Jo Lynch dreams of a world where people can make art and get along in an inclusive community.
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The Merewether woman has been involved in various grass roots environmental activism events over the years which have had impacts locally and internationally.
For the past two years she has been working with the Hunter Community Environment Centre (HCEC), helping to support the group in its goal of being a resource hub for those wanting to work on environmental campaigns.
She said some of the work she was most proud to be a part of was the rehabilitation and transition of power stations in Lake Macquarie, and pushing back against attempts to explore the potential for future extraction of petroleum off the coast of Newcastle.
Moving forward, she will continue to work with HCEC in their ongoing campaigns aimed at helping the environment.
"It's about giving people who are concerned about the environment and its destruction an opportunity to connect with like-minded people," she said.
She's also proud of two events she helped helped host, including the 2016 Students of Sustainability conference in Newcastle which attracted 500 students from across the country.
More recently, she has been involved in a Power and Pollution Summit in Lake Macquarie which she said helped launch the development of a national network of people living near salt ash dumps who are interested in rehabilitating the land.
"It's a grassroots network of people who want to remediate land during the transition of the energy sector in Australia," Ms Lynch said.
Her advice to those interested in helping the environment is to start with something personal and build from there.
"Make sure that you are seeking to connect with the community," she said.
"You have to strike a balance between the personal and the communal in your actions and you will constantly be amazed at your capacity to create sustainable change.
"It's very stimulating and rewarding work, and also challenging.
"I've had really amazing mentors, like George Woods and Paul Winn.
'"It really struck me when I first started working in activism on social justice issues that you meet people who are sacrificing their time and you resonate with those kind of people.
"There's a sense of community, a global community of people who care about the environment."
While she admits it can at times be sorrowful work advocating for the environment, Ms Lynch is passionate about doing what she can to make her dreams of a harmonious future a reality.
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