Last week’s Green Drinks at the Commonwealth Hotel was one of those slightly warmer winter nights that made it easy to settle into good company and meaningful conversations. We were especially pleased to welcome Juanita and Sandra from Social Workers for Climate Action — a powerful alliance of social work practitioners, students, educators and researchers based at JCU, committed to recognising climate change as an environmental, social justice and human rights issue.

After a short NQCC update on our upcoming events — including JCU Market Day, National Tree Day, and the Healthy Waters Arvo — Juanita and Sandra shared reflections from the frontlines of their work. They spoke about the ways our ecological crisis is deeply connected to systemic inequality — how the same forces harming the environment also harm vulnerable people.

We explored the idea of broken connections — the growing sense of isolation from each other and from the natural world. The group reflected on how we can begin to reconnect through simple, grounding acts: going camping, walking barefoot, doing landcare, or simply feeling the soil under our fingertips. It was a powerful reminder that we cannot solve the climate crisis without also looking inward — without fundamentally reflecting on what it means to be human, and how we relate to others and the planet we share.

We also shared excitement about our upcoming movie screening of The Seeds of Vandana Shiva on Saturday, July 26. The documentary tells the remarkable story of physicist-turned-activist Dr Vandana Shiva — a global advocate for biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, seed sovereignty and community self-determination.

Her message — about the exploitation of both people and planet under corporate-controlled industrial farming — resonated deeply with our conversations. We’re looking forward to continuing this dialogue after the film, where we’ll be joined by a diverse panel including experts on soil health, permaculture, and social workers working on food insecurity. Together, we’ll explore new visions for a sustainable and just food system in Townsville.

Thanks to everyone who came along and shared their stories. Green Drinks is all about connection — and we left feeling a little more grounded, a little more hopeful, and a lot more inspired.