STORYTELLING through the lens of his camera has helped Castlemaine photographer Michael Chew secure a Rotary peace fellowship.
He will travel to Thailand this week to visit a Rotary peace centre in Bangkok and continue his work helping young people communicate with a global audience about environmental projects.
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Dr Chew said the photographic medium helped cut through the 'deluge' of bad news and vast volumes of environmental data to show how small scale actions could make a difference to the health of the planet.
He has previously worked with young people in Bangladesh and China to document their work planting trees and cleaning up streets.
His work was the focus of his PhD studies with Monash University, Caulfield, for which he was awarded a doctorate in 2020.
"My passion is helping people communicate the personal stories which can be a lot more powerful than the headline data alone," he said.
"Part of my PhD work was on the psychology and behavioural change of environmental work. People can get so overwhelmed with the scale of the problems and have a sense of helplessness.
"When we see international meetings about the urgency of climate change and emissions targets, it can seem as though the issues are too big for any individual to make a difference.
"And the remedy to that can be telling stories. It's the old adage of thinking globally and acting locally."
Dr Chew's work has also included Australian youth and the sharing of their stories with an international audience to further inspire environmental action among the next generation.
He has designed and managed an online youth environmental peer-to-peer storytelling program, which he presented to the Castlemaine Rotary Club as part of his fellowship.
His current work includes supporting young people to design their own global youth environmental video competition.
You can follow his journey at ecoimagine.org
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