Last week the CCSS team attended the launch of the Dhurga Room Naming Project and Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) at the Country Universities Centre Southern Shoalhaven. It was a moment that felt both celebratory and powerful.
At the launch, Centre Manager Adam Gowen shared how the two projects emerged and evolved over time. Alongside board member Paul Goodwin, he spoke about the RAP not as a checklist or a document, but as a shared journey shaped by learning, listening, and sharing along the way.
What stood out most was how the projects unfolded. The Dhurga Language Room naming project began with the idea of naming rooms using Dhurga language, and grew into something much richer, incorporating visual and audio storytelling that embeds Dhurga language into the everyday life of the centre. It is not just something to read on a wall, but something to hear, experience, and carry.
Developed in partnership with the Ulladulla Local Aboriginal Land Council (ULALC), the project places real value on hearing Dhurga language spoken aloud. At the launch, ULALC CEO Leanne Brooks shared that while written resources like dictionaries are important, it is only through listening that people can truly learn how the words are said, how they sound, how they feel, and how language stays living rather than fixed on a page.
Beyond Empathy’s social enterprise BE Studios were engaged to record the video interviews that accompany the room names, helping to capture voices and stories with care.
Leanne also spoke about the artwork being created for the CUC foyer space. She reflected on a collaboration grounded in respect, where the centre did not arrive with set outputs, but worked alongside the Land Council, allowing space for responses that felt meaningful to the Ulladulla Local Aboriginal Land Council and to the Murramarang people.
It was a reminder that when projects are built slowly, collaboratively, and with trust, the outcomes carry depth and last well beyond a launch day.
View the stories and interviews here
Artwork is by Murramurang Yuin Artist Leanne Brook.