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Op shops and secondhand stores are booming in Katoomba, part of a growing interest in the circular economy. It's also helping locals save money while looking good in vintage and retro fashion.

From cats to cars, barbed wire to fruit nets, native wildlife face daily dangers, many of them human-related. In a Wildlife Emergency Assistance Workshop presented by Tracy Burgess from the Blue Mountains Branch of WIRES participants learnt about measures we can take to prevent injuries to wildlife, and what to do if we encounter an injured or sick native animal.

Katoomba artist, writer and scholar Teya Brooks Pribac has spent the last two decades learning about the rich, complex lives and contributions of the animals who are our allies in creating a habitable planet. As part of her animal advocacy she's written Enter the Animal and Not Just Another Vegan Cookbook. New work on animal cultures is on the horizon.

Learning to give our worries and anxieties less dominance by being fully present in our bodies through dance is a valuable art to master. Dancer Beckie Wilson is sharing her dance practice at both Bursill Lane Studio and with young people in the Street University in Katoomba.

After focusing on protecting NSW wilderness areas for more than 30 years, conservationist Keith Muir turns his attention to his own Blue Mountains backyard.

The garden is the first line of defence in a bushfire, but that doesn’t mean sacrificing liveable spaces for the rest of the year. Landscape architect Sue Bell explains how we can balance good garden design with sound bushfire principles.

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead once famously said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

A home among the gum trees is a dream for many of us. But turning that dream into a reality in one of the most bushfire-prone regions in the country can be tricky. Architect Nigel Bell helps us navigate the fundamentals of building or renovating for bushfire resilience.

A passionate birder for over 40 years, Carol Probets shares the joys of birdwatching, while revealing the changes to the prevailing birds of the Blue Mountains and why they matter.

Almost 30 years ago, the Blue Mountains Wildplant Rescue Service began salvaging local plant species from building sites. Its Katoomba Native Plant Nursery continues to preserve and propagate the plants of our World Heritage area while helping locals recreate a piece of the bush at home.