Reflection on GTAg - Annabelle Brayley
Written by Annabelle Brayley
Whatever one’s opinion about ‘global warming’, the climate is changing. The temperature gauge on our Morven verandah reads no hotter than it was in my memory as a child growing up on the Western Downs, but it burns more fiercely and does far more skin damage even without the lathering of coconut oil that was de rigueur for many in the 1960’s and 70’s.
It makes sense that the same damage is perpetuated on the earth’s surface paving the way for future droughts and, while less visibly destructive and acutely catastrophic, drought is arguably the most challenging of the natural disasters. Added to that, the fabric of our communities has worn thin and begun to unravel as the social,
cultural, economic, political and weather climates have been fracked by the self-indulgent excesses of a disconnecting, over-entitled, over-populated world. Despite the unravelling and the uncertainty, Australian farmers continue to grow food and fibre to feed and clothe the world. Australia’s reputation as one of the world’s safest and most secure food producers was not earned lightly. We have some of the most progressive and innovative family farming businesses on the planet, a growing number of them quietly enduring and thriving because they understand the landscape around them. They live and operate in harmony with the land, adopting and translating practices that nurture and regenerate the soil beneath their feet.
Some farmers are not yet convinced that climate and modern industrial practices might be harming the land or indeed impacting their capacity to effectively and sustainably produce their product/s and, understandably, consider any alternative a criticism of their current systems.
How then to influence change?
Like many of the most effective initiatives, it was an ongoing conversation between Prof Ben Lyons (then the ED of RECoE) Kate Venables (then the ED of Catholic Care Social Services) and Dr Marlyn McInnerney (Research Fellow, RECoE/UniSQ) that lit the spark that ignited Girls Talking Ag or GTAg, (pronounced G-Tag) an opportunity for women to tell their stories of the diversification, innovation and regenerative practices their businesses are embracing to ensure their endurance and sustainability into the future.
Why women? Because, in varied ways, women have traditionally contributed an enormous amount to farming and community enterprises but have rarely been recognised for it. And why ‘Girls’? Because W-Tag doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as smoothly and we are nothing if not pragmatic.
Utilising the delivery framework offered by partnering with Catholic Care Social Services in SWQ, we ran storytelling workshops for interested women in the Hebel, Cunnamulla, Charleville and Mitchell areas. Our goal was to teach them some fundamental storytelling skills and help them identify the medium that most appealed to them and/or suited their need.
What followed was an opportunity to participate in one of five zoom workshops learning either journalistic storytelling, phone camera skills, podcasting, social media or written creative storytelling finishing up with one-on-one mentoring sessions in their chosen field.
Given the positive feedback from the first rounds, we then offered a smart phone filming workshop - facilitated by renowned SWQ based television cameraman, Peter Murray - to the same women, ten of whom travelled to Charleville for a fully funded two-day immersion covering everything from recording viable videography, through lighting, composition,
recording voice, editing to setting up a YouTube account. Its success was reflected in Wendy Sheehan’s winning entry in the RFDS and Elders Outback Explorer Competition.
But the overall impact of GTAg is not just in the skills acquired and the amplified capacity of the women to share their ideas and knowledge. It’s in the boosted confidence and consequent self-assurance, the strengthened community connections and inter-community networks, all of which reinforces that fabric that supports us all in times of adversity and joy.
It is our hope that sharing such stories will draw people together and influence others to consider and embrace change.
Annabelle Brayley is the Story Co-ordinator for the Girls Talking Ag program.