News & Updates

I’ve been a little overwhelmed over the year, as I’m sure many have, with the sheer amount of news (mostly negative) that is avalanching over us all the time. I think we are constantly in fight or flight mode and it’s exhausting!

In the latest edition of the very good Galah magazine, editor Annabelle Hickson talks about her husband listening to positive podcasts while planting on his tractor, and the feeling of being buoyed by hope. She’s planting flowers that aren’t drought tolerant, but doesn’t care, because it’s enough to enjoy them now. Even though times change, and we don’t all experience good things at the same time, it’s not bad to look for things in the world to be hopeful about.

This inspired me (thanks Annabelle) and at the end of the year I’m tired of the dire news and have been actively looking for more positive stories and things to be hopeful about – and there is some good inspiration out there.

I’ve made a short list of what I’ve found today and I hope they provide some bright spots for you.

• This ABC story about a young egg entrepreneur and his journey towards sustainable egg farming
• Also this ABC story about turning landfill into fuel
• This new article investigating how people can flourish through social media use (if you can’t access the full article – the abstract is worth a glance anyway)
• The transformation of Ugandan town Okere – from war demolished to thriving social enterprise
• The Australasia Pacific Extension Network (APEN) conference in February 2022
• Australia’s excellent start at the Gabba to the Ashes series (good news unless you’re English of course!)
• And these Christmas evaluation cartoons from Chris Lysy

Can I finish with this quote which was shared by @extraordinary_routines on Instagram. It is most excellent.

Every week I receive an email newsletter from Chris Lysy who authors a blog called freshspectrum. He’s focused on evaluation and demystifying the data analysis and presentation process. A key way he communicates ideas is through cartoons and sometimes the insights he shares are very close to the mark of what I’ve experienced and I have to laugh!

Chris also shares some good basic ‘how to’ resources on the blog such as:

• An activity book on how to create a basic logic model
• How to create line graphs in Excel
• UX Evaluation: How to evaluate dashboards, reports and data visualisation

So I thought I would share a couple of my favourites as we all need more reasons to have a chuckle these days. And check out the blog if you have a few spare minutes.