Subtle Disruptors

Understanding and accepting ourselves as individuals and as a species; and understanding where we are in space, time, history, biology and ecology: for me these are two of the most important subtle disruptions we can make in our own lives, and two things of which this week's guest is an exemplar.

The little caravan, and little shop, that is a place for people to gather, make, connect and be heard.

Finally, the topic I have been avoiding some time: the disruption brought about through science and technology. Gus talks specifically about how we can harness it as a force that helps those most in need, using it to enable life to thrive on this planet, and how to build a movement around this quest through conditional optimism.

The cross-over, or overlap, between art and business is dicey territory. It is this borderland that this week's guest seems to have been playing in his whole life.

Karen talks about the joys of living a frugal life, reusing and upcycling the things that the rest of us discard.

This Melbourne cafe is my new favourite, and it is changing the way people think about eating. If I was to make a prediction it would be that in a couple of years time there will be 10s of cafes around Melbourne modelling themselves on this one.

The links between sexuality, creativity, expression and accessing our full potential are brought together by this week's guest.

Growing our own food makes us more likely to eat healthily, be aware of our food system, and to get those happiness inducing soil microbes onto our fingers. In a city that becomes more densely populated by the day, where do we find the land to grow this food?

This Melbourne maverick reveals the most important skill for us to develop in an age of unprecedented uncertainty and disruption.

Innovation is something that everyone seems to be doing at the moment. But what constitutes innovation? Can it be taught? And is there a science and method behind it?

Creating platforms that provide a strong footing for others to bring their ideas to life is at the heart of Alvaro Maz's two ventures: Creative Suburbs and Code for Australia.

Not many of us take a moment to consider how and where our clothes were made when we purchase them or put them on each morning. For Siggi it was these types of musings that led her to devoting her working life to creating consciousness in the way in which we all relate to fashion.

Questions like 'What is the secular equivalent of a church pastor?' and 'What would an inclusive, mystery exploring alternative to religion look like today?' prompted this week's guest to create an inclusive weekly service that crowd-sources wisdom to explore the wonder of existence.

It is not too far-fetched to image that meditation studios could soon become as plentiful as yoga studios. Happy Melon is one wellness centre that has been created with mindfulness as its focus, and I am excited about the implications for our city.

Eric Agyeman has some excuses at his disposal. As a six year-old his family moved to New Zealand from Ghana, as an eleven year-old to Melbourne, and as a fifteen year-old was sent on a seven-year ordeal back home to Ghana.

Kinfolk is a great Melbourne cafe. Of course this means that they make excellent coffee, serve quality food, and that it has a great look and feel. But hang around for a little while and you will start to notice there is a bit more going on than initially meets the eye.

Matt and business partner Dave created a wellness centre in Fitzroy North that puts service and results before profits. The results, and the people that are moving into the area to be near the gym, speak for themselves.

Maria Cameron talks about the suburban community that has emerged around her without a manifesto, without planning, but as an outcome of the small daily decisions made about what it means to them to live a good and ethical life.

Suburban football clubs, the Australian variety, are an amazing microcosm of their local culture, a place that brings people together but where many of their unconscious prejudices and misgivings are given a place to camp and grow. Jamin talks about what he is doing with clubs so that sport can serve a far greater purpose than it currently does within local communities.

It was around 2008 that Nicole Avery started thinking about writing her own blog. She had been out of the paid workforce for about 8 years while she focused on bringing up the first four of her five children, and she started to think about how she might get back into working and what that might look like.