170. Changing What's Possible

Tim Hollo on stories of living democracy & the power of community

Prepare to be moved and enlightened as we explore the transformative power of community and deliberative democracy with today's special guest, Tim Hollo. Tim is so thoroughly recasting our notions of what’s possible, through stories of what’s actually happening right now, across a host of different contexts, and with countless possibilities to go on with, that are successfully creating the democratic systems and cultures we need for widespread regeneration.

“And I asked Amanda if there was a secret ingredient that sits behind it. And what she told me has just echoed in my head forever since. And she just said simply, ‘don’t ask people to pick a side’. ”

— Tim Hollo

Tim Hollo is Executive Director of The Green Institute, founder of Green Music Australia, has recorded and toured globally with the FourPlay String Quartet (you’ll hear a tune from them in this episode), and he’s just written a book called ‘Living Democracy: An ecological manifesto for the end of the world as we know it’.

Our conversation delves into the power of community engagement in shaping our political systems for the better. We explore alternative governance and justice models that serve communities better, including the growing community independents movement in Australia, the incredible Kurdish example of municipalist confederalism, successful Aboriginal judicial processes, and the power of therapeutic jurisprudence.

We then examine the transformative journey of Barcelona, Participatory City in the UK, and the inspiring work of previous podcast guest Amanda Cahill (ep 134) back here in Australia, unpacking how community-led initiatives foster a sense of abundance and connection, often resulting in the disarming of racism, division and hard right votes at elections. And we wrap up with a look at deliberative democracy, its potential to reshape deeply cynical views of politics, and the promise of a more just and equitable society.

Head here for automatic cues to chapter markers (also available on the embedded player above), and a transcript of this conversation (please note the transcript is AI generated and imperfect, but hopefully serves to provide greater access to these conversations for those who need or like to read).

This conversation was recorded on Little Black Mountain in Canberra on 17 April 2023.

Click on the photos below for a zoomed in view. All photos by Anthony James.

See more photos from behind the scenes, by becoming a subscriber via the Patreon page.