Resources
Examples of Change
- February 9, 2021
- Posted by: website@makechangehappen.com.au
- Category: Uncategorized

Case Studies – what does success look like here?
Examples of ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’ Change-making
Case Study 1: “Err in the direction of kindness.” – George Saunders
‘Read Along Dads’ (RAD), local library connecting fathers in prison to read with their children
- Read Along Dads – Official Website
https://www.readalongdads.org.au/
- Bendigo Advertiser – Reading from the inside: words speak beyond prison walls (23/10/2015) https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/3443731/reading-from-the-inside/
- ABC RN – Earshot (Article): The reading program helping dads in prison stay connected to their kids (9/7/2018)
- ABC RN – Earshot (Audio): Bedtime stories from prison (9/7/2018; 27 minutes)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/bedtime-stories-from-prison/9791734
Case Study 2: “Hope has never trickled down – It has always sprung up.” – Studs Terkel
‘Golden Square Pool – Here To Stay’, saving a community-led, volunteer-run local pool from closure
- Golden Square Pool – Here To Stay – Official Website
https://www.goldensquarepool.com.au/here-to-stay.html
- Golden Square Pool Media – Golden Square Pool – A Place For All (2020; 5 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KVXaEhQucM
- ABC Heywire – Heywire Winner/Golden Square Pool President/Bendigo’s 2019 Young Citizen of the Year – Sam Kane, ‘My community and I saved our local pool and made it our own (10/12/2019; 3 minutes)
https://www.abc.net.au/heywire/heywire-winner-sam-kane-golden-square/11687128
- Bendigo Advertiser – Letter to the Editor: Golden Square President Sam Kane on ‘Support for Golden Square Pool’ (11/7/2020)
https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/6827902/your-say-support-for-golden-square-pool/
- Bendigo Advertiser: Golden Square Pool saved after hour-long council debate (15/7/2020)
- Make a Change Australia – Strategies to engage volunteers and community: A conversation with Sam Kane, President Golden Square Pool (23/4/2020; 22 minutes)
Case Study 3: “I am invested in illustrating the possible.” – Theaster Gates
‘Straw No More’ & ‘The Last Straw’ tackling single-use plastics to save the Great Barrier Reef
- TEDx JCU Cairns – Molly Steer: Straw No More (2017; 6 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr5Py1r9xjw
- ABC News – Meet Molly Steer, the nine-year-old fighting to save the Great Barrier Reef (6/9/2017) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-06/cairns-schoolgirl-molly-steer-fights-to-save-great-barrier-reef/8869688
- ABC News – 10yo girl wins straw phase-out battle; Cairns council agrees to ditch single-use plastics (11/4/2018)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-11/girl-wins-straw-phase-out-cairns-council-agree-ditch/9640522
- Behind The News – Rookie Report: Molly’s Straw No More Campaign (2018; 3 minutes)
- The Last Straw on the Great Barrier Reef: Official Website
- ABC News – ‘The Last Straw’ for marine biologist determined to tackle plastics on the Great Barrier Reef (29/1/2019)
Case Study 4: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.” – Edward R. Murrow
Youth-led action on climate, from Greta Thunberg to indigenous and people of colour leaders
- The Conversation – A year of resistance: How youth protest shaped the discussion on climate change (20/12/2019)
- Democracy Now – Interview with 16yo Climate activist Greta Thunberg (11/9/2019; 45 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgi30Wy_V74
- BBC News – The Greta Thunberg interview (27/6/2020; 26 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjfiAETqR0g
- Wildscreen Festival – A conversation with Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough (21/10/2020; 36 minutes)
- VICE – Tipping Point: 11 Young Climate Justice Activists You Need to Pay Attention To – they are all indigenous or people of colour and they’re all under 30. (1/10/2019)
- Vox: Meet the young activists of colour leading the charge against climate change (11/10/209)
https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/10/11/20904791/young-climate-activists-of-color