Conservation Groups Sydney

Unhurried Conversations - Saturday

Bring yourself along, we explain how it works.

Bushcare at Bressington Park 🌳 - Human Hearted Sydney 🌻

Human Hearted Sydney is committed to contributing to our community. We are planning to participate in Strathfield Council’s Bushcare program, which involves volunteers helping with bushland maintenance and restoration, or simply focusing on rubbish removal in public parks. Details at [https://www.strathfield.nsw.gov.au/Participate/Bushcare](https://www.strathfield.nsw.gov.au/Participate/Bushcare) The next event in this program is on Saturday September 5 from 9:00am to 12 midday at Bressington Park. Volunteers meet at the Bressington Park car park. The registration page is at [https://events.humanitix.com/2026-strathfield-council-bushcare-program](https://events.humanitix.com/2026-strathfield-council-bushcare-program) Some of us will be volunteering that day, and we warmly invite others to volunteer with us. If you’d like to join us on this activity please register through the registration page at the url above, RSVP for this meetup and then post a comment here that you have registered. Then we’ll know who is coming and how many people to look out for. (Note - We don't know how many places are left for Saturday September 5 so register soon if you can) We hope to see you there.

The Righteous Mind

Paul Dale will be presenting on 'The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion' by Jonathan Haidt. The evening will include Q&A and open discussion as always. How does a conservative or a libertarian see the world differently to a leftist? And why are the political divisions becoming more intractable? In *The Righteous Mind. Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion,* moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt explains our the range of 'moral foundations' that all humans possess and how different combinations of these moral foundations create different perceptions of the world and each other. Haidt himself explains how, starting out as a left-liberal, he gradually came to understand the conservative mindset better through his research and to appreciate its viewpoints. He argues that through understanding the varieties of moral perception and how we naturally judge one another we can avoid the polarisation we now see growing and reach 'across the isle' to those we strongly disagree with. In doing so he also gives us a tour of the science of human nature, especially our moral dimensions. Join us for a talk and discussion afterward.

🌲Bundanoon Day Out @ Morton NP - Fairy Bower Falls & lookouts 🌿🐦‍⬛🧘🧘‍♀️

🚗 Let’s explore Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands and Morton National Park. 🏞️ ⚠️ FOR YOUR SAFETY & ENJOYMENT, PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION BELOW FULLY BEFORE YOU CLICK ‘Attend’! 🏨 You may stay at a hotel, motel, holiday park, Airbnb, camping, glamping or any accommodation you fancy for the weekend to explore Bowral, Berrima, Mittagong, Sutton Forest, Bundanoon, Moss Vale, Robertson etc. 🏡 ******************************************** 🗓 DATE: Saturday, 5 September 2026. ⏰ MEETING TIME: 9.45am. 🅿️ MEETING POINT: Santi Forest Monastery, 100 Coalmines Rd, BUNDANOON NSW 2578 ℹ Refer website for exact location & info: https://santifm.org/santi/ 🥾 DISTANCE: Easy short walk at the monastery. 📸 WHAT TO EXPECT: 🧘‍♀️ Let’s enjoy the serenity at this peaceful monastery. You do not need to be Buddhist to visit the monastery. 🧘 You may participate in the meditation and/or discussion with the monks. ☕️ There is a daily lunch time service that takes place at 10:45am which anyone can participate in. 🥪 Please BYO packed lunch and any food, snacks or cash donation if you wish. ℹ️ Frequently Asked Questions: https://santiforestmonastery.org/faq/ 🚗 After spending time at the monastery, we will continue our exciting adventure at: 🥾 Fairy Bower Falls Walk & Lookouts - 6km return loop. 🅿️ MEETING POINT: 📍GPS coordinates: -34.67955, 150.30309 🚗 About 15 minutes drive from Santi Monastery. Refer photo maps no. 3 for driving directions. 🥾 GRADE: Moderate/slightly Hard on a steady pace, not snail pace! 💪🏽 Reasonable fitness recommended due to uneven rocky surfaces, ups and down hills, steep stairs, creek crossings, rock scramblings and a bit of bush bashing at few overgrown sections. 💪🏽 Tracks expected to be wet, muddy and slippery at few sections. 🚗 We may visit another lookouts nearby once we finish this exhilarating walk. ⚠️ IMPORTANT INFORMATION ⚠️ 📝 TERMS & DISCLAIMER: ℹ️ Attending this event is voluntarily at your own risk. Organiser/s accepts no liability of any kind including injuries, accidents, misadventure etc during and after this event. ℹ️ For full disclosure on Public Waiver, please refer to Meetup Terms and Conditions and the front page of this group on ‘About Us’. ✅ You must assess your own fitness and ability before participating in this event. ✅ You are responsible for looking after your own health, safety and belongings. ✅ You must adhere and follow the instructions from your organiser/s at all times during this event. ✅ You must take personal accountability for your own choices, actions and/or misadventure. ❎ If you’re not sticking with the group or getting lost during the walk, you’re responsible for finding your own way out. The group DO NOT wait for you! ✅ You must also take care not to put other people at risk. ✅ Keep well back from cliff edges at all times, especially when taking photos. ❎ NO facilities or cafes on the trails, so please come well prepared. ❎ NO smoking of any kind on the walk including during photo stops and lunch break. ❎ If you do not wish to be photographed (randomly or group photos), please DO NOT join this event! ❎ NO pets including service dogs are permitted on my events. You may join pet friendly walking group instead. ✅ Please be mindful and respectful to members and guest/s from diverse backgrounds. This is not a dating event. ✅ If something’s come up, please Edit your RSVP to ‘Not Going’ asap at least by 7pm the day before. It’s only take a second!
❎ Late cancellation or No Show would not be tolerated. You will forfeit the opportunity to join my future events! 🎒WHAT TO BRING 🎒 👕 Comfortable outfit for the weather preferably hiking gear. Jeans or cotton t-shirt are not be suitable for this walk. 🥾 Waterproof hiking boots or good grip walking shoes highly recommended. 💦 At least 1.8L of water, Hydralyte or sports energy drinks. 🥪 Snacks and packed LUNCH. Also any food donations for the monastery if you wish. 🧢 Hat, sunscreen, insect repellent ie: Bushman or Aerogard and hand sanitiser. ⛑ Basic First Aid Kit - BandAids, bandages, antibacterial wipes etc. 🧥Light raincoat or a poncho just in case of wet weather. ******************************************** 💵 GRATUITY/CONTRIBUTION: 💰$10 CASH per person for this event to be collected upon arrival. ✅ Please bring correct change on the day to speed up the meet and greet. 📲 Or PayID to my mobile: 0405038557. Ref: (your Meetup name) & Bundanoon. ✅ Please get it done asap upon arrival and TEXT me receipt of payment. Thanks! ******************************************** 🚙 Drivers - please offer a lift from your closest train station with share costs. 🎒Passengers - please update on comments section for a carpool with share petrol. 🚗 Few of us including myself will be camping for the weekend at: 🏕️ Wingello State Forest Campground 🏕️ https://share.google/nmQ3BOkGOd1o1VQGW 🚗 ⛺️ You may like to try easy camping (next to your car). Refer separate camping event for further details. 📲 Any questions or concerns, please send me a TEXT message instead to avoid any confusion with unnecessary updates on comments section. ❗️NOTE - I do not answer calls or text messages after meeting time! 🌿 Let’s explore and enjoy the great outdoors! 🌿 Norra 😎 🧘‍♂️ 📱0405038557 (TEXT & PayID only)

Sydney Singles Relational Lab — Facilitated Connection Experience

# Tired of dating apps culture and surface-level? This is different. And people often leave surprised by how quickly strangers can feel human, warm, honest, and real again. Free to RSVP, 👉 $59 to confirm your spot [https://consciousconnectionsclub.com/stayconnected](https://consciousconnectionsclub.com/join) Relational Labs is a guided connection experience for singles who want more honest, playful, emotionally intelligent interaction — without performance, pressure, or endless small talk. This is not speed dating. Not networking. Not “pitch yourself to strangers.” It’s a facilitated relational container rooted in psychology, emotional intelligence, attachment work, social dynamics, nervous system awareness, and real-world human connection — made practical enough that you can actually live it instead of reading another 50 books about it. ## What happens • A 2-hour guided online relational experience • Real-time connection exercises designed to create authentic interaction • A format that adapts in real time to whoever is present • Optional participant-led in-person continuation afterward • WhatsApp connection thread after the session ## This may be for you if: • You’re tired of shallow or repetitive social spaces • You want deeper connection without forced intimacy • You enjoy personal growth, psychology, communication, or relational work • You’re open to meeting people in a more intentional way ## Important This experience runs with whoever is present and takes its own shape each time. Sometimes expansive. Sometimes intimate. Both are the real thing.

Northern Beaches; Manly to Dee Why via Curl Curl

The Death of Death: Should We Choose To Live Forever?

What if ageing were optional? A small, extraordinarily wealthy group of people — Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel among them — are betting billions that it could become so within our lifetimes. They are funding gene therapies, plasma clinics, AI drug discovery programmes, and private city-states designed to sit beyond the reach of ordinary regulation, all pointed at a single goal: the abolition of death. Some of this is serious science. Some of it is alchemy with a better press team. But before the science catches up with the ambition — if it ever does — the personal, social, and political questions are already here. Would you choose five centuries of life, or even to live indefinitely — more time to love, to learn, to taste everything the world has to offer? Or would you find, on reflection, that something essential about a human life depends on it being finite? What happens to marriage when it lasts for centuries? To democracy when the same people hold power for hundreds of years? To inheritance (that might never arrive!), to ambition ('I can always do it later'), to the feeling that today is precious rather than just one more day in an endless supply? So join us as we pull apart this fascinating and unsettling territory, where Silicon Valley hubris meets some of the oldest questions in philosophy. **Book: *The Immortalists: The Death of Death and the Race for Eternal Life* (2025) by Aleks Krotoski** **Companion reading:** ***[A Guide to the Personal, Social, and Political Questions of Radical Life Extension](https://1drv.ms/b/c/adb4f7488b2eef0a/IQDyh0ZXuhOXSY1hShIPivrVAb994lzRy8NuznN6KIb52lM?e=heHTTk)***[ ](https://1drv.ms/b/c/adb4f7488b2eef0a/IQDyh0ZXuhOXSY1hShIPivrVAb994lzRy8NuznN6KIb52lM?e=heHTTk) (prepared for this meetup) *The Immortalists* is a sharp investigation into the people, science, money, and politics behind Silicon Valley’s war on death. Krotoski — a psychologist, BBC broadcaster, and veteran technology reporter — takes us from immortality cults in the Arizona desert and biohacking clinics in Los Angeles to the corridors of Washington and a private city in Honduras where unapproved gene therapies are on the menu. Along the way, she meets the geroscientists doing genuinely important work on the biology of ageing, the billionaire investors pouring huge sums into longevity start-ups, the lobbyists rewriting FDA regulations in their own interests, and the true believers who have concluded that death is not a fact of life but a failure of engineering. The result is gripping reported journalism, a sober account of what the science has actually established, and a serious political warning about what happens when the people trying to live forever start writing the rules for everyone else. In addition, we’ve prepared a 35-page companion document that draws out the personal, social, and political questions raised by radical life extension. The Krotoski book spends considerable time on the science and on the people pursuing it, but our discussion is likely to centre on the human consequences: whether we would actually want vastly longer lives; what they would do to relationships, work, inequality, democracy, and meaning; and who would benefit if the technology ever became real. The companion document is intended to give us a shared map of these issues, so the conversation can move beyond the biology and into the questions most likely to matter around the table. As always, we strongly encourage you to do the reading before you attend; it will enrich both your own experience and the discussion as a whole. We’ve also included some further resources below for anyone who wants to go deeper. We’ll meet for a drink — and an optional meal — at 6:30pm on Monday, 7 September, on the second floor of the Keg & Brew Hotel in Surry Hills. The venue is close to Central Station and the light rail. We look forward to seeing you there! P.S. If you RSVP yes and later find you can’t make it, please update your RSVP so someone else can take the spot if there’s a waitlist. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- These are just optional links to consider to supplement the reading of the book and document. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section. **Videos** * Interviews and Podcasts with Aleks Krotoski: [Intelligence Squared – Could Billionaires Cure Ageing (1 hr)](https://open.spotify.com/episode/7DgTxyg8YezFkX391FNOmX) [BBC Radio 4 World at One (18 mins)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTQ-tZfRFW8) * A collection of 15 min BBC Podcasts by Aleks Krotoski: [The Immortals Podcast](https://www.bbc.com/audio/brand/p0hl8knd) * Venki Ramakrishnan on the biology of death and aging and why the immortalists' timeline is wildly optimistic: [Sean Carroll's Mindscape with Venki Ramakrishnan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNqwamgxNiU) * Four Corners (ABC iview) *The Race to Reverse Ageing* (July 2026) * Science documentary: *[Longevity Hackers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PV0X5U4smY)*[ (2024)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PV0X5U4smY) This is a mostly enthusiastic doco about the possibility of radical life extension; not a rigorous investigation but provides a useful sense of the different areas of research. * Netflix documentary: *Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever* (2025). A documentary on the daily routines, family plasma exchange, and the "Don't Die" philosophy of tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, who appears prominently in the book. * An explainer video on the science and ethics of radical life extension: [Billionaires Trying to Live Forever - Honest Truth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5kMFzndPiM) **Written** * Articles on radical life extension: [The Ethics of Radical Life Extension](https://www.scu.edu/ethics/all-about-ethics/radical-life-extension/) [Three arguments against extending the human lifespan](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2652797/) * Reviews of *The Immortalists*: [The Guardian - The Immortalists](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/23/the-immortalists-by-aleks-krotoski-review-the-downsides-of-cheating-death) * An article version on the ABC Four Corners episode on biohacking and anti-aging science: [ABC - The Race to Reverse Ageing](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-19/biohacking-anti-aging-science-promise-to-extend-human-lifespan/106923024) * A couple of recent articles on biohacker Bryan Johnson (from Netflix doco above) including a very recent ABC article (and link to Triple J podcast) with Johnson and his Australian partner, and an article on his unfortunate setback on his health: [Bryan Johnson on his critics on his quest for immortality ](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-30/biohacker-bryan-johnson-kate-tolo-living-forever/107089326) [A recent health update on Bryan Johnson](https://futurism.com/health-medicine/bryan-johnson-autoimmune-disease) * Three other relevant books for those wanting to dig deeper into this topic: *\- Going On and On: Why Our Longevity Threatens the Future* (2026) by Lucinda Holdforth. I wish I had known about this Australian book earlier - it asks a question very relevant to our book club discussion: what if living much longer is creating new problems that our society is unprepared to face? Drawing on Australia's ageing population, medical advances, economics and her own experiences caring for elderly parents, she argues that longer lives are one of humanity's greatest achievements—but also that they bring difficult trade-offs for younger generations, families, healthcare and politics. It's worth looking up some of her recent podcasts and interviews on the book. *\- Morbid: Debunking Modern Longevity Science* (2026) by Saul Newman. To be released in September, the author uses dark humour and rigorous evidence to expose the systemic data errors and corporate grifting behind popular anti-aging trends like "Blue Zones" and youth-blood transfusions. *\- Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality* (2024) by Venki Ramakrishnan. This book provides a lucid and authoritative look at the biological mechanisms of cellular degeneration, balancing the realistic limits of our current biotechnology against the hyped promises of the immortality movement.

From the Threshold: Germination, birth, growth and becoming .....

The Australian Visual Arts Section warmly invites you to a group exhibition at Sydney Rudolf Steiner House throughout the month of September. Official opening on Tuesday 1 September at 6pm. Curated by David Wansbrough and Brigitta Gallaher. for more information: rshartscommittee@gmail.com

Malabar Headlands - La Perouse - Whale Watching - Wow!! 15KM Medium

**Malabar Headlands - La Perouse - Whale Watching - Wow!! 15KM Medium** Meet outside **Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club** (regular buses from the City and Bondi Junction Station stop immediately adjacent, on Marine Parade) by no later than **10:30AM**. From here it is a brisk walk south to join the trails which take us into Malabar Headland Park, which we traverse through to Malabar Bay and on to **Little Bay**, where we stop at the **historic Coast Hospital Precinct** for our lunch break. **THERE ARE SOME FOOD SHOPS HERE OR BRING YOUR OWN FOOD.** After lunch we skirt around the local golf clubs and enter the **Botany Bay National Park** for a fantastic bush walk through to La Perouse, Bare Island and the **La Perouse Museum** for those interested in the local History. Many great opportunities to spot **Humpback Whales migrating back to the Antarctic** on this walk! **Distance:** 15km **Type of Walk:** Pathways, bush tracks **Difficulty:** Medium **Walking Pace:** We will maintain a steady pace all day and will average 4.5 km per hour. **Meeting Place and Transport:** Meet outside Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club by no later than 10:30AM. Buses back to Bondi Junction Train Station or the City depart from La Perouse every 15 minutes or so. **What to bring:** Good walking shoes/trail runners; 1.5 – 2 litres of water, refill available at lunch; hydrolytes; snacks and one lunch; light rain jacket depending on conditions. **Suggested Donation:** $10 **By RSVPing to this even**t you (and your guests) agree to and are bound by the terms and conditions of SOMG which you can view here: [Sydney Outdoors Meetup Group Discussions](https://www.meetup.com/sydney-outdoors-meetup-group/discussions/?eventOrigin=home_groups_you_organize) **Questions?** Please leave a comment below. I look forward to seeing you on this walk. I will post my mobile number closer to the day. Ted

Community of Practice 🗣️ - Human Hearted Sydney 🌻

Join our monthly Community of Practice (COP) where we discuss the ideas of Human Heartedness: a secular approach to life that promotes empathy and social connection based on cultivating our human social potential. Each meeting we discuss these concepts and how they can help us in practical ways to live better, happier, and more fulfilling lives. The meeting is followed by an optional lunch together nearby. This is a great opportunity to meet like-minded people and find your local community! ⏰ **When:** Sunday September 13th at 11:00am 📍 **Where:** Darling Square Library, Level 1 - Ideas Space 2 (see directions) 🎟️ **Cost:** Free 🧑‍🦱 **Who should come:** anyone looking to meet new people and build connections with like-minded Sydneysiders. We’re queer-friendly and welcome people from all ages and backgrounds :) **About Human Heartedness:** The modern world’s focus on competition and materialism makes it easy to feel isolated and overwhelmed. The collapse of traditional sources of meaning like religion and local community intensify this so that we’re often left with a lack of meaning and purpose. We can try to fill the void with money and success—or to numb it with drugs and technology— but nothing seems to work. Human heartedness reminds us that the path to living well doesn’t come from money and power, but from building on the best in our own human hearts. Our human social potential. It points to a better way: to build in-person communities that build on our innate social potential and inherent value as humans. By building good relationships and social connections, we can live a more fruitful and fulfilling life (and help others to do the same). We can move from struggling alone to flourishing together. Following the human hearted way offers a secular, inclusive, forward looking solution to the meaning crisis of our times. **About the Community of Practice (COP):** Our human hearted community of practice (COP) offers a friendly welcoming environment in which we support and encourage each other to live more human hearted lives. Our goal is to build a community that supports us all to live more meaningful and fulfilling lives. We welcome you to join us in exploring together how to live better lives. [Learn more about Human Heartedness and our other events here!](https://linktr.ee/humanheartedsydney) *Human Hearted Sydney is sponsored by Humanists Australia which kindly funds our activities and keeps events like this free. Consider donating to Humanists Australia to show your support for community-building in Sydney and beyond. All our events are governed by [Humanist Australia's Code of Conduct](https://bit.ly/ha-conduct-pdf).*

SSP .TUE ..CHERRY BLOSSOMS Auburn

Today we walk the Auburn Botanical Gardens in Spring. We have timed this to avoid the endless crowds and catch the tail end of the cherry blossoms. The Azaleas and many more varieties of plants and shrubs are also photo worthy. Enjoy the later start time. If you require a morning coffee, there are a few cafes in close proximity to Auburn station. For coffee snobs, Auburn does not have a coffee culture like the CBD, but passable. We will have a quick look through the bird aviary at Auburn Botanical Gardens, then walk around the corner to the Auburn Tennis Club for lunch at noon in their bistro. After lunch we walk back to the Auburn Botanical Gardens to take images of the plants and flowers Depending on what time we decide to leave the Gardens we could stop at Auburn shopping area before catching the train home as there are many eateries and the possibility a pub. Auburn is a melting pot of cultures, Turkish, Nepalese, Pakistani, Afghani, Middle Eastern and Asian, so tasty and usually low priced. How to get There: Public Transport Meet at Stand A at Auburn Train Station for the S3 Direct bus to the Gardens departing at 11.15am. If you miss the direct S3 in the morning then catch the next 909 from the station area Stand B and tell the driver that you are going to the Gardens and get off the bus at the roundabout where Chiswick Street crosses over Cumberland Street (the bus travels along Cumberland Street). There is a coffee shop at this roundabout that has a black awning. Keeping the coffee shop on your right side, walk down Chiswick Street for 5 minutes and cross over busy Chisholm Road and you will see the Gardens in front of you and the Tennis Club is to your left on Chisholm Road (same side as the Gardens). When we get off the bus at the Gardens, walk to the Auburn Botanical Gardens bird aviary. The last direct S3 bus from the Gardens to the train leaves at 14.30 or if you want to stay longer, walk to Cumberland Road (see above directions) and catch the 909 back to Auburn Station at a time that suits. Car: Free parking at the car park or nearby streets at the Auburn Tennis Club, 181 Chisholm Rd, Auburn NSW 2144.

Living Connections: Conscious Dying, Death Care & Spiritual Continuing

With Elke Cryer and Sandra Bamford, inspired by the Teachings of Rudolf Steiner. This retreat ends on Monday 14 September, and explores conscious dying, death care, spiritual accompaniment, and the continuing relationship between the living and the dead. Through discussion, practical learning, contemplative activities, artistic expression, and community sharing, participants are invited to deepen their understanding of death as a sacred and meaningful part of life. Together we will explore practical, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of dying and death care while building confidence in accompanying others through the profound transitions of dying, death, and beyond. This retreat is suitable for anyone contemplating end of life for themselves a loved one or in a supportive capacity, and those wanting to understand death as a sacred part of life For further information, and dates for other venues, see details: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NBQEJff-11gu4sNVIPWMB-0MUCH-qchY/view