This four-part online series explores grief, loss, dying and care through lived experience, contemporary knowledge and reflective practice. Rather than positioning death and grief as experiences to fear, avoid or fix, this series approaches them as natural, relational and deeply human aspects of life. In cultures where conversations about mortality are often delayed until crisis arrives, this learning series offers space to build confidence, understanding and practical wisdom before those moments occur. Bringing together leading practitioners in death literacy, community development, creative arts and end-of-life care, each session combines contemporary knowledge with reflective inquiry, practical resources and lived experience. Participants are invited to consider not only how we care for others through illness, dying and bereavement, but also how we understand our own relationship with loss, change and mortality.
Why this series?
As communities, workplaces and families increasingly seek more compassionate ways of responding to grief and dying, there is growing need for:
grief literacy
death and end-of-life awareness
relational confidence
compassionate communities
trauma-informed approaches to care
reflective practice
meaningful conversations about mortality
Whether you work in health, education, community services, the arts, counselling or simply wish to feel more prepared for life’s inevitable transitions, this series offers practical knowledge alongside opportunities for personal reflection.
Presented in partnership with The Death Literacy Institute
This series is presented in partnership with the Death Literacy Institute (DLI), an organisation dedicated to creating a world where death is recognised as part of life. Through education, research and community engagement, the Institute builds the knowledge, skills and confidence that enable individuals and communities to respond more compassionately to dying, caregiving, grief and loss. Together, MIECAT and the Death Literacy Institute share a commitment to reflective practice, relational inquiry and community-based approaches to care. This partnership creates a learning environment that is thoughtful, practical and grounded in both lived experience and contemporary knowledge.
Dates
Sundays | 6.00–8.00pm (Online)
Session 1 – 2 August
Session 2 – 23 August
Session 3 – 13 September
Session 4 – 4 October
All sessions will be recorded and made available to registered participants for four weeks following each workshop.
Participants will
By the end of the series, participants will:
develop greater confidence discussing grief, loss, dying and care
strengthen their capacity to accompany others through illness, death, bereavement and major life transitions
build practical end-of-life literacy, including awareness of resources, planning, rituals and care options
learn from lived experience, professional practice and contemporary thinking in the field
deepen understanding of their own relationship with grief, mortality and meaning-making
strengthen relational and trauma-informed skills relevant across professional and everyday contexts
Session 1
End-of-Life Literacy & Practical Wisdom
Presenter: Danni Petkovic This workshop introduces participants to death literacy as a foundation for living and caring well. Through reflective dialogue, shared inquiry and practical discussion, participants will explore how personal, cultural and social understandings shape experiences of dying, caregiving and grief. Together we will examine what it means to prepare for end-of-life with greater awareness, agency and compassion while identifying existing strengths, knowledge and resources that support individuals, families and communities through life’s final chapter.
Session 2
Meeting Grief: Language, Literacy & Shared Humanity
Presenter: Holly Rankin-Smith Grief is not a problem to solve but a deeply human experience to accompany. Through reflective inquiry, shared storytelling and contemporary grief frameworks, this workshop explores the language, assumptions and cultural narratives that influence how we understand and respond to loss. Participants will develop greater confidence supporting themselves and others while strengthening the relational skills that help reduce isolation and foster connection.
Session 3
Ritual, Meaning & Creative Responses to Loss
Presenters: Danni Petkovic & Kim Karamanian Creativity and ritual have long helped people navigate grief, remembrance and continuing bonds. This arts-based workshop explores how storytelling, memorialisation, ceremony and creative practice can support meaning-making following loss. Participants will engage in reflective and creative activities including ritual design, farewell writing and memory-making while considering contemporary approaches to mourning, legacy and remembrance.
Session 4
Tending as an Aesthetics of Care
Presenter: Niki Read Care is not always about solving problems. Often, it begins with learning how to stay present. This reflective, arts-based workshop explores tending as a relational practice grounded in attention, presence and ethical witnessing. Through observation, creative practice and dialogue, participants will explore ways of responding to vulnerability, uncertainty and grief with greater compassion, relational responsibility and confidence. Participants will leave with practical, creative approaches that can be integrated into both professional practice and everyday life.
Important information
While lived experience is warmly welcomed, this series is designed for education, reflective practice and professional development rather than therapeutic or bereavement support. Participants are expected to take responsibility for their own wellbeing during the workshops. Those seeking therapeutic bereavement support are encouraged to contact us for recommendations to appropriate counselling or grief support services.
Can’t attend live?
All sessions will be recorded and made available exclusively to registered participants for four weeks after each workshop. By registering for this online series, participants acknowledge that sessions will be recorded. You are welcome to keep your camera off and participate in ways that feel comfortable for you.
Supporting research
As part of the Death Literacy Institute’s commitment to research and program development, participants will be invited to complete brief pre- and post-program death literacy evaluation surveys. The findings contribute to ongoing research, strengthen future program design and support funding for community death literacy initiatives.
Your Facilitators
Niki Read works at the intersection of art, death, grief, community and care. For more than fifteen years she has contributed to the death literacy movement through research, arts and health, funeral and doula services, education and community development. A visual artist, writer and creative facilitator, Niki is interested in how people make meaning through stories, relationships, community and creative practice. She is Senior Program Manager with both the Death Literacy Institute and La Trobe University’s Public Health Palliative Care Unit, and is currently completing a Master of Therapeutic Arts Practice at MIECAT Institute.
Danni Petkovic is a Death Literacy Educator and Mortality Doula whose work is grounded in the belief that dying, grief and transition are profound human experiences deserving of care, presence and community. Through her practice, Liminal Being, she supports individuals and families through end-of-life, bereavement and major life transitions using advocacy, advance care planning, legacy work, ceremony and compassionate accompaniment.
Holly Rankin-Smith is a community development practitioner working to strengthen compassionate communities around care, dying, grief and loss. Her background spans the arts, social change and public health, and includes work with La Trobe University, The GroundSwell Project and Big hART. She is passionate about building community capacity and creating opportunities for people to engage more openly with ageing, caregiving, dying and grief. Holly is the creator of the Eulogy Archive.
Kim Karamanian is a Creative Arts Therapist, educator and founder of Creative Beings Art Therapy. Drawing on experience across healthcare, disability, community and palliative care settings, Kim supports people to use creativity as a pathway for reflection, connection and meaning-making. Her work is informed by professional practice and more than three decades of lived experience navigating grief, loss and end-of-life care.