Project summaries - 2008 Environmental Education - community grants

Anglicare Diocese of Sydney
Growing for Good
Grant: $70,560

The "Growing for Good" project will focus on empowering community members to adopt more environmentally sustainable practices, through educational programs and hands on practice. The skills developed over the life of this program will enable marginalised members of our community to make positive steps to meeting their own needs whilst participating in communal activities within a cross section of the broader community. "Growing for Good" encompasses practices that are good for our environment and good for our physical and mental health.

Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation Australia Inc
Sustainability action for the Australian Asian community
Grant: $74,100

This program will seek to promote sustainable living and active participation in environmental protection within the growing Australian Asian community. The focus will be on fostering sustainable living practices at home, work and within our community organisations. We will do this by promoting energy and water conservation and sustainable transport, tree planting and waste reduction to mitigate the effects of climate change. This program specifically targets environmental issues in an Australian Asian context as there is a gap in ethnic residents' understanding of the issues and the part they can play at home, school, business and within community organisations. We will make a difference at the grass roots level within the Chinese, Taiwanese, Malaysian, Indonesian and Vietnamese communities.

Camping and Caravan Industry Association of NSW
Gumnut Award distant learning program
Grant: $75,080

The Caravan and Camping Industry in partnership with the University of Western Sydney seek to develop an online distant learning program that engages caravan parks and manufactured home villages in regional and remote areas across NSW to adopting sustainable practices. The program will include a workbook based learning package that takes participants through three significant stages of constant improvement with each stage demonstrating an ongoing commitment to sustainable practices.

Back to top

Environmental Defenders Office Limited
Private conservation program
Grant: $94,657

A private conservation program comprising three elements:

1. A plain-English publication providing both an overview and critical analysis of the various private conservation options, with local case studies.
2. Workshops complementing the publication in locations across NSW.
3. A private conservation partnership project with selected law firms and the Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) to facilitate the provision of pro-bono legal advice to landholders who are interested in undertaking private conservation.

Housing Trust
Community Housing learning for sustainability
Grant: $27,500

1. Environmental educators will develop an environmental management plan for the Trust's office.
2. Two typical tenanted dwellings will be audited for energy, water, chemicals and resource use to benchmark current practice. Actions will be identified to reduce use in each area and monitored for change.
3. A series of focus groups will be held to consult with fifty tenants (10%) to identify their level of knowledge and understanding of sustainable living and actions that could be adopted to reduce their ecological footprint. Actions will be monitored for effectiveness. Based on these activities a manual will be produced for use by other social housing providers.
4. Develop sustainability guidelines for new developments.
5. Dissemination of information through newsletters, regional and state meetings of housing providers and the NSW Community Housing Conference.

Lake Macquarie Landcare - Schools Network
Lake Macquarie Landcare for Youth
Grant: $75,000

Landcare for Youth (L4Y) is a timely and proven environmental education program designed for youth, aged 0-25 years, attending schools (from pre-school to tertiary colleges) in the district of Lake Macquarie. The purpose of the program is to enable youth to carry out Landcare restoration and rehabilitation projects on their own educational grounds. It provides schools with resources, personnel and an extensive interagency network. There has never been a better time for a program such as this. Schools are keen to make their centres ecologically sustainable learning environments - but have limited funds, resources, know-how, and time. Young people want to be active contributors to ecological sustainable practice - but they don't know where to begin, and businesses want to invest in the environmental health of their community, but can't afford tokenism.. It's time for L4Y!

Back to top

National Parks Association of NSW
Building a NSW community driven marine park authority education network
Grant: $84,204

The project will build strong support within NSW communities for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) through the establishment of a network of regional self-supporting MPA education 'hubs'. It will build capacity of local groups to generate widespread public understanding and support for the establishment and management of MPAs. NPA's training of regional educators will enable local groups to collectively cultivate state-wide promotion of the benefits of MPAs and construct the framework for ongoing informed debate and participation in MPA creation and management at a local level. Such educators will engage various local groups through workshops, distributing educational and research materials and establishing local contact points of 'hubs' rich in knowledge of MPA issues. A state-wide MPA Education Network Facilitator will train educators and coordinate and support the ongoing local work.

NSW Early Childhood Environmental Education Network (NSW ECEEN) Inc
Eco centres for early childhood
Grant: $100,000

This is a pilot project to develop, manage and promote education for sustainability as a desirable value and practice within NSW early childhood services. A part time project facilitator will lead the formation of a number of regional groups of early childhood services with a purpose to create a branding for an eco group of centres. The group will include both suburban and high density centre based early childhood services and will build on foundations established by NSW ECEEN since 2004. The project will include working with services, their families and communities to develop practices relating to environmental sustainability and then marketing the concept of eco centres for early childhood to the wider community within NSW.

WetlandCare Australia
Starting in your Backyard - living on the edge
Grant: $24,961

WetlandCare Australia will facilitate a community empowerment project providing residents living adjacent to a local wetland with the information (about the environment) hands on experience and examples (in the environment) and tools (for the environment) to ultimately contribute to the protection of these valuable waterway, wetland and reserve ecosystems. The project will assist residents in developing their own goals and plan for how they are going to assist in protecting/enhancing the wider ecosystem, starting with their own backyard and what they do in it. The project will be documented in such a way that it will become extendable to other sites with residential developments adjoining wetlands, waterways or reserves. A series of information bulletins will also be produced based on issues raised at the workshops (the needs of residents 'living on the edge').

World Wide Fund for Nature Australia
A Kid's Guide to Climate Change - a positive message by kids for kids
Grant: $29,200

"Kid's Guide to Climate Change" is a positive educational media project by kids for kids. This project was initiated by a 13 year old girl, Parrys Raines WWF youth ambassador, environmentalist and presenter at the UN International Children's Conference on the Environment (UN) 2008, who is concerned about climate change and wishes to educate other children on what positive steps they can make toward long term behavioural changes. By educating children in a positive and entertaining way Parrys hopes to motivate children across Australia to act in caring for their local environment. The downloadable DVD with teaching materials demonstrates to children what they can do in their everyday lives to reduce their ecological footprint by containing visual and fun information about recycling, sustainability, consuming, saving water and electricity, transport, planting and creating an eco garden.

Back to Top