Our economic system and the power structures behind it have played a defining role in our relationship with the natural environment. Biodiversity, native ecosystems and water quality have been rapidly deteriorating over the past 50 years – so where do we go from here?

Glenys MacLellan will take you on a journey of discovery, exploring how we arrived at today’s environmental, economic and social challenges.

She will discuss the role of neoclassical economics in shaping the modern world, and consider how its assumptions and priorities have contributed to the ecological, social and economic problems we face today. In order to address climate change and the human misery these systems can create, we need to rethink the systems themselves.

Glenys will explore what a new political and economic system should deliver, and what aspects of the current system we should keep, reform, regulate or replace.

The discussion will be guided by participants and may focus on local priorities for Nelson Tasman, national priorities for change, where action could be most effective, or other ideas from the floor.

Glenys MacLellan is a self-described generalist and autodidact who is much more interested in trying to explain the thinking behind political, economic and power structures than the details of their theories. 

Glenys previously works as a bookkeeper in a variety of sectors. She currently volunteers for the Beneficiaries & Unwaged Workers Trust and is treasurer and member of the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum Leadership Group.

Register HERE

This event is part of Climate Action Festival 2026. See the full program here.