AQ: Australian Quarterly

For over 90 years AQ: Australian Quarterly has been packing its pages with the debates that have shaped Australia and the world, tackling the big topics in science, politics and society. Grounded in evidence, yet written in a style accessible to everyone, AQ is unique in Australia’s publishing landscape, pushing back against the trends of subjective truth and media spin. If it matters to Australia then it matters to AQ.

GUEST EDITOR

NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

AQ: Australian Quarterly

Finding flow

Flow

Flow as a Pathway Home • Flow, to me, is not a metaphor — it is a memory. It’s the scent of river red gums on a hot afternoon, the dance of dragonflies over still water, and the feeling in your chest when you hear a song that remembers you. As a First Nations woman from the northern saltwaters and central desert of this continent, flow is part of how I know who I am and where I belong.

From the Brain to Wellbeing: Where are we Flowing? • Have you ever had the experience of being completely absorbed in a pleasurable activity, when your mind was focused only on what was in front of you, your worries receded, and hours passed by without you noticing? Maybe you were working on a craft project, listening to music, playing a sport, meditating, or walking in the bush. If so, you’re not alone.

From Circular to Ecological Economy: Can Australia Supercharge its Sustainability?

Make Way for Creative Flow • When we look out of the window, much of what we see seems bleak. The wayas-usual is exhausted; we can’t use the same thinking that got us into this to get us out. Fossilised thinking prioritises rigidity over sensing, urgency over patience, and can only design solutions that have worked before.

Investing in Water: Formal Water Markets in Australia • The United Nations estimates that 2.2 billion people live without safe drinking water, 3.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation services, while globally 2.4 billion live in water-stressed areas.1 Given the very slow progress that has been made on improving these figures, it does seem that the aim of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: ‘Water for all by 2030’, is very unlikely to be achieved.

REFERENCES