Cafe of Dangerous Ideas

Friday 28 November 2025 at 7.30pm

Sycamore Tree Cafe

185 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg

Professor Mike Clarke will be presenting ideas for confronting climate change in our national parks.

Mike is an ecologist and conservation biologist at La Trobe University. He was Head of the School of Life Sciences from 2011 to 2019 and conducts research that informs conservation action on threatened species and threatening processes, especially fire, in national parks around Victoria.

He was the Convener of the Scientific Advisory Committee on the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act to the Victorian Minister for the Environment for five years. In 2010, he was an expert witness in fire ecology at the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. In 2023 he completed a term as a member of the Board of Directors of Parks Victoria. He is actively involved in ensuring conservation policy and practice is based on the best available evidence.

He is fascinated by the natural world and passionate about its proper stewardship for future generations.

No bookings necessary – just turn up.

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Cafe of Dangerous Ideas

Friday 19 September 2025 at 7.30pm

Sycamore Tree Cafe

185 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg

Any of us who have close affiliation with the Uniting Church will know the constant narrative: a story about how the church is changing.

In this session, with some stories and group sharing, we will explore the idea of Church as a Swamp: the question to us is how healthy is that swamp?

Our guest speaker is Ian David, a minister in placement at Fairfield Uniting Church… He’s never done anything really dangerous, let alone had a dangerous thought… but he did find this quote…
“Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his (sic) spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian Community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature.” from Life Together – Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Join us for a deep dive as we assess the Church as Swamp.

No bookings necessary – just turn up.

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Cafe of Dangerous Ideas

Friday 27 June 2025 at 7.30pm

Sycamore Tree Cafe

185 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg

Australia sees itself as a welcoming country. But what do recent arrivals think?

Join us as we hear what it feels like to arrive in the lucky country as an immigrant or refugee.

We’ll be helped in our discussions by Mursal Sadat – a member of the Afghan national women’s soccer team. 

No bookings necessary – just turn up!

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The Diversity, History & Controversy in Spiritual Communities

Cafe of Dangerous Ideas

Friday 25 April 2025 at 7.30pm

Sycamore Tree Cafe

185 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg

What does it mean to be transgender in a spiritual setting?

What gifts do trans folk bring to these spaces?

And how does a trans identity expand our conception of what we see as Divine?

Come along and join us as we talk with trans people about their experience of faith and spirituality in society today.

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Cafe of Dangerous Ideas

Friday 28 February 2025 at 7.30pm

Sycamore Tree Cafe

185 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg

From ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Terminator’ to ‘Battlestar Galactica’, most cinematic portrayals of artificial intelligence do not end well.

Should we be concerned about the development of AI? Should we be more concerned about the development of AI than climate change?

What are the challenges in regulating AI? Can AI be given human values?

Join David Landis-Morse and Dr. Mark Zirnsak as we look at the concerns around the development of AI.

No need to book. Just turn up.

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