Australian Student Environment Network
An Australia-wide network linking student environment collectives and coordinating environmental and social-justice campaigns.
Last updated November 4, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
The Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN) is a national network of university-based environment collectives and state student environment networks in Australia. It was established at the 1997 Students and Sustainability convergence in Townsville, following an earlier resolution at the 1996 conference in Lismore that supported creating a national student environmental network. Rather than operating as a conventional centralized membership organization, ASEN has generally functioned as a flexible, movement-based network whose participants coordinate through conferences, working groups, campaigns, training programs and informal communication channels. ASEN's principal role is to connect campus environmental groups, share organizing knowledge and help develop national campaigns. Its work has covered climate change, fossil-fuel divestment, coal and coal-seam-gas expansion, renewable energy, food systems, Indigenous solidarity, nuclear-free activism, environmental education and just transitions. The network has also emphasized intersectional social-justice analysis, linking environmental campaigns with questions of sovereignty, self-determination, community health, labor, racial justice and the distribution of environmental harms. The annual Students of Sustainability conference is central to ASEN's identity. The network emerged from that conference and has continued to help organize it, usually during the July university winter break. The gathering provides space for workshops, campaign planning, political education, relationship building and network decision-making. ASEN also holds an annual National Training Camp, generally in January, focused on campaign strategy, advocacy, Indigenous solidarity, self-education and practical organizing skills. Its biannual publication, Germinate, has provided a channel for news, art, commentary and reviews, with editorial responsibility rotating among participating collectives. A major strand of ASEN's activity has been fossil-fuel divestment. After a campaign began at the Australian National University in 2012, the broader network developed a national effort referred to as Lock The Campus. This later connected with 350.org and other groups through the Fossil Free Universities campaign. ASEN has also supported campaigns opposing new coal and coal-seam-gas development, arguing that these industries damage climate stability, land, water and community health. Related climate-justice activity has included Climate Camp, renewable-energy advocacy and opposition to new coal infrastructure. Indigenous solidarity is another longstanding focus. ASEN has sought to support Indigenous struggles for sovereignty and self-determination, including campaigns against nuclear mining and energy projects on Indigenous land. Members have participated in the annual Aboriginal Tent Embassy convergence in Canberra associated with Survival or Invasion Day. The network's just-transition work developed through state-based discussions in 2013 and 2014 and subsequently included participation by Victorian members in EarthWorker and other projects concerned with socially just economic and energy transitions. Historically, ASEN's structure was closely connected to the National Union of Students (NUS). Before 2003, the NUS National Environment Officer automatically served as ASEN's national coordinator. Concerns about accountability and the dependence of ASEN's leadership on NUS electoral processes contributed to efforts to give the network its own decision-making and election arrangements. Direct election of ASEN coordinators was introduced in 2003, although the system changed during the following years. In 2006, ASEN and the NUS environment officer became separate positions, and the NUS environment officer role was abolished after 2017. ASEN was registered as an incorporated organization in June 2006 after several years of structural discussions. The available reference material describes it as one of Australia's longest-running and largest youth environment networks, linking a fluctuating collection of university collectives and state networks.
History
The origins of ASEN lie in the Australian student environmental movement of the 1990s. At the 1996 Students and Sustainability conference in Lismore, delegates endorsed the idea of establishing a national network. A year later, the Townsville conference adopted a series of resolutions formally creating ASEN and inviting campus environment collectives to affiliate. The network drew inspiration from the revitalization of cross-campus state networks, including the New South Wales and Queensland Student Environment Activist Networks. In its first years, ASEN operated primarily as a loose movement network. The Students of Sustainability conference became its main national gathering and an important forum for collective decisions. Email lists and an early website were created, although many of the initial online discussion spaces were short-lived. The website was established in 1998 by NUS National Environment Officer Chris Heppel with assistance from Simon Brown, later becoming inactive before being revived in 2004 by Mike Cebon. ASEN's relationship with the National Union of Students was a continuing structural issue. The network's original arrangements made the NUS National Environment Department its secretariat, effectively giving the NUS National Environment Officer the role of ASEN national coordinator. This arrangement provided an institutional link but also meant that the officer was accountable through NUS processes rather than solely to the student environment movement. Tensions became more visible after a 2001 NUS election produced an environment officer without an established background in the movement. Declining NUS support for the environment department added to pressure for an independent ASEN structure. A rebuilding effort in 2002 led to a national gathering at Canberra's Aboriginal Tent Embassy in January 2003. Participants developed campaign working groups and directly elected Bonnie Rivendell and Eli Greig as national coordinators. Direct election represented an attempt to give the network greater autonomy and accountability. At the 2004 Students of Sustainability conference at La Trobe University's Bundoora campus, students from Victoria and New South Wales began a further series of discussions about ASEN's structure, purpose and membership. These discussions eventually produced a constitution, and ASEN was registered as an incorporated organization in June 2006. The separation between ASEN's national convenor and the NUS National Environment Officer was formalized in 2006. Although the precise arrangements changed over time, ASEN continued to rely on participatory network structures rather than a permanent centralized hierarchy. After 2017, the NUS environment officer position was abolished, ending the formal role that had shaped ASEN's early development. Campaign-wise, ASEN increasingly focused on climate justice, fossil-fuel divestment and opposition to coal and coal-seam-gas expansion. An Australian National University environment collective began a divestment campaign in 2012. ASEN helped broaden that work into the Lock The Campus national campaign, which later developed into Fossil Free Universities in cooperation with 350.org and other organizations. State networks also began deliberate just-transition discussions in 2013 and 2014, while Victorian participants became involved in EarthWorker and related cooperative initiatives from 2014 onward. Indigenous solidarity remained a core part of the network's political identity. ASEN participants have supported Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination campaigns, opposed nuclear mining and energy projects on Indigenous land, and taken part in the Aboriginal Tent Embassy convergence in Canberra. Other ongoing activities have included national training, food-cooperative and community-garden information sharing, climate camps, renewable-energy campaigns, anti-coal and anti-gas work, and publication of the Germinate zine. The available reference describes ASEN as one of Australia's longest-running and largest youth environmental networks, connecting a changing number of campus collectives and state-based networks.
- 2017
NUS environment officer role abolished
[1]The National Union of Students environment officer position was abolished after 2017, ending its formal historical connection to ASEN's coordination structure.
- 2012
Fossil-fuel divestment work expands nationally
[1]Following an ANU campus divestment campaign, ASEN began developing a national campaign that became associated with Lock The Campus and later Fossil Free Universities.
- 2006
Incorporation and separation from NUS office
[1]ASEN was registered as an incorporated organization, and its national convenor role was separated from the NUS National Environment Officer position.
- 2003
Direct election of ASEN coordinators
[1]A national gathering at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy led to the first direct election of ASEN national coordinators by the network.
- 1998
First website created
[1]An early ASEN website was created by NUS National Environment Officer Chris Heppel with assistance from Simon Brown.
- 1997
ASEN established
[1]Resolutions at the Students and Sustainability conference in Townsville established the Australian Student Environment Network.
- 1996
National network proposed
[1]Delegates at the Students and Sustainability conference in Lismore endorsed the idea of forming a national Australian student environmental network.
Products and positioning
A grassroots, student-led national network combining environmental campaigning with social justice, Indigenous solidarity, movement education and direct action.
Conference · 1997
Students of Sustainability
ASEN's annual national conference, usually held on a university campus during the July winter break. It combines workshops, political education, campaign planning, movement networking and organizational decision-making. The conference predates ASEN's formal creation and has remained the network's principal national gathering.
Training program
National Training Camp
An annual January training event for people developing skills in environmental campaigning, advocacy, campaign strategy, Indigenous solidarity, self-education and network maintenance. It serves both as a skills-building program and as a means of bringing new participants into the national movement.
Publication
Germinate
A biannual ASEN zine containing environmental news, artwork, opinion pieces and reviews. Editorial responsibility is rotated among participating collectives, reflecting the network's distributed and participatory structure.
Campaign
Fossil Free Universities
A national university fossil-fuel divestment campaign developed from ASEN's Lock The Campus work and conducted with 350.org and other groups. The campaign seeks to use university investment policies and campus organizing to challenge the legitimacy and expansion of the fossil-fuel industry.
Network project
Food co-operative working group
A knowledge-sharing initiative connecting students interested in food cooperatives, worm farms and community gardens. Its purpose is to help campus and community groups exchange practical information and develop joint projects.
Marketing campaigns
- 2013Just Transitions
Australia
State networks established working groups for political education and discussion of socially just transitions in energy, employment and the economy.
Outcome. From 2014, Victorian ASEN participants became more active in EarthWorker cooperative and related transition projects.
- 2012Lock The Campus
Australia
ASEN expanded campus fossil-fuel divestment activity into a national campaign following an initiative at the Australian National University.
Outcome. The campaign later contributed to the Fossil Free Universities campaign with 350.org and other national groups; the broader work is described as ongoing.
- Fossil Free Universities
Australia
A university-focused fossil-fuel divestment campaign involving ASEN, 350.org and other organizations.
Outcome. The campaign remains one of ASEN's major national commitments according to the reference material.
- No Coal No Gas
Australia
A set of campaigns opposing the expansion of coal and coal-seam-gas industries because of their effects on climate, land and community health.
Outcome. ASEN participants have taken part in anti-coal and anti-gas projects across Australia.
- Indigenous solidarity and nuclear-free organizing
Australia
ASEN supports Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination campaigns, including opposition to nuclear mining and energy projects on Indigenous lands.
Outcome. Participants have contributed to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy convergence in Canberra and related solidarity work.
- Climate Justice
Australia
A loose network supporting local and national projects including Climate Camp, renewable-energy campaigns and opposition to new coal development.
Outcome. The work operates through changing projects and participating campus and state collectives.
Brand decisions
2012
Scale up university fossil-fuel divestmentStrategyBackground
An ANU environment collective had begun a campus divestment campaign.
Action taken
ASEN developed the work into a national campaign known as Lock The Campus and later connected it with Fossil Free Universities.
Aftermath
Fossil-fuel divestment became one of ASEN's largest continuing national commitments.
2006
Formalize ASEN's independent structureStrategyBackground
Discussions after the 2004 Students of Sustainability conference focused on membership, purpose and governance.
Action taken
ASEN was registered as an incorporated organization, and its national convenor role was separated from the NUS National Environment Officer.
Aftermath
ASEN gained a more distinct organizational identity while retaining a distributed network model.
2003
Introduce direct election of ASEN coordinatorsStrategyBackground
Dependence on the NUS National Environment Officer had raised questions about ASEN's accountability and independence.
Action taken
A national gathering at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy directly elected ASEN national coordinators.
Aftermath
The network continued working toward independent decision-making and later adopted a constitution and incorporated structure.
1997
Create a national student environment networkStrategyBackground
The student environmental movement sought to connect revitalized state networks and campus collectives across Australia.
Action taken
The Students and Sustainability conference in Townsville adopted resolutions establishing ASEN.
Aftermath
ASEN developed as a loose national network coordinated through conferences, working groups and participating collectives.
Recent events
Kyyba announces acquisition of Asen[3]
Reported:
Kyyba Inc. announced that it had acquired Chicago-area-based Asen. The acquisition was expected to add more than 80 employees; the source does not state that the acquisition had been completed.
Kyyba acquires Asen[4]
Reported:
Kyyba acquired Asen, a professional services firm. Asen's president, Lana Gertz, was to remain and help employees and clients with the transition.
Sources4 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/australian-student-environment-network · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled