Reasons for Hope. In Conversation with Dr. Jane Goodall

Dr Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute will return to Australia in mid 2024. 

After a long absence brought on by the COVID pandemic, Goodall, 89, is delighted to be returning to Australia to meet with her supporters and share her reasons for hope in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland. 

“I love Australia with its rich biodiversity and proud Aboriginal heritage”, she said. “It will be tremendous to catch up with old friends and meet some of the young leaders making a difference through Roots & Shoots”. 

Goodall’s Australian office of the Jane Goodall Institute has been operating since 2007 and now has a suite of educational programs that inspire young people to get out in their community and make a difference. 

Jane Goodall Institute Australia (JGIA) CEO, James Forbes, shared that the flagship Resource Box for Schools Program reaches some 4,000 schools across Australia. 

“The resource box program is just one of several inspiring educational programs we now operate to support young people to take action in their local communities”, Forbes said. 

“Eco-anxiety and nature deficit disorder are two very real problems impacting the next generation, so we have a responsibility to address this head on through programs that give young people hope”. 

 JGIA is partnered with the University of Adelaide and Resilient Youth Australia to study how nature-based education can reduce the anxiety associated with the climate and biodiversity crises. 

Lead researcher, Dr Mark Kohler said that children today are experiencing increasing mental health problems and declining school performance. 

“Spending time in nature and developing a connection to nature has been associated with more positive mental health outcomes in children”, Kohler said. 

 Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots is a youth education program developed by Dr Jane Goodall in Tanzania in 1991 and today reaches millions of young people in more than 60 countries around the world. It is why she continues to travel around the world inspiring young people to act. 

 “In all my lectures and books, I focus on reasons for hope. But today, it’s getting harder and harder to take that message of hope around the world. Todays’ young people—everywhere I go—they’re so excited and empowered. We’re listening to their voices. That gives us a reason to hope”. 

Tickets will go on sale in late 2023. Subscribe to updates at www.janegoodall.org.au  

For more information, contact JGIA on info@janegoodall.org.au