisbane. The Year 6 students she presented for and spoke to had been learning about topics like human rights and the UDHR, climate change, and environmental sustainability, and wanted […]
Why we take a “Networked Approach” To Social Change
Believe it or not, the “Network” in our name, Humanitarian Changemakers Network was very intentional. While we often see our supporters and stakeholders as more of a community, we chose the name network because we believe in taking a networked approach to social change. And it’s not just something we advocate for within our own […]
Validating our New(s) Product: from South Korea to Prototype
In October, our founder Tiyana J was invited to attend the Better Together Challenge Conference in South Korea as a guest of honour. Better Together Challenge is a 3-day global gathering that brings together social innovators, changemakers and idealists in action from around the world for an inspiring exchange of ideas and celebration of being […]
Teaching Brisbane High Schools Valuable Activism Skills
Recently, our founder Tiyana J was asked to organise a series of workshops in partnership with Amnesty International QLD/NNSW and Brisbane Boys College, for the Amnesty QLD Schools Conference. All of the participants were member’s of their high school’s Amnesty International club, and Tiyana was tasked with organising a range of workshops that would teach […]
Mindful Living in a Warming World
Mindful Living is a group of people from various spiritual backgrounds united in mindful living through everyday lifestyle changes that will heal and revive the planet, from ARRCC- QLD. Working together under the banner of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) which is a national network, ARRCC QLD is an action group made […]