Taking little eco-steps.
Ok so I've gone off on a little tangent with my study this evening, but it's proven useful.
My mum tweeted ( of all things she'd be likely to network with) a link to a website for World Environment Day
I thought it was pretty cool and the award for the education and schools caught my eye. I looked at the entry criteria and it said to supply any media coverage your project has recieved. I remember an article being written for our Yass project this year and I also remembered that 'she' took my printed copy. So I went on a hunt in google, came up with nothing. Normally I'd consider google searches to be pretty decent, but i decided to have one last stab at finding it through the journal / newspaper article finder found in UC's library portal.
BAM.
It worked.
This project is something of which i'm particularly proud to be associated. That guy Tony Robbins said something on a late night television commercial once which has always stuck in my mind, and it's come to pass as a bit of a mantra that I repeat to myself when I feel like i'm in a rut. "It's great to plan something, put time aside for something, but when you actually do something, it becomes real."
Well we made this project real and it feels great.
Over the last few months, I have participated in several activities centred on themes of sustainability. Being part of community-run sustainability expos has been great fun because of the variety of ideas presented to help reduce our environmental footprints. These expos attract groups like Landcare and Greening Australia, reusable resource industries like solar power, water tanks, worm farming, and general interest ideas like no- soap soap. The stalls tend towards one aspect of sustainability, probably because community-based sustainability expos are about small steps. They try to get people thinking about their habits and behaviours through simple alternatives that can make a difference.
Academic discussions about sustainability are also often quite specialised. The fun starts when participants come from many disciplines; although there is a danger that discussions sink into debates of definition fuelled by different understandings of what encompasses being sustainable and how to assess sustainability, especially at a whole systems level. This is not a simple equation of commodities and resource use. Rather, equations of sustainability have to include interacting flows through the whole earth system, from the usual culprits of energy, water and nutrients to human behaviours, laws, self-interest interpretations and population numbers. The bottom line is that the sustainability of our planet ultimately depends on the integration of reliable knowledge towards doable behaviours that allow overall reduction in our environmental footprints within stable community, economic and political frameworks.
A recent project between the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of Canberra and Yass Public School, a small primary school on the banks of the Yass River, grappled with these issues. Yass Public School wanted a sustainable environment for their school community. Four final year environmental science students at UC signed up for the challenge. Hiroko Suzuki (Sue), Ciera Jones, Mark Sweaney, and Joe Stephens had to develop a plan that was practical and doable for the school community. Visits to the school and talking with Yass City Council Rangers, Landcare, and Greening Australia, and personal and global perspectives gleaned from in-house discussions prompted the students to forgo individual projects for an integrated approach looking at water usage, landscape design of the school grounds, and educational programs for the students integrating science, behaviours and art. Jones took the lead on education and worked with Year 5/6 classes and their teacher Phil Cox. Her lessons tracked the progress of the other three UC students through composting to foodwebs, water and nutrient cycles, soil characteristics and chemistry, and native gardens.
The young children loved working with the university students. It was exciting to see them grapple with the complexities of their school system and develop an appreciation of what it takes to care; what we can do to make a difference; and how these actions influence the overall sustainability of the school. Stephens worked with students to quantify weekly water usage through flushing toilets, washing hands and drinking from bubblers. They identified that 92 per cent of water used by the school came from these activities and, to the horror of students and staff, old-fashioned pull-flush toilets accounted for most water usage. Duel flush toilets would reduce water consumption by 80 per cent.
Stephens also looked at the chemistry of run-off from the school roofs, especially the old buildings. He found that water quality was within drinking water standards, providing Suzuki and Sweaney with a resource for their landscaping ideas. Suzuki and Sweaney developed a fascinating mixture of landscaping that met playground safety criteria within frameworks of ecological sustainability, integrated with Jones's educational programs. Yass Landcare donated about 300 native plants, many endemic to the region. Sweaney developed a plant species plan to attract small birds that are being pushed out of urban areas because of habitat destruction, and worked with Suzuki to design native alcoves in the school grounds to maximise bird, insect and lizard colonisation while discouraging snakes and spiders. The landscape design also weaves in areas for education, like outdoor learning platforms, and creative exploration through play.
This project highlights the growing need for professionals who can engage with many disciplines that provide knowledge and guidance towards sustainability and who can develop feasible alternatives to the way we live, work and play. Four months later ... my students have first-hand experiences with the challenges of incorporating knowledge into community programs aimed at behavioural changes. They grappled with integrating school priorities such as playground safety with their ideals for ecologically sustainable landscapes. Yass Public School has taken a giant leap towards a sustainable school community through integrated programs. They have a set of achievable actions that provide immediate improvements in water use together with longer-term plans to transform the school grounds into a predominantly native garden that is safe, easy to maintain and that incorporates interesting alcoves for native wildlife as well as human learning and play.
Margi Bohm is course convenor for the Bachelor of Environmental Science degree at the University of Canberra.
Maybe this is all coming from being a bit reflective of my career as a student. Either way I feel good about what I've done.
My mum tweeted ( of all things she'd be likely to network with) a link to a website for World Environment Day
I thought it was pretty cool and the award for the education and schools caught my eye. I looked at the entry criteria and it said to supply any media coverage your project has recieved. I remember an article being written for our Yass project this year and I also remembered that 'she' took my printed copy. So I went on a hunt in google, came up with nothing. Normally I'd consider google searches to be pretty decent, but i decided to have one last stab at finding it through the journal / newspaper article finder found in UC's library portal.
BAM.
It worked.
This project is something of which i'm particularly proud to be associated. That guy Tony Robbins said something on a late night television commercial once which has always stuck in my mind, and it's come to pass as a bit of a mantra that I repeat to myself when I feel like i'm in a rut. "It's great to plan something, put time aside for something, but when you actually do something, it becomes real."
Well we made this project real and it feels great.
Over the last few months, I have participated in several activities centred on themes of sustainability. Being part of community-run sustainability expos has been great fun because of the variety of ideas presented to help reduce our environmental footprints. These expos attract groups like Landcare and Greening Australia, reusable resource industries like solar power, water tanks, worm farming, and general interest ideas like no- soap soap. The stalls tend towards one aspect of sustainability, probably because community-based sustainability expos are about small steps. They try to get people thinking about their habits and behaviours through simple alternatives that can make a difference.
Academic discussions about sustainability are also often quite specialised. The fun starts when participants come from many disciplines; although there is a danger that discussions sink into debates of definition fuelled by different understandings of what encompasses being sustainable and how to assess sustainability, especially at a whole systems level. This is not a simple equation of commodities and resource use. Rather, equations of sustainability have to include interacting flows through the whole earth system, from the usual culprits of energy, water and nutrients to human behaviours, laws, self-interest interpretations and population numbers. The bottom line is that the sustainability of our planet ultimately depends on the integration of reliable knowledge towards doable behaviours that allow overall reduction in our environmental footprints within stable community, economic and political frameworks.
A recent project between the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of Canberra and Yass Public School, a small primary school on the banks of the Yass River, grappled with these issues. Yass Public School wanted a sustainable environment for their school community. Four final year environmental science students at UC signed up for the challenge. Hiroko Suzuki (Sue), Ciera Jones, Mark Sweaney, and Joe Stephens had to develop a plan that was practical and doable for the school community. Visits to the school and talking with Yass City Council Rangers, Landcare, and Greening Australia, and personal and global perspectives gleaned from in-house discussions prompted the students to forgo individual projects for an integrated approach looking at water usage, landscape design of the school grounds, and educational programs for the students integrating science, behaviours and art. Jones took the lead on education and worked with Year 5/6 classes and their teacher Phil Cox. Her lessons tracked the progress of the other three UC students through composting to foodwebs, water and nutrient cycles, soil characteristics and chemistry, and native gardens.
The young children loved working with the university students. It was exciting to see them grapple with the complexities of their school system and develop an appreciation of what it takes to care; what we can do to make a difference; and how these actions influence the overall sustainability of the school. Stephens worked with students to quantify weekly water usage through flushing toilets, washing hands and drinking from bubblers. They identified that 92 per cent of water used by the school came from these activities and, to the horror of students and staff, old-fashioned pull-flush toilets accounted for most water usage. Duel flush toilets would reduce water consumption by 80 per cent.
Stephens also looked at the chemistry of run-off from the school roofs, especially the old buildings. He found that water quality was within drinking water standards, providing Suzuki and Sweaney with a resource for their landscaping ideas. Suzuki and Sweaney developed a fascinating mixture of landscaping that met playground safety criteria within frameworks of ecological sustainability, integrated with Jones's educational programs. Yass Landcare donated about 300 native plants, many endemic to the region. Sweaney developed a plant species plan to attract small birds that are being pushed out of urban areas because of habitat destruction, and worked with Suzuki to design native alcoves in the school grounds to maximise bird, insect and lizard colonisation while discouraging snakes and spiders. The landscape design also weaves in areas for education, like outdoor learning platforms, and creative exploration through play.
This project highlights the growing need for professionals who can engage with many disciplines that provide knowledge and guidance towards sustainability and who can develop feasible alternatives to the way we live, work and play. Four months later ... my students have first-hand experiences with the challenges of incorporating knowledge into community programs aimed at behavioural changes. They grappled with integrating school priorities such as playground safety with their ideals for ecologically sustainable landscapes. Yass Public School has taken a giant leap towards a sustainable school community through integrated programs. They have a set of achievable actions that provide immediate improvements in water use together with longer-term plans to transform the school grounds into a predominantly native garden that is safe, easy to maintain and that incorporates interesting alcoves for native wildlife as well as human learning and play.
Margi Bohm is course convenor for the Bachelor of Environmental Science degree at the University of Canberra.
Maybe this is all coming from being a bit reflective of my career as a student. Either way I feel good about what I've done.