joiningthedots is based on the belief that we can all build connections that bring about the changes we want to see in the world. The aim is to create and hold spaces for encounters that lead to ongoing transformations, both personal and communal. To this end we work collaboratively with other organisations and change makers to maximise the effectiveness and deep reach of their endevours for good. The emphasis is on "active listening" and reflection as much as it is on "doing”. This is what draws our attention to the spaces in between, the space where unnoticed wisdom and solutions lie. OUR VISION To see communities become fully alive to the interconnections which lead to a meaningful and sustainable life for the earth and its inhabitants. OUR OBJECTIVES The primary objective is to educate by creating opportunities for meaningful encounters which not only help build positive relationships between community members but in turn promote the necessary shifts in perception and values. The effect of these shifts will be seen in renewed opportunities for community-building, advocacy and the inspiration for people to become involved with existing projects/campaigns/movements or the emergence of new collaborative endeavours eliciting social change. A secondary objective is to hold a space for change makers which fosters deep reflection and nurtures a renewed sense of our inter-connectedness by placing emphasis on what lies in the “spaces-in-between”. OUR FOCUS Three focus areas have been chosen for Australia: 1. Social justice issues being faced by refugees and asylum seekers 2. Social justice issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their communities 3. Sustainability: the essential need to prioritise care for the earth, the transformative power of re-connecting with the natural world, a central principle for living and an essential foundation principle in planning and enacting effective social change process