Bridging Between Climate, Values, and the Human Story

I have always looked up.

Growing up in Las Vegas, the desert night sky was alive—brighter than anything I had ever known. Tracing constellations, I felt both infinite and deeply grounded. The stars weren’t just distant lights; they reflected something bigger, reminding me that everything is connected.

The stars taught me stillness—to listen, to recognize my smallness in something vast. In those moments, I found belonging, a connection to the ancient and infinite. They also sparked questions: What was my place in all of this? How could I turn awe into action?

Our relationship with the Earth shapes who we are. When we engage with it—whether through the night sky or the ecosystems we call home—we step into a deeper understanding of ourselves. And when we create space for reflection and dialogue, we don’t just witness change; we become part of it.

So I return to the stars. They remind me this work isn’t just about fighting against something—it’s about fighting for something: connection, possibility, a future where we remember who we truly are.

In navigating climate advocacy, I’ve noticed the gaps—between generations, disciplines, action, and reflection. But more than anything, I’ve seen gaps in how we hold space for each other’s lived experiences and knowledge. Bridging them isn’t just about policy or science—it’s about reimagining our role within the story of our world.

Las Vegas Night Skies

Bridging Climate, Values, and the Human Story

The stars have always taught me that connection gives meaning to vastness. A single point of light may seem isolated, but when linked to others, it forms a constellation—something whole. Something that tells a story.

Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have. It doesn’t just communicate; it shapes values, emotions, and agency. Climate narratives have long been dominated by policy, science, and data. But without the human story—the emotional, relational, and cultural dimensions of climate change—we risk detachment. Facts alone don’t move people. Stories do.

Climate stories shape how we engage with solutions. When siloed in science, policy, or activism, they exclude. But when rooted in lived experience, they invite. Connection isn’t just a byproduct of action—it is what makes action possible.

That is the vision behind Erthly Collective: a space to weave together narratives across disciplines, bridging science, social change, and personal experience to reimagine systems. Because the systems we live within aren’t “broken”—they are functioning exactly as they were designed. The real question is: what do we keep, and what do we dismantle?

For too long, modernist models have dictated what is “valuable,” reducing nature, relationships, and even justice to transactions. But alternative knowledge systems—Indigenous wisdom, relational ecology, creative expression—offer different ways of understanding change. They remind us that transformation isn’t just structural; it’s deeply personal.

Just as constellations take shape by connecting distant stars, bridging generations and disciplines requires more than listening—it demands integration. A new way forward means breaking from outdated systems that view people and the planet as resources to extract from and instead embracing models built on reciprocity, care, and collective resilience. When we weave together diverse ways of knowing, not only are we telling a new story— we are reimagining a future where connection, not exploitation, shapes how we relate: to the Earth, to each other, and to the product of change itself.

Finding Our Way Forward

So, I’d like to leave with a question: How do we build bridges—not just across generations, but across the ways we think, feel, and act on climate?

What stories are we telling, and whose voices are missing? What knowledge are we centering, and what wisdom have we left behind?

If we want a future rooted in justice and sustainability, we must begin by reimagining what knowledge and action look like. That starts with listening. With sharing. With weaving together new possibilities.

The stars have always been there; they have been silent guides, ancient storytellers, and always reminding us that we are both infinitesimally small and profoundly significant.

So perhaps, if we were to only look up—not just as individuals, but as a collective—we can begin to connect the dots. And in doing so, we might just find our way forward.

Together.

Visual Scribe by gavinblake.com.au

Bridging Generations: Climate, Values, and the Human Story

12th March 2025 at University of Technology Sydney

Presented by Olivier Vojetta, with: Dr Leila Alem, Emily Rowland, Diane Delaurens, Ray Newland, and Adam Long