An annual celebration of the worldwide localization movement.
World Localization Day is an annual celebration convened by the international NGO Local Futures. On June 21 and throughout the month of June, Local Futures and an array of amazing Global Partners host in-person and online events to highlight localization as a strategy for change. And not least, to celebrate the many efforts and initiatives that foster ecological economies, thriving communities and healthy local food systems.
The story behind World Localization Day
In 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Local Futures´ in-person programs and activities were set on pause. Yet, the need to mobilize around a global to local shift – towards greater self-reliance – was more important than ever. The pandemic highlighted the perils of depending on global trade for basic needs, our ability to cut emissions, and not least, the importance of strong communities and food produced close to home.
This pause in the place-based work and the urgency of the situation, led Local Futures to dream: what would it look like to bring together – even if only online – as many voices as possible from the worldwide localization movement for place-based economies? World Localization Day was born and has been expanding ever since.
Women’s Health Goulburn North East and World Localisation Day.
World Localisation Day is all about “explor[ing] the power of localisation, and…honor[ing] the many efforts and initiatives – old and new – that foster ecological economies, thriving communities and healthy local food systems.”
Ultimately, it’s about creating a new type of structural underpinning for communities, guided by principles of care for one another and the land.
WHGNE sees a great deal of alignment between these concepts and the values-based systemic change work that we are undertaking, guided by our strategic plan. This year, we are marking World Localisation Day in 2025 (our fourth year of participation in the celebration) by highlighting stories and ideas from around our Victoria/Australia that align with these concepts and highlight the power of the local to change the system.
This year, we are celebrating
Care through Disaster
Australia reMADE and Women’s Health Goulburn North East partnered to create Care through Disaster, a two-phase initiative exploring how communities can be “seen, safe and supported” in increasingly frequent disasters. Phase 1, launched in 2023, defined the core “Care through Disaster 2.0” framework, arguing that stronger social infrastructure is needed before crises strike, while Phase 2, launched in May 2024, produced a practical toolkit outlining actions for citizens, organisations, and all levels of government — including sectors such as health, emergency services, and local business.
A key federal-level recommendation is to localise the economy, ensuring procurement, supply chains, and
recovery spending are routed through local businesses and social enterprises to keep investment in the region and boost resilience. By strengthening local supply chains, communities can respond faster during disasters, maintain jobs, and preserve regional wellbeing. The project also recommends embedding care into disaster planning – prioritising accessible basic services, mental-health supports, and ongoing community connections. It emphasises governance reforms so federal disaster funding and procurement actively support decentralised, place-based systems.
Through a Community of Practice launching in 2025, participating practitioners will pilot these models in northeast Victoria, sharing lessons and refining the toolkit. Ultimately, Care through Disaster argues that resilience isn’t just about emergency response – it’s about cultivating long-term local care systems, anchored by an economy that works for, and is governed by, the community.
Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS)
VCOSS is the peak body for Victoria’s community sector, and in 2024 released Collaboration for Disaster Resilience, a research summary capturing how grassroots organisations, government, and emergency agencies work together to build more resilient communities. The report draws on six diverse case studies across Victoria, exploring collaborative efforts spanning regions, disasters, and objectives to identify what works in inclusive resilience-building. It emphasises that community service organisations act as trusted local hubs, providing essential information, support, and strong social networks before, during, and after crises. These grassroots groups knit together a safety net for people facing disadvantage, offering responsiveness that top-down models can’t match.
The report outlines four enabling conditions for effective collaboration – clear governance, shared purpose, resourcing, and connection-building – alongside practical actions to strengthen each. VCOSS reinforces the call for secure, long-term investment in local community resilience capacity – beyond short-term emergency funding. As a grassroots-rooted advocacy organisation, VCOSS uses this research to push systemic change, urging policymakers to embed community sector voices into emergency planning and funding. By championing formal and informal partnerships, VCOSS demonstrates that true disaster resilience depends not just on emergency services, but also on the strength, knowledge, and trust of local communities.
Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA)
WELA is an independent grassroots non‑profit empowering women and gender-diverse people to drive transformative systems change on climate and environmental issues in Australia. Through its signature National Leadership Program and intensive workshops, WELA builds confidence, strategic vision, and collaborative skills – equipping participants to influence and reshape institutions, policies, and cultural norms. Their research, such as the Gender, Climate and Environmental Justice report, highlights the gendered impacts of environmental crises and underscores why equitable, diverse leadership is essential for resilient, just systems.
At the grassroots level, WELA fosters peer networks, mentorship, and community-led giving through its Giving Circle – directly funding women-led solutions and ensuring resources flow to those grounded in local and lived experience. They also actively influence policy and advocacy, submitting research-backed recommendations that embed intersectional gender and First Nations leadership into environmental governance. Since 2016, WELA has supported over 240 changemakers whose leadership now informs major environmental campaigns and community initiatives across Australia.
By combining on-the-ground leadership development, funding support, research, and policy advocacy, WELA champions a systemic shift – moving away from outdated hierarchical models towards inclusive, locally rooted, and gender-equitable leadership that better serves communities and the planet.
Women’s Climate Congress (WCC)
WCC is a grassroots Australian non‑profit established in 2020 during the Black Summer fires to address climate change through inclusive, collaborative women’s leadership. It champions women’s full participation in climate decision-making, challenging patriarchal systems by creating dialogue spaces that unite diverse perspectives for transformative action. At its core, WCC operates events like the annual Congress – both virtual and in-person – across Australia (for instance, the 2025 Victorian Congress in Castlemaine), where hundreds of women share experiences, co-create their Charter for Change, and strengthen collective agency.
Through its non-partisan charter and advocacy, WCC engages parliamentarians and public leaders to embed care‑centric, collaborative approaches into climate policy and governance. It actively builds a sustained women’s movement, including the National Congress of Women initiative, focused on restoring care for the Earth as a central pillar of climate action. These initiatives foster peer networks, amplify feminist climate thinking, and support women-led political advocacy. In doing so, the WCC drives systems change from the ground up, reframing political culture from polarisation to cooperation, with values of compassion, care, and intergenerational wellbeing at its heart.
WHGNE World Localisation Day publications to date:
Nourishing our community: A World Localisation Day magazine (2024)
This year, to mark the day we’ve created Local food, local people: Nourishing our community, a digital magazine featuring the first-hand stories
of people across the Goulburn Valley and northeast Victoria, engaged in efforts to ensure fresh produce, community connection and food to nourish the soul are in abundance in our region.
We’ve got stories about cooking classes, community champions, kids with green thumbs and a love of organic fruit and veggies. We’ve got stories of slow shopping and waste reduction, of communities and gardeners who have come together to ensure that the rising cost of living does not exclude access to fresh produce. We’re featuring dedicated health promotion workers, innovators, volunteers and entrepreneurs committed to fostering health, wellbeing, sustainability and community. WHGNE proudly shares these incredible stories here, as we work towards the development of the North East Local Food Strategy, alongside our friends at the Goulburn Valley Public Health Unit as they work towards the Goulburn Valley Food System Strategy. You might even read a little bit about those initiatives too. Bon Appétit!
Sights of Care: A World Localisation Day magazine (2023)
To mark the day, we’ve collaborated with a team of writers, storytellers and all-round good community folk to put together “Sights of Care,” a digital magazine of tales that, we think, demonstrate that there’s a local revolution of generosity, ingenuity, care and power-sharing underway in regional Victoria!
We’ve got stories about the ways in which a new young MP is centering care in her approach to politics, the ways communities banded together to show love in the aftermath of flood, the creation of a hub filled with colour and care that brings LGBTIQA+ people together, and even the world’s first piece of “Care-fi” – “care fiction”, a piece of writing exploring what the future of care will look like.
We Are Here: A World Localisation Day magazine (2022)
To mark the day, we’ve collaborated with a team of writers, storytellers and all-round good community folk to put together “We Are Here,” a
digital magazine of tales that, we think, demonstrate that there’s a local revolution of generosity, ingenuity, care and power-sharing underway in regional Victoria!
We’ve got stories about neighbourhoods coming together to share food, birthing on Country, collective care, the inclusive cycling movement, volunteering and so much more. It’ll leave you with a head brimming with inspiration and a heart full of goodwill!