Hey Humans!

In our third episode of Living with Birrarung, we’re zooming out to the global Rights of Nature movement to explore how this movement emerged and where Birrarung fits in this wider picture.

2017 was a huge inflection point in this movement but it also represented decades of groundwork from Indigenous groups and local communities.

In this episode, we heard from:

• Dr Erin O’Donnell, from the Melbourne Law School and member of the Birrarung Council.

• Elke Nicholson, from Environmental Justice Australia.

• Dr Michelle Maloney, from Australian Earth Laws Alliance.

Some key links related to this episode:

• Christopher D. Stone’s “Should Trees Have Standing” is available to read here.

• The Australian Earth Laws Alliance (AELA) has a fantastic library of resources on earth-centred governance, rights of nature and many other topics: https://www.earthlaws.org.au/resources/.

• The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature was mentioned by Michelle in this episode and also has a fantastic library of resources and information: https://www.garn.org/.

For even more, head to morethanhumanpod.net and click "Dive Deeper".

More Than Human is an independent podcast series produced by Tim McIntosh-Hannah and Mark Spencer (Here Media).

You can contact us at morethanhumanpod.net/contact.

Hey humans! In our first episode of season one, Living with Birrarung, we're diving straight into the question of what it means for a river to be alive.

Birrarung was recognised as "one, integrated and living entity" in Victorian legislation in 2017.

Since then, the ripples of that recognition have become waves that continue to influence policy, governance, community action, and our relationship with the river today.

In this episode we heard from:

• Uncle Andrew Gardiner, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder and member of the Birrarung Council.

  Read more about the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung vision for Birrarung, community and Country in Nhanbu narrun ba ngargunin twarn (Ancient Spirit and Lore of the Yarra).

• Dr Erin O'Donnell from the Melbourne Law School and member of the Birrarung Council.

  You can find out more about the Birrarung Council at https://www.birrarungcouncil.vic.gov.au/.

• Emma Barnett, Community Engagement and Education Officer at the Yarra Riverkeeper Association.

  You can find out more about the Yarra Riverkeeper Association's work at https://yarrariver.org.au/.

  Juanita Sundberg’s 2014 paper, Decolonising Posthumanist Geographies is a good starting point for some of Juanita’s ideas Emma introduced this episode.

• Andrew Kelly, author and convenor of the Waterways Network, and former Yarra Riverkeeper.

  You can view and download the Concerned Waterways Alliance's report on the living entity and the planning scheme mentioned in this episode here.

  Andrew Kelly's children's book Prayer for a River was written with Uncle Glenn Loughrey and is published by Wild Dog Books.

• Charity Mosienyane, lead convenor of the Swimmable Birrarung project at Regen Melbourne.

  You can read more about the Swimmable Birrarung project at https://www.regen.melbourne/.

You can find out more about the Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Act 2017, including access to a recording of the full address by Wurundjeri Elders to the Legislative Assembly of Victoria here.

For even more, head to morethanhumanpod.net and click "Dive Deeper".

More Than Human is an independent podcast series produced by Tim McIntosh-Hannah and Mark Spencer (Here Media). You can contact us at morethanhumanpod.net/contact.