Embracing difference as a catalyst for change

Embracing difference as a catalyst for changeWhile ‘diversity’ has become synonymous with ‘gender-balanced’, it’s time to broaden our horizons, says First Australian Susan Moylan-Coombs.Founder and Director of The Gaimaragal Group, an organisation that is driving community capacity-building project and cultural resilience programs, Moylan-Coombs is one of the headline speakers at Green Cities 2016.As a former producer and director with the ABC, Moylan-Coombs was the executive producer of the live national broadcast of the Apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008 – an event of great personal significance given her own history as a member of the Stolen Generations.She says diversity is about understanding how ‘difference’ can have a mutual value of exchange between communities, companies and Australian society.”Being a First Australian I look at life through a different lens, and by sharing that perspective other Australians can gain a more meaningful understanding of the landscape we are all walking on, us as the original peoples, the environment we live in and the legacy we will all leave behind,” she says.”My culture is the oldest surviving culture on the planet. There is authority, power and knowledge in that,” she explains, adding that much more can be done to respect and honour that knowledge.Moylan-Coombs points to a few examples that relate to the design of our buildings and the makeup of our communities.”Our buildings are designed from a very narrow set of cultural practices – but not everyone operates from that paradigm.”I’ve spent a lot of time working in remote First Australian communities, and have seen first-hand how houses designed for the Eastern Seaboard are plonked onto homelands in the Territory. This is done without any consultation with the local communities who live there, and no effort to understand their environment or how they live.”However, there are First Australian architects designing homes from a very different paradigm. They are thinking about communal space, as well as places for sleeping and places for washing.” These homes or dwellings co-exist within the environment on their homelands, she says, rather than being transplanted from a foreign place.Moylan-Coombs also says diversity of thought can change the perspective from a “culture of individualism to one of collectivism”.”Our traditional philosophy is about caring for the ‘mob’ and about thinking about the legacy left behind for our children and grandchildren,” she says.”All indigenous cultures have the ‘seventh generation’ philosophy. We think about what we are doing today, and the impacts that these decisions will have not just today, but for the seventh generation to come.”In our culture, you move as fast as your slowest members, mothers with infants and older people, and everything is geared around the wellbeing of the unit. It’s a different paradigm – one that changes the way you think about family, business and the community.”Moylan-Coombs says this focus on “the greater good” leads to better outcomes for the environment and for people.While she concedes that “when we make up just three per cent of society trying to influence people is hard,” Moylan-Coombs acknowledges that there are many individuals and organisations wanting to make changes – but just not knowing how.”It starts by truly embracing and celebrating difference,” and doing it authentically, not as a token gesture. “Companies often focus on ‘being right’ when what they should focus on is being open to another perspective and being inclusive. “By embracing differences, we can value the skills and knowledge that each of us brings for the greater good – whether that’s constructing a building or running a country.”Susan Moylan-Coombs will be speaking alongside Lendlease’s managing director Steve McCann about how to capture the economic and social benefits of diversity at Green Cities 2016. Book your ticket today for Australia’s most influential sustainability conference for the built environment: 22-24 March 2016, Sydney.