A night of film, conversation and ideas on supporting systemic change, with Jon Pratten, Stephanie Carrick, Trevor Thomas and Jeff Angel.

Jon Pratten was in his late twenties, travelling the world to surf, when he came home to find Australian beaches “were being devastated by rutile and zircon mining.” He told us that story on Wednesday 14 October 2026 at Canva Space in Surry Hills, where Total Environment Centre (TEC) hosted our second film screening and panel discussion of the year for Fighting for a Green Future, our seven-part documentary series on 50 years of environmental action in Australia.

Guests arrived to light food and conversation, then watched all seven episodes. Afterwards, Jeff Angel, Executive Director of Total Environment Centre, led a panel with Jon Pratten of The Pratten Foundation, Stephanie Carrick, Project Manager of Total Environment Centre’s  Sydney Basin Koala Network, and Trevor Thomas, Executive Chair of Ethinvest, on supporting systemic change: people, funding, organisations. Mark Zihrul was our MC for the evening.

At a glance

• Event: Fighting for a Green Future film screening and panel discussion

• Date: Wednesday 14 October 2026

• Venue: Canva Space, 110 Kippax St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

• Panel theme: Supporting systemic change: people, funding, organisations

• Panellists: Jeff Angel (Executive Director, Total Environment Centre), Jon Pratten (The Pratten Foundation), Stephanie Carrick (Project Manager, Total Environment Centre’s Sydney Basin Koala Network) and Trevor Thomas (Executive Chair, Ethinvest)

• MC: Mark Zihrul, Total Environment Centre Campaigner

• Series: seven episodes, presented by Jeff Angel and produced by Total Environment Centre

[In this photo: our guests networking over light food before the Fighting for a Green Future screening at Canva Space, Surry Hills. Left to right: Ana to include names) 

What is Fighting for a Green Future?

Fighting for a Green Future is a seven-part Australian environmental documentary series, presented by Jeff Angel and produced by Total Environment Centre. The film tells the story of 50 years of environmental action in Australia, tracking key campaigns, changing attitudes, laws and politics. We are grateful to Canva Space for making their Surry Hills space available to us for the evening.

[In this photo: our guests watching Fighting for a Green Future at the film screening in Sydne.s)

What the panel said about lasting environmental change?

In short: lasting change takes patience, a solid case built on research, and choices made every day.

Stephanie Carrick, Project Manager of Total Environment Centre’s Sydney Basin Koala Network, spoke about pacing yourself for the long term. “It’s a long-term thing and you gotta pace yourself and you gotta take the wins when you get them, but you gotta keep your eye on the big prize.”

Jon described the path he has seen work: build a solid case, back it with research, win public support, and speak with decision makers “in a constructive way.”

Trevor Thomas of Ethinvest reminded the room of the choices open to everyone. “You can only vote once every three or four years in Australia for the government, but you can vote every day with your dollars.”

Steph closed with a hope for “a shift in thinking, and a shift in values”, with people working together to talk to their neighbours and make them care.

Host a community screening of Fighting for a Green Future

Fighting for a Green Future is available to watch now by hosting your own community screening. If you’re interested in hosting a community screening or joining us for a future event, please fill in our expression of interest form and we will get in touch shortly.

And if you’d like to explore more of our work, our latest impact report is a good place to start.

Thank you!

Thank you to Jeff, Jon, Stephanie and Trevor for a thoughtful conversation, to Mark Zihrul for MC’ing, to Canva Space for hosting, and to the Total Environment Centre team who helped put the evening together.

Film and screenings supported by: Wave Particle and The Pratten Foundation & Family
Produced by: Total Environment Centre

About Total Environment Centre

For more than 54 years, Total Environment Centre (TEC) has worked with communities to protect nature and create lasting environmental change. We bring people together, build the evidence and skills they need to take action, and connect local action to broader campaigns for systemic change. Our work spans protecting koala habitat and green spaces, stopping pollution at its source, and changing the rules that decide nature’s future. Learn more at https://www.tec.org.au/impact_report_fy25