ASEN

exciting news for those keen to organise on enviro activism in Qld this year - the Qld Environment Activist Network is looking for two co-conveners for 2010!
This is a crucial and rewarding role in supporting student environmental collectives across the state, and you will be working with other conveners across Australia as part of the Australian Student Environment Network. ASEN is made up of collectives across the continent working for environmental and social justice.

How do you nominate yourself or someone else?
Nominations are open until Thursday, 18th February. Please send a paragraph (up to 200 words) explaining why you would like to convene QEAN and how you believe your skills fit the position to the returning officer’s email at steveskitmore [at] gmail.com. You call also call me for more information on 0401766903. You will be fully supported in the role by the ASEN conveners and everyone is encouraged to apply regardless of experience. Please also contact me to nominate someone who you think might be great, but might be too shy to nominate themselves!

Received nominations will be compiled following the due date and applicants will be contacted to formally accept the position. If more than two people apply, there is the possibility of collectively convening the network. Nominations will then be forwarded to the QEAN list for dissent or affirmation from the network.

There is more about QEAN and the role position/s below.

Thanks, I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Steve.

ASEN co-convener - Qld contact
0401766903
steveskitmore[at]gmail.com
asen.org.au

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What’s QEAN?
QEAN is the QLD network of the Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN). [check out the structure of ASEN pdf attached]. It’s made up of environment collectives at uni campuses across Queensland, community groups & campaigns, students and individuals interested in environment-social-justice issues.

What’s the role of QEAN?
This isn’t definitive, it changes according to what groups/people are a part of QEAN each year
Linking into the Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN)
Facilitates cross-campus campaigns/activities
Help put peoples’ ideas into action – eg. linking them up with resources or other groups working on similar stuff
Co-ordinating activist skill-shares
What you need for the role?
keen to give it a go, keen to learn
have been involved in your enviro collective or ASEN network for a bit, wanna keep doing sweet radical social change work
a bit of capacity (energy, time, passion etc) to do the role and/or share it with another great person
What’s the role like?
one where you don’t need to have heaps of skills, you can build them on the way
amazing opportunity to learn about collectives, ASEN, how to support people + build relationships, deepen your organizing skills, participate in national & state projects (eg. in 2009 QEAN participated in the Students of Sustainability Conference and interstate camps and skillshares)
Support:
The role exists mainly to support environment collectives and their convenors throughout the year. Enviro collectives are based at uni campuses across Queensland and are at varying levels of organization and capacity.
support collectives establish their membership, build capacity and find direction
being someone they can ‘go to’ with questions/comments
support collectives to identify their needs
pointing collectives to useful ASEN and other resources
actively check-in with enviro convenors once a month, or depending on what they need (phone-calling, face to face chats)
supporting enviro convenors to get people to the 2009 Students of Sustainability conference
Coordination:
The network needs sustaining. This usually happens in a couple of ways (but there’s scope to be really creative of course!)
organise or support others to organise regular (eg. monthly) Phone Link Ups for people involved in QEAN (at the least, with enviro convenors from each collective, but everyone is welcome)
arrange get-to-gethers for the network (sometimes called ‘QEAN gigs’ so we can touch base face-to-face, share info, and have fun together
maintain the QEAN yahoo emailing list & QEAN data-based of contacts
What support we can offer you
the QEAN role can be as large or as small as you like, or have the time/energy to give, in this sense its flexible
monthly phone budget
apart from Student Unions, we don’t yet have a space (eg. ASEN office) that you can work out of. However, some orgs (eg. Queensland Conservation Foundation, Turnstyle Community Hub) let activists use their comps, printing facilities, desk space in-kind.
Amazing radical cross-campus adventures!