Mike Lowe has more than 25 years’ international experience with Initiatives of Change leading transformational workshops in trustbuilding and reconciliation. Recently Mike recorded a podcast with Dr Mujib Abid, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Melbourne University Initiative for Peacebuilding, for Dr Abid’s podcast Voices of Unity.
Mike writes:
Among the many responses to the 2025 Bondi Beach terrorist attack and the resulting Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion was an Interfaith Round Table convened in Melbourne by Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins. I was invited to join this to talk about the work of Initiatives of Change Australia, and particularly a Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue I had helped facilitate.
Afterwards I talked to Dr Mujib Abid, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Melbourne University Initiative for Peacebuilding, who was interested to learn more and asked if he could interview me for the podcast he had started called Voices of Unity. A few days later we met at Armagh, the IofCA centre in Melbourne, and I talked about the gift of Armagh, the origins of Initiatives of Change and the ongoing initiatives of trustbuilding rooted in the idea that 'change starts with me’.
Here is Dr Abid’s summary of the podcast episode that resulted from that conversation.
Can lasting peace begin with an honest look at ourselves? For more than a century, the movement now known as Initiatives of Change has explored this question, arguing that reconciliation between people, communities and nations begins with invocations of faith and inner transformation. Across cultures and faith traditions, its work has been guided by this enduring conviction that qualities such as love, honesty, unselfishness and purity of intent can be the practical foundations for peace and reconciliation.
In this episode, I speak with Mike Lowe at Armagh, the historic Toorak mansion that has served as the home of Initiatives of Change Australia since 1956. As we walk through this remarkable space, Mike shares the story of a movement that began in Europe in the aftermath of World War 1 before evolving into the peacebuilding organisation it is today. From its century-long history of reconciliation and dialogue to its ongoing work in Australia and around the world, we explore how personal reflection can serve as the starting point for social transformation.
Listen to the podcast at the link below: