This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Author: Tamara Wood, Centre Affiliate, Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun’s story has travelled around the world this week, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s repressive treatment of women and that not only those who seek asylum by sea face...
We live in a world constantly on the move, in seven billion different ways. Our daily errand-running, workday commutes, and vacation travels sometimes put us at odds with our surroundings. There’s traffic to worry about, which raises our stress levels, the rising gas prices, and insurance prices, that cost you a fortune. The impact of...
If you were to judge our civilisation by what’s being put forward by commercial broadcasters and mainstream news and media, you would be forgiven for coming away with a negative impression of human society (narcissistic, self-centred, materialistic, hedonistic, stupid) or feeling a sense of doom and gloom about the future of humankind. Thankfully, we –...
Telling people there’s a problem isn’t the same as showing people there’s a problem – the latter is way more effective in driving home an important message. And it’s exactly the strategy that social impact designer Laura Francois and visual engineer/photographer Benjamin Von Wong employed as they set about to communicate the scale of the...
As 2018 draws to a close, we take a look at some of the coolest green tech inventions and exciting sustainability innovations that are helping to save our planet. 1. Bottle crushing sand machine DB Export, a New Zealand brewing company, created a glass crushing machine that turns an empty beer bottle into 200 grams...
“Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual is able to realize his/her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and make a contribution to his/her family and community.” – World Health Organisation In June 2018, the World Health Organisation (WHO) formally added Gaming Disorder to its...
If you’ve been paying any attention to fashion industry news, you’ll most certainly be aware of Dolce & Gabbana‘s PR nightmare in China following a series of culturally insensitive ad videos featuring a female Asian model eating a cannoli with chopsticks. Many social media users call the videos racist. The videos, which were taken down 24...
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Author: Paul Redmond, Sir Gerard Brennan Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney. It has taken years, but after votes in the Senate and House of Representatives last week, Australia has a Modern Slavery Act. It’ll take effect on January 1. But what difference will...
Leaders from countries across the globe are in Poland for a new round of climate talks, otherwise known as COP24. They’re still trying to find agreement on how to keep climate change from rising to two degrees Celsius. As has been frequently discussed by climate scientists, when global temperatures rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the...
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Author: Sukhmani Khorana, Senior Lecturer (Media and Culture), University of Wollongong. While giving a talk at a community arts organisation in Parramatta on why the stories of diverse areas like Western Sydney are not seen on mainstream screens, I was introduced to a screenwriter who had...
Labor’s Daniel Andrews has been reelected as Victoria’s Premier, winning by a huge landslide and humiliating Liberal opponent Matthew Guy in the process. His victory a clear sign that his “positive and optimistic plan” was heavily endorsed by the majority of Victorian voters. In Mulgrave’s Village Green Hotel, Mr Andrews delivered a victory speech to...
The US government’s Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) just released its much anticipated Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report which provides a detailed look at how climate change will impact the country. The NCA4 report billed as “the report that the Trump Administration doesn’t want you to see” was released on the Friday after Thanksgiving and buried under...