Wellbeing Australia: Events

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

'Partnerships for Social Inclusion' conference,
Melbourne, Australia, 15-16 October 2008
This conference provides an opportunity for government, academics and
practitioners from across Australia, New Zealand and the region to
discuss current practice, as well as explore future directions
regarding the concept of social inclusion and the implications of
social exclusion.

Mind Your Head conference: Leading the Way to Healthy Minds and Healthy Schools. Mental Health conference September 8th Melbourne Conference Centre

For earlier reports go to Archives

World Education Forum: International conference on Being, Becoming and Belonging. June 26th - 28th Adelaide Conference Centre. This was an excellent three days. Report awaited.

The Happiness and Its Causes conference was  held in Sydney on 8-9^th May 2008.  This was a two day conference with a wide range of Australian and international speakers including  Richard Davidson,  Matthieu  Ricard,  Martin Seligman , Stephen Post and Tal Ben Shahar. This is a brief report on the highlights.

Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk who has a PhD in science and has been awarded the French National Order for his humanitarian work. He said “no one wakes up in the morning thinking may I suffer the whole day”. When we engage  freely in any long term activity we do so in the hope that it will increase our wellbeing or that of others. He also said that our mind in the end determines the quality of every moment that we experience.  He observed that there’s lots of gyms to enhance physical wellbeing, but not to enhance our mental growth and wellbeing.

Matthieu’s brain waves, whilst meditating, have been measured  by Richard Davidson,  a scientist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Davidson’s work has highlighted the neuroplasticity of the brain: a term used to describe the brain changes that occur in response to experience. It’s heartening to know that it is now estimated that the brain produces 5000 new cells per day.

Tal Ben Shahar is well known for the popular course he taught at Harvard Uni on wellbeing. He believes that psychological growth is more likely to occur if we take time out to reflect on and learn from our experiences . How often do we build in reflection time for our students?  One of the most important ingredients for successful service learning for students is their reflection on their experience. Tal also said successful kids are not superkids:  they are kids who are optimistic and future minded, able to set goals and be strengths focused and have a positive role model/mentor/teacher.

Martin Seligman began his talk about Positive Education  by asking people in 2 words or less to describe what they want for their child and then to describe in 2 words or less what schools focus on. The first question prompted responses about wellbeing and happiness  and the second prompted responses about academic success  and  accomplishment .  The implication  was that many people, including teachers, see the two things as separate.  Seligman talks about the pillars of positive education that facilitate student wellbeing AND academic  success.

 Stephen Post’s work looks at the role of altruism and philantrophy on our wellbeing and happiness. He reported on one study which found people were made happier by giving $20 to someone else who needed it than by spending it on themselves.

The Eighth International Conference on Children's Spirituality
 
This conference was held in January 2008 at Australian Catholic University - Ballarat Campus. The theme was:  The Role of Spirituality in Education and Health: Finding connectedness to promote health and well-being amongst children and adolescents. Over a hundred participants attended, educators, scholars, nurses, youth and social workers from Australia, and a significant number of overseas delegates. Issues explored included successful practice and innovative approaches for creating healthy and nurturing environments that promote spirituality and well-being in children and adolescents; and connections between family, school and the wider community which facilitate the shaping of positive attitudes, values and behaviours during the formative years of their lives.
Over sixty papers and workshops were delivered including a Keynote address The Role of Spirituality in Health and Wellbeing for Children and Adolescents in Contemporary Society by Wellbeing Australia member A/Professor Louise Rowling.

The National Campaign (now Centre) Against Bullying conference early November 2007 was entitled 'Promoting Positive Relationships for Safer School Communities.' There was a wealth of useful presentations / papers which are now available for you to read.

On 14th and 15th June 2007 the Dalai Llama was one of the many well-known speakers at the conference in Sydney on Happiness and its Causes. Some of us went to this conference. Read an account of the highlights here.

National Family Wellbeing Symposium
20-21 June: 2007 the National Family Wellbeing Symposium was held in Canberra
in partnership with the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population
Health at the Australian National University College of Medicine and
Health Sciences. Over 120 participants heard talks by overseas and
Australian experts on the meaning and measurement of family wellbeing. A
full report and papers from the Symposium are available here.

WORKSHOPS / TRAINING

CIRCLE TIME SOLUTIONS:

Circle Time is aimed at developing self-esteem, a supportive ethos, emotional and social competencies and a democratic forum for problem-solving. The framework can be applied to all ages, from kindergarten to adults. In classrooms it helps to meet to address values education, a safe school, resilience and mental health. It is congruent with restorative practices in promoting a sense of belonging to a community. The next Circle Time training sessions are in Sydney on Wednesday October 29th - enquire here - and in Melbourne on November 17th run by Inyahead. Email here to enquire about training in other states. Circle time training course participants have often asked for a space to share ideas and experiences after training. This is now available at http://circletime.typepad.com/ideas/

BEYOND PURPLE: KALEIDOSCOPES

Julie Pretyman provides workshops for children and young people to enhance personal development using a 'kaleidoscope kit' and a training session for those who work with them. More information here.

PARTICIPATION

Information about the KIDS CAN program - encouraging children to develop their own child friendly communities - is on the Home Page. You can find out here about Australia's first Child Friendly City - Bendigo

Last updated: 31/8/08