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Independent network for holistic community activism, sustainability and action research.
Holistic (etymology): whole; in good health, in sound condition, not broken, intact, integral, without fractions, undiminished, (Oxford Dictionary)

Welcome!
Borderlands provides a meeting place for any people wanting to transform the current personal, professional and organisational practices which are ultimately destructive to our planet’s sustainability.

Dec 2011newsletter Click here to download (.pdf)

Borderlands is a partner in the Oases Masters Program

Our interests span:

international development
accessing subjugated knowledge (eg Traditional Australian Indigenous wisdom)
participatory democracy
Resurgence of community control in Latin America and by Indigenous people
local and international community activism
the World Social Forums
regenerating local urban and rural Australian communities
research methods
reclaiming personal responsibility to care for the earth
re-connecting with each other and with our local ecology

Borderlands knowledge base:

Academic literature is tested against the realities of lived experiences of people in their myriad locations and our value base of solidarity with people who endure unjust exercises of power.

Having equivalent validity, international knowledge bases inform Borderlands, namely from: Continental Europe, the English speaking world, Latin America, First World Indigenous traditions, Africa, the Indian Sub Continent, Asia and the Pacific:

deep social theory
ecology
spirituality
anthropology
sustainable economics
social policy
urban, rural and international community development
research methods, epistemologies and participative action research
participative democracy

Borderlands Consultancies: Borderlands undertakes a range of research, consultancy and project work for governments, NGOs and other organisations. We work in program design, evaluations; social and environmental impact studies & needs analysis. Projects are undertaken by members and colleagues with relevant academic research backgrounds. We favour participatory research and community engagement processes to ensure optimal relevance and validity of outcomes. Sustainability measures are included as integral to program design and evaluation. Borderlands is committed to transformative processes, practices and practical application of skills.

Current projects:

Post Bush Fire Community Development

Burnt Out
Catholic Care: Kinglake post fire- Restorative justice

Community Development

City of Port Phillip – continuing the 10 year collaboration over a number of projects
Inclusion Melbourne facilitating the creation of linkages between disability organisations in the South East area