Living through it: adaptation, justice and who gets to survive

17 Oct 2026
01:30pm - 03:30pm
FREE
Burrinja Cultural Centre Theatre, 351 Glenfern Rd, Upwey

How can communities build disaster resilience? How do we prepare future generations for a world defined by climate, change and inequity?

This event is part of the Burrinja Climate Change Biennale 2026 and part of the Energy Futures events season presented by the RMIT Regenerative Futures Institute.

Find out more information about this event on the BCCB#4 Talks website.

Speakers

Dr Rebecca Olive, RMIT School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, Regenerative Futures Fellow

Dr Rebecca Olive is a feminist cultural studies and ethnographic researcher working across areas of sport and leisure, human-environmental health and wellbeing, environmental humanities, and feminist theory. Her research explores how everyday, recreational sport and leisure activities are experienced through cultural politics, ecological encounters, relationships with humans and non-humans, as well as social media production and consumption.

Lana Nguyen, A Climate for Art

Lana Nguyen practices as an independent curator, organiser and producer on projects that stem from the politics and cultures of place. She has worked in experimental, live and public art, recently focusing on creating spaces for collective learning, site responsive cultural production and initiatives for climate response.

Eliki Reade, A Climate for Art

Eliki Reade is an interdependent producer, broadcaster, curator, and artist of Kailoma-Fijian descent. Working across community-led spaces and in climate advocacy, Eliki is led by storytelling, transforming narrative into a vessel for critical connection and action.

Nelson Aldridge, Indigenous Regeneration and Resilience Officer, Yarra Ranges Council

Nelson is passionate about his culture and the opportunity to help educate people about the vast variety of cultural knowledge that exists across diverse Indigenous communities. He is also a strong advocate for reconciliation but believes this can only be achieved by working together, taking a side-by-side approach with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. As an accomplished facilitator and speaker, Nelson has presented at national forums and conferences, sharing insights on cultural recovery, resilience, and the importance of Indigenous voices in decision-making.

Co-curated by Burrinja, Yarra Ranges Regional Museum and the RMIT Regenerative Futures Institute.

Upcoming events

The imagination gap: unlocking change through creative disruption

05 Sep 2026

How does donut economics need play to work? What does adaptive governance look like when designed through art? How do we communicate climate action in ways that energise? 

the-truth-behind-australias-energy-transition-1220x732.jpg

The truth behind Australia's energy transition: An RFI Explainer

24 Sep 2026

To launch the Energy Futures events season presented by the RMIT Regenerative Futures Institute, we're putting energy under the microscope with our first RFI Explainer.

Building the Asia-Pacific Workforce for the Energy Transition: An RMIT Research Roundtable

28 Sep 2026

This half-day roundtable, hosted by the RMIT Asia Hub with the Australian APEC Study Centre (AASC), brings together researchers to establish a research community on regional clean economy and workforce issues.

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

Learn more about our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Living through it: adaptation, justice and who gets to survive