This week is National Reconciliation Week in Australia with the theme ‘Be Brave. Make Change’. The theme is a challenge "to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for the benefit of all Australians".

The Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand is proud to announce that Reconciliation Australia have formally endorsed the Institute’s Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

The RAP process is a journey of engagement and reconciliation over many years. This first stage Reflect RAP allows the EIANZ to use its influence in the environmental profession, industry and governments, to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental management practices and practitioners.

The EIANZ represents environmental practitioners engaged in a wide variety of roles and disciplines, all with a common theme of protecting and managing environmental values. The EIANZ respects and values the tens of thousands of years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander custodianship of Australia, and the Traditional Knowledge embedded in these extraordinary cultures.

READ THE EIANZ REFLECT RECONCILIATION PLAN HERE

About the cover artwork

The artwork on the cover of our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan is titled Amu yulu, amu mugaru. This means ‘Water today, water tomorrow’ in Gunggari language. The artist, Liz Clarke is a Gunggari woman whose Country is in the Maranoa region in south-west Queensland.

Liz’s grandparents were members of the Stolen Generation; painting has been a meaningful way for Liz to connect with her culture and as a way of healing. Liz has spent most of her career in environmental regulation and has an interest in traditional ecological knowledge.

Liz is a member of the EIANZ, a Certified Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP), and is a member of EIANZ’s Indigenous Engagement Working Group. Liz is passionate about truth telling, and creating and maintaining an inclusive a work environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.