Our pioneer Darwin facilitator, Jodie Minton, has been appointed Environment Centre NT's Climate Conversations Coordinator: a position that will see Climate Conversations rolled out across the Territory.

If Jodie Minton looks familiar, it may be because we wrote about her in 2019. Then, Jodie was our pioneer Northern Territory facilitator with an inspiring story. She had started her facilitator journey with us in Brisbane at the start of 2019, and then moved to Darwin in May with five Conversations under her belt. We supported her to take our Climate Conversations to the Northern Territory – and it had a huge impact.

Jodie very successfully rolled out Climate Conversations in the NT, facilitating about one Conversation a week during 2019. She quickly earned the respect of the local climate community and felt as though she was genuinely contributing to building the climate movement in Darwin. 

Then, in 2020, COVID-19 stopped this momentum. 

Fortunately, Climate for Change was developing ways to further enable work like Jodie's through our DIY Climate Conversations Program.

Over the last five years, running our Climate Conversations Program has taught us a lot about how to effectively engage people on climate. We know that our Conversations are impactful and move people to take action – the challenge now seems to be how quickly we can reach people. 

To this end, our DIY Program has packaged up our insights and learnings of how to successfully manage Climate Conversations. We then train established climate organisations to run their own program in their communities. The program was developed and piloted in 2020, and is already showing huge potential to supercharge the climate movement. 

Late last year, we partnered with Environment Centre NT (ECNT) and secured funding for a Climate Conversations Coordinator position: which we’re thrilled to announce that Jodie has filled. This means that we’re currently supporting ECNT to set up a program that will roll out Climate Conversations across the Northern Territory, with Jodie at the helm. 

Jodie says she is thrilled to be able to continue building on her work in empowering people across the Territory to demand climate action. 

“I've lived in Darwin since 2017 and in Central Australia for a stint during 2006-2007. In that time I've worked with communities in Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, and remotely in the NT. I'm a nature lover, passionate advocate and educator. I love living in Darwin. It's an exciting place. Nature is everywhere, and while the climate might be unforgiving, the people are warm and inviting. I'm thrilled to build on my work bringing the Conversation Program to the NT and am confident the program will go from strength to strength. I’m excited to see what we can achieve in the Territory in the next 12 months and look forward to continuing the partnership with Climate for Change.

To find out more information about our DIY Climate Conversations Program, visit our website or contact our Strategic Partnerships Coordinator, Ajaya Haikerwal.