http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/299111
Examples on Wordpress blog



]]> Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:44:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/299111 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/297121
An exciting opportunity exists to join the peak environment group in Canberra. We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated person to work on the ACT otherWISE project. ACT otherWISE is an innovative community development initiative to train, network and support young people in the ACT to work towards a more sustainable community through individual lifestyle actions and community projects. For more information see http://ozotherwise.wordpress.com

As the support project officer, you will assist the project officer in organising and running training workshops; developing training materials; providing follow up support to young people as they take action in their own lives and in the community; and coordinating a community coalition and emergent peer network in the region. In addition you will be involved in publishing a booklet on how young people in the ACT are living and acting otherWISE and organising a World Environment Day celebration for June 2008.

Download the position description (PDF)

Applications are due COB Thursday 3 January 2008.

For further information about this position please contact Rachael Millsom, the Project Officer, in November and January on 6229 3211 or Cameron Neil on 0402 072 452 during December.
]]> Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:28:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/297121 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/294833
Investments Partnerships

ACT otherWISE started in September 2006 through the support of ACT Environment. This initial investment of $15000, plus $5000 from RMIT University and the invaluable in-kind contributions of Coalition organisations and members and inspired community members and young people, allowed ACT otherWISE to get started and run until August 2007. ACT otherWISE then successfully applied early in the year for a $10000 Youth Change Maker grant to support young Canberrans with a number of their sustainability projects and further training. In July 2007, ACT otherWISE received approximately $60,000 over three years from the Dept of Health to continue the program with the goal of promoting and helping to achieve a more sustainable and healthy ACT. We were also notified in September that we had received another $15000 investment from ACT Environment.

ACT otherWISE is immensely grateful to our financial investors, as well as to the Conservation Council for hosting the project, and for its network of fantastic supporting organisations and individuals including the University of Canberra, Office of Sustainability ACT (TAMS), CIT, ACT Sustainable Schools, Nature and Society Forum and AAEE.


Workshops

This year ACT otherWISE ran its second facilitator training and five youth workshops.

The workshops in 2007 included:
• February - a single workshop was run for a group of seven Venturer Scouts covering the ecological footprint and action planning.
• March – a two session workshop for 18 students in year 10 at Orana High School
• April – two mini workshops for 45 - 50 young people at the 2007 Youth InterACT conference
• October – Facilitator Training for 7 facilitators (including myself). Cameron ran facilitator training on October 11th for a bunch of enthusiastic facilitators, many who have already assisted at the current youth workshops. Of these four have already assisted at November workshops
• November – three session workshop for 21 students in year 10 at Orana High School, the other half of year 10 students that didn’t do the workshop in March
• November – three session workshop run over three consecutive Wednesday evenings at the Griffen Center for 15 youth (the final session is next Wednesday!) At a busy time of the year these fun, enthusiastic and passionate youth made the workshop. ACT otherWISE looks forward to working with them on projects next year.

Youth Projects

In between workshops ACT otherWISE has supported youth from the November 2006 open workshop in their various projects, which included obtaining some funding through a Youth Change Makers grant provided by the Foundation for Young Australians.

The projects included:
• A Uranium documentary by youth, for youth, which has been shown at the Dendy cinema in Canberra in its current form – the youth are looking at spicing up the second half of the documentary and there are still some interest groups that they haven’t interviewed yet. We look forward to seeing the final product.
• A sewing group which ran a sewing workshop for youth in August and just recently (18th November) held a fantastic clothes swap event. It was a successful afternoon; there were heaps of clothes, young people, music, drinks and yummy homemade nibbles. The group plan on running more sewing workshops and clothes swap events next year. We look forward to it!
• In August this year we supported 3 workshop participants and 10 other members of the network to attend a youth LEAD workshop run by OzGreen. Each of them returned from the workshop inspired and motivated to do more to create a sustainable and healthy Canberra. The other YouthLEAD participants have also joined our network.

Community and the ACT otherWISE network

But that’s not it! ACT otherWISE has continued to build networks in the community, as well as run other activities for young people in Canberra including:
• An October monthly activity: 8 youth caught up at Floriade to attend an actewAGL sustainability workshop and share a lunch together.
• A November monthly activity: the first of quarterly energy workshops run by HEAT (the Home Energy Advice Team)
• In November ACT otherWISE ran the ecological footprint activity at an introductory SEE-Change event in south Woden
• Bi monthly coalition meetings
• Further development of training and workshop materials
• We look forward to visiting a sustainable house tomorrow with existing members, their family and friends.

Next Year

Another exciting development was finding out the ACT otherWISE received money from an ACT Environment Grant, this has meant we are now running monthly activities, such as the energy workshop and visit to Floriade. As well as that it means next year we will be employing another person for one to two days for approximately six months initially to assist on the ACT otherWISE project. The position description is available here so if you know anyone who may be interested let them know.

So apart for having an extra person on board next year the following events, projects and activities are in development (and we’d love for you to be involved!):
• Another facilitator training workshop
• Four more youth workshops including another open workshop, one in Gungahlin, one with SEE-Change and another with CROWK.
• Monthly activities including quarterly energy workshops, a river watch activity, a visit to Australian ethical Investments and more!
• A celebration event for World Environment Day 2008
• Developing and publishing a booklet on how young people in the ACT are living and acting otherWISE.
• Continued coalition meetings; and

I’m sure there will be many more exciting projects on the agenda!]]> Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:02:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/294833 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/294801
http://ozotherwise.wordpress.com/2007/11/28/youth-leaders-for-a-greener-wedge/

There are opportunities for young people and organisations to get involved.

cameron

]]> Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:58:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/294801 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/275503
the article is quoting a report called State of the Nation, published by Roy Morgan research. we definitely need to get a copy of this!

from the articles:

"... there are few hints of a counter-culture among today's young adults. More than half of the under-30s agree with the statement "I enjoy clothes shopping," and more than a quarter agree with the statement "I was born to shop". Almost as many would eat out every night, if they could afford it. Not surprisingly, they are much more likely than their elders to go to the cinema, eat out, go to a nightclub, buy fast food, go to a pub or even visit a music store. They like to spend their money on travel and technology, particularly mobile phones, which will come as no surprise to anyone, especially the phone companies, which are making lots of money out of them. The Morgan research finds that 91 per cent of the under-30s have mobile phones (perhaps the more surprising finding is that 9 per cent of them do not) and that they spend $54 a month on them, compared with $45 for 30- to 44-year-olds. They also like to buy computers, and plasma and LCD televisions. And travel."

here is the link to my full post:
http://cjneil.tigblog.org/post/275501

]]> Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:07:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/275503 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/265077
I am writing to introduce myself as the new Project officer for the ACT otherWISE project. I am replacing Julia Collin; however Julia will be around until the end of the year to assist with the project, which will ensure a smooth handoveer.

Please note our new email address and update your records accordingly: otherwise@consact.org.au.

In this email I will tell you a little bit about myself, what we are planning for the rest of this year.

I little about myself. I have recently moved to Canberra from Melbourne and I love the open space that Canberra offers. Being someone that loves outdoor activities, including hiking skiing, riding and climbing, Canberra suits me well.

I completed a Bachelor of Science (Environmental) with honours in 1999. Since this time:

* I have worked for Outward Bound Australia as a leader of outdoor education courses for young people, during my time at Outward Bound I also completed a certificate IV in outdoor recreation;

* I commenced work for GHD (www.ghd.com.au), a professional services company, as an environmental scientist. I have primarily worked in the areas relating to soil and water assessment. I am currently working for GHD 3 days a week;

* I Completed a Diploma in Mediation Teaching with the Inner Peace Institute http://www.innerpeace.com.au/; and

* I became a facilitator for a workshop entitled In-Tuition and Purpose which I co facilitate approximately 3 times a year in Melbourne, through Inner Peace.

I am committed to making changes in my own life that lead to a more sustainable lifestyle. I love riding my bike around Canberra and spending time in the garden. I also love working with people and inspiring them to make changes in their own lives and to plan for their futures. So I am excited to be taking on the position as Project Officer for the ACT otherWISE project.

This Year: The plan for the rest of this year is to run a facilitator training workshop and two youth workshops. It is likely that one of these workshops will be at a school and the other will be an open public workshop. Hopefully we will get those involved in the facilitator training to help out at these workshops. We will also get up and running regular catch-ups / activities for ACT otherWISE members.

I look forward to being in touch with all of you. Please contact me if you have any questions, or any ideas for the project, especially relating to our workshops that we are planning for the rest of this year. Alternatively if you do not wish to receive any further updates, please let me know and I will remove you from out list.


Sincerely

Rachael Millsom
Project Officer
ACT otherWISE


]]> Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:34:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/265077 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/227283
A brief update on otherWISE:

I am currently in Canberra working with Cam until Friday on the otherWISE manual. Part of this means consolidating the entire otherWISE database and resource files. You can get a rough idea on this at http://www.otherwise.dsc.rmit.edu.au/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. We are also goiing to upload the manual sections there.

We have in partnership with Hamilton submitted a funding application for a Handbury Fellowship to pay for a coordinator to start off an otherWISE program in Hamilton very shortly.

Still waiting for funding approval for Manningham. We had submitted some additional information that the funding body had requested.

A presentation of otherWISE has been accepted for the conference of the Vic Ass of EnvEd 31.8.-1.9.07. The program comes out next week.

hope all are well,
best
iris ]]> Thu, 05 Jul 2007 01:48:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/227283 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/219853 By Julia Collin

Exciting things are happening for ACT otherWISE, a joint IYPF and RMIT pilot program in the ACT that educates young Canberrans about the impact of their lifestyle on the planet and motivates them to undertake their own sustainable projects to change their lives and communities. ACT otherWISE operates by running youth workshops where young people can learn, network and share ideas, and then supports emerging sustainable projects with a staff member and links to further resources, training and helpful organizations.

On June 4th ACT otherWISE hosted a World Environment Day celebration at the ACT Legislative Assembly to draw attention to environment issues in the National capital, and showcase the vibrancy and talent of young people who are working on their own sustainable projects. Several individuals and groups spoke about the projects they are currently working on, including personal lifestyle changes, a national day of action protest for environment change, a sustainable rock gig, a documentary on uranium mining, and a sewing skills group. Each group spoke of their motivations, how the ACT otherWISE workshop assisted them in taking sustainable action, and how they aim to achieve their goals now and in the future.

ACT otherWISE also celebrated a successful year of operations, after running 5 youth workshops, training almost 100 young people, training many local facilitators, and establishing lots of positive links between government, non-government and business sectors. A few days later the project groups received the fantastic news that their joint application for funding from the Foundation for Young Australians was successful (one of only 8 from a field of 61!). This includes almost $10,000 for them to purchase vital equipment so that they can begin filming, sewing, learning, creating and rocking out! Much of this basic equipment will then be used to host ongoing free sewing workshops, documentary making projects and other exciting events and activities and will contribute to a vibrant youth-led sustainable community in the ACT.

Stay tuned for more news about ACT otherWISE and young Canberrans working to achieve their sustainability goals in the near future….

For more information on ACT otherWISE please contact project officer Julia Collin at actotherwise@gmail.com and check out the project blog at http://ozotherwise.wordpress.com/.


]]> Sun, 17 Jun 2007 08:42:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/219853 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/219849
The Climate Project - Australia, Al Gore's climate change leadership program with The Australian Conservation Foundation, is pleased to announce former US Vice President Al Gore will return to Australia to train 170 additional climate change presenters.

Mr Gore will conduct the second training session of The Climate Project - Australia in Melbourne, from 21-23 September. The aim of the training is to educate Australians on the issues and consequences of climate change using the material in Al Gore's famous 'An Inconvenient Truth' slide show.

The Climate Project - Australia Manager Angela Rutter said: "It is excellent news that Mr Gore is returning to strengthen the numbers of presenters in Australia. His work and his message have provided the inspiration for much positive change."

ACF Executive Director Don Henry said: "Climate change is the biggest crisis we face. Australians want to find out what they can do and what we as a nation should be doing. This new training session by Al Gore will inform and inspire many more people to take action."

One of the Climate Project volunteer presenters and general manager of MECU Limited Rowan Dowland said: "Being a climate change presenter has changed my life. I feel I am part of the solution and not the problem. People are surprised to learn they can help stop dangerous climate change and that those solutions can represent such significant opportunity for business."

To date, the 84 presenters from the inaugural The Climate Project - Australia training session have presented 693 presentations to at least 40,000 people.

Once trained, presenters agree to deliver their version of Al Gore's now famous slide show presentation 10 times over the period of one year.

The Climate Project originated in Mr Gore's home town of Nashville, Tennessee, where he has trained 1,000 presenters. In April, 2007 Mr Gore trained 170 people in the UK to deliver his presentation on global warming.

The only way to make an application for the September 2007 Melbourne training session of The Climate Project - Australia is* *online. Apply at www.acfonline.org.au/climateproject. Applications will close 13 July 2007.

The training session will be carbon neutral.



]]> Sun, 17 Jun 2007 08:22:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/219849 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/160671 Subject: otherWISE - update
Date sent: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 00:15:53 +1100

Hi all,

This is to update you on our meeting today (Cam, John and Iris) and plan of action, and welcome back, Kate!:

1. Data gathering with current cohort in ACT:

Cam and Julie have arranged a follow-up meeting for Saturday 3 February 5pm with the ACT TTT and Youth Workshop participants, and affiliated interested parties/friends. The timing seemed rather convenient - sustainable consumption workshops over the x-mas/NY period - an opportunity not to be missed. I will travel to the meeting and conduct interviews with those willing.

2. We went through the glossy brochure draft point by point. We are trying to keep it as short as 16 pages from cover to cover. I will now re-draft it following our discussion and send it to you next week for your comments. Feel free to send any comments over the next few days also.

3. Cam will complete a generic budget proposal (including a 6-month model and a 12-month model) that can be adopted by any community. A summary of that will be included in the brochure.

4. Cam and I are meeting on 14 February, 9-12 in John's office, to discuss the next brochure draft and anything else that might come up by then. Please join if you are around.

5. At 12noon on the same day, we are meeting with Nigel and Kristen from Manningham on 14 February in John's office.

6. Workshop evaluation data will be written up.

7. A paper is expected to be written up based on the interviews on 3 Feb which hopefully yield some good data.

That's it for now.

best
iris
]]> Sat, 03 Feb 2007 23:53:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/160671 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/82969 OTHERWISE is a project of the International Young Professionals Foundation, RMIT University, and increasing number of individual and community partners and investors. OTHERWISE is a community capacity building program to catalyse community partnerships and development to nurture youth leadership on community, national and global sustainability issues.

For more background, go to:
http://ozotherwise.wordpress.com/the-project/

In the last six months, the project has really been gathering momentum. The Working Group has two funding proposals being considered, one for the creation of a program manual, the other for creation of a series of sustainability action briefs. We are also working with another community to get the program funded and initiated there, and we are in early stage conversations with a third community.

The real excitement has been generated in the Australian Capital Territory where the first OTHERWISE youth workshop program has just been completed! You can read more on this below.

We've formed the beginnings of our national online network; got our working group blog going; started pulling together our draft internal project manual; enhanced our trainer network; and broadened our partnerships.

2007 is going to be an exciting year. If you are interested in further information, or have an interest in joining our Working Group, e-mail us via youth.sc@iypf.org.

More on our Sustainabilty Action Briefs grant application:

An application was submitted to the Myer Foundation G4 fund seeking financial support for a coordinator to prepare and collate a series of Sustainability Action Briefs. The application proposal involved a collaboration between Cycle for Sustainability www.sustainia.org.au, the Sustainable Living Foundation www.slf.org.au and our IYPF OTHERWISE project team. The proposal had three elements; (1) a series of Sustainability Action Briefs; (2) an Australian version of Junk to Funk (a funky youth oriented guide to sustainability action originally created by The Otesha Project www.otesha.ca); and (3) the creation of a Cycle for Sustainability documentary.

More on OTHERWISE in the ACT

In the last month we have run out first sustainable training workshop for young Canberrans aged 15-25. We had 25 enthusiastic young people attend 3 sessions, to learn about diverse subjects like their Ecological Footprint, the Life Cycle of everyday objects, Culture Jamming, and Greening small groups.

Even more exciting, we had several innovative projects emerge that our participants will be working on in the coming months.

Projects include:

* A sustainable rock concert, a totally carbon neutral event to see local music, promote recycling, waste reduction and other green messages.

* An update of the ACT green guide last produced in 2003, to distribute to local households and be hosted online to ensure Canberrans have access to sustainable living options.

* A craft and sewing group that will promote using second hand materials and reworking old garments, giving free lessons on sewing and mending to ensure Canberrans get the most out of their clothes.

* A sustainability program for schools, to help send the message out to young people in Canberra

Many other ideas emerged, that he participants will be integrating into their personal lives, and the groups they are part of within their communities.

Supporting these projects is our brand new blog at http://ozotherwise.wordpress.com/. Check it out for sustainable consumption tips, links, and to see what our workshoppees are up to!

2007 will see the ACT Otherwise team supporting all of these projects, and also running another training course in a local Canberra High School, and possibly in a local Scout group. We will also be attempting to secure more funding to keep the momentum going over the next few years in the local Canberra community.
]]> Fri, 22 Dec 2006 04:47:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/82969 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/81629 As the Christmas break approaches everyone at the ACT-Otherwise team have been extremely busy.

In the last month we have run out first sustainable training workshop for young Canberrans aged 15-25. We had 25 enthusiastic young people attend 3 sessions in the Griffin Centre on Wednesday nights, to learn about diverse subjects like their Ecological Footprint, the Life Cycle of everyday objects, Culture Jamming, and Greening small groups. Even more exciting, we had several innovative projects emerge that our participants will be working on in the coming months.

Such projects include:
• A sustainable rock concert, a totally carbon neutral event to see local music, promote recycling, waste reduction and other green messages.
• An update of the ACT green guide last produced in 2003, to distribute to local households and be hosted online to ensure Canberrans have access to sustainable living options.
• A craft and sewing group that will promote using second hand materials and reworking old garments, giving free lessons on sewing and mending to ensure Canberrans get the most out of their clothes.
• A sustainability program for schools, to help send the message out to young people in Canberra

Many other ideas emerged, that he participants will be integrating into their personal lives, and the groups they are part of within their communities.

Supporting these projects is our brand new blog at http://ozotherwise.wordpress.com/. Check it out for sustainable consumption tips, links, and to see what our workshoppees are up to!

2007 will see the ACT Otherwise team supporting all of these projects, and also running another training course in a local Canberra High School, and possibly in a local Scout group.

We will also be attempting to secure fore funding to keep the momentum going over the next few years in the local Canberra community.

Get involved in ACT Otherwise and volunteer your assistance for future topical training and mentoring for our young people, join our steering committee, register your interest for future sustainability and Train-the Trainer workshops that we may be running in the future or find out more about the project. Contact project officer Julia Collin on Julia@cet.org.au or (02) 6257 6321.
]]> Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:24:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/81629 -35.2833333 149.2166667-35.2833333149.2166667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/72413
In the ACT, a 3 session, 3 week workshop program starts today to facilitate young Canberrans to develop personal lifestyle and personal and group project action plans to achieve more sustainable consumption and move their communities towards sustainability.

Another workshop program is being organised for a school here in the ACT.

We aim to run the OTHERWISE community capacity building program, including the youth workshops, with 2 more communities before the middle of next year, and then with another 4 communities in the second half of 2007. We will then have 7 communities with active youth sustainability change agents working with us around the country.

To facilitate connection between the youth workshop participants in each community - and across communiites - we have developed a new blog and website, accessible here:

http://ozotherwise.wordpress.com

Also, the workshop modules and materials are being uploaded to the Trainer network here:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/oz-sc-trainers

Stay tuned for more info and get involved now!
]]> Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:08:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/72413 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/70141
tomorrow is Buy Nothing Day. a good activity and event to build in to the OTHERWISE project i think!

cam

+++++

Buy Nothing Day is on Friday November 24th. It's a twenty four hour period where we encourage people... Not to shop. Simple really.

Read the press release and see more at www.culturejammers.org.au

For more, type Buy Nothing Day in to google.

Some highlights:

- the original

- The Wikipedia entry




]]> Thu, 23 Nov 2006 07:39:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/70141 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/69223
cameron

++++++

Do you want to:

=> learn more about how we can work together to create a healthier planet, better communities, save the environment and fight global warming?

=> help develop a healthier, better and sustainable ACT?

=> meet other young Canberrans interested in the environment, social justice, and making positive change happen?

If so, free Youth Sustainability workshops are being run for young Canberrans (aged 15-25 years) over 3 sessions on consecutive Wednesday evenings during November and December 2006. The session dates are: 29th November, 6Th and 13th December. The sessions run from 6-9pm and are being held in meeting room 7 in the Griffin Centre.

The youth and sustainability workshops are designed to:

· Introduce young Canberrans to sustainability issues

· Educate young Canberrans on sustainable consumption practices

· Inform young Canberrans about sustainability related organizations in the ACT

· Give young Canberrans the skills they need to set up their own sustainability projects

· Assist young Canberrans to implement sustainable projects in their communities by providing ongoing support

Sign up for the workshops to begin to ACT Otherwise ...

Places in the workshops are limited - and you have to register to confirm your place. To register contact Julia Collin on (02) 6257 6321 or julia@cet.org.au

These workshops are part of a project called Youth Leadership for Sustainable Consumption in the ACT, and is funded through an ACT Environment grant.

]]> Tue, 21 Nov 2006 07:09:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/69223 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/62007
=> learn more about how we can work together to create a healthier planet, better communities, save the environment and fight global warming?

=> help develop a healthier, better and sustainable ACT?

=> meet other young Canberrans interested in the environment, social justice, and making positive change happen?

If so, free Youth Sustainability workshops are being run for young Canberrans (15-25 years) over 3-4 sessions during November and December 2006 and an information session is being held on Wednesday 15 December for those interested (more details below).

The youth and sustainability workshops are designed to:

· Introduce young Canberrans to sustainability issues
· Educate young Canberrans on sustainable consumption practices
· Inform young Canberrans about sustainability related organizations in the ACT
· Give young Canberrans the skills they need to set up their own sustainability projects
· Assist young Canberrans to implement sustainable projects in their communities by providing ongoing support

Come and learn about the program, find out the workshop dates, register for the workshops, and talk to us about what you will get out of a commitment to begin to ACT Otherwise …

Places in the workshops in November and December are limited - don't miss out!

These workshpos are part of a project called Youth Leadership for Sustainable Consumption in the ACT, and is funded through an ACT Environment grant.

The details of the Information Session:

Wednesday 15th November 2006
6:30 -7:30 pm
Meeting room 6, First Floor, The Griffin Centre, Genge Street Civic

Contact Julia Collin on (02) 6257 6321 or julia@cet.org.au for more information.


]]> Sat, 04 Nov 2006 08:35:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/62007 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/43741 Project Update

Thank you for indicating your interest in the Youth Leadership for Sustainable Consumption Capacity Building project. The project is focused on assisting young ACT residents to develop a greater understanding of their resource use and environmental impact. The project aims to empower young people to become leaders within their communities, by identifying actions they can make to change their lifestyles and protect the environment.

The project begun in September 2005 when a group of interested organizations came together at a Community Development Network Forum to form the Youth and Sustainability Coalition, to run and administer the Youth Leadership for Sustainable Consumption Capacity Building project. The organizations involved include the Conservation Council of South East Region and Canberra, the SHINE (Sustainability Happening in Education) network, Greensteps at the Australian National University, the Nature Society Forum, the ACT Office for Sustainability, the Sustainable Schools program run by the Department of Education and Training, the Canberra Institute of Technology Community Development Department, the University of Canberra, the Minister’s Youth Council, the Youth Coalition of the ACT, the YWCA, the International Young Professionals Foundation and RMIT University.

These organizations assist the Coalition by donating their employee time and resources, developing a local support network and assisting in identifying young people who are interested in leading their community on sustainable issues. Young people and people who work with young people will take part in a Train-the-Trainer workshop that will develop their skills in sustainable issues and training facilitation. These facilitators will then go on to run Youth Workshops that will allow young ACT residents to develop skills in sustainability. When the training is completed, young people will take their new knowledge and develop their own actions to improve sustainability within their communities, with the ongoing support of the organizational members within the Coalition. The ACT program will form part of a national research project, funded by the Australian Research Council, to test, evaluate, and deliver an effective community capacity building model for youth leadership on sustainable consumption that follows on from the National Youth Affairs Research Scheme report Sustainable Consumption: Young Australians as Agents of Change.

In March a pilot version of the Youth Workshop training package was featured at the Youth InterACT Conference as part of ACT Youth Week 2006, and received positive feedback. A grant application was submitted to Environment ACT in June 2006. This grant was successful and a sum of over $15,000 was secured to implement the project over the next six months, as the first step in our long term goal of establishing a vibrant network of young ACT sustainability change agents in the next 3 years.
In August 2006 recruitment for the part-time position of project officer took place and Julia Collin came on board. Core organizational member Community Education and Training has provided office space for the project officer to be housed, and has provided space for meetings.

Julia’s role will consist of assisting the ACT Youth and Sustainability Coalition in developing the Train-the-Trainer and Youth Workshop training packages. She will also provide administrative support in the organization of the training workshops, and facilitating Coalition meetings. Once the training workshops are completed she will be a point of contact for young people who are developing their own sustainable activities within the ACT community.

Julia is a twenty year-old student at the Australian National University, studying a full-time Arts degree with majors in Politics and Gender Studies. Her previous experience in the sector includes voluntary work in the youth sector participating at various youth themed events, as well as serving on the Youth Coalition of the ACT board of governance (the peak youth advisory body in the territory) and representing ACT young people at the national planning group for National Youth Week 2005. Her experience in the sustainability sector stems from her work for the “Home Energy Advice Team”, an ACT government funded initiative that provides free energy advice and subsidized home energy audits to the ACT community. In addition to this she also has a very strong personal interest in sustainability issues, and is passionate about the encouragement and recognition of youth participation within the community.

In August 2006 members of the Coalition met and began modifying the training materials for the Train-the-Trainer workshops. At present, the Coalition and the Project officer are working on finalizing this training material, and the workshop is scheduled to take place on 29th September 2006. It is anticipated that the Youth Workshops that will be run in November and December 2006.

At present, several ACT schools have expressed interest in taking part in the Youth Workshops, these links have been established through a connection to the ACT Sustainable Schools network. A database has been established for people to register their interest in the program and to maintain contact with, and at least 30 individuals have identified they are interested in participating in the training workshops.

This is an ongoing project, and we anticipate that there will be many opportunities to be involved in the near future, both in the Train-the-Trainer and Youth Workshop training packages. We aim to provide you with more project updates as we progress, and to inform you of how you can be involved. We are interested in maintaining contact and support with various community members, and building up a base of interested participants who will be able to provide input and participate in the project in the near future.

We are currently taking applicants for the Train-the-Trainer workshop, which will be held on 29th September 2006, from 12:30-4:30pm in our Hackett Office. Please contact us if you are interested in taking part in the training workshop, have any questions about the project, or want to know more about how you can be involved.

You will find the National Youth Affairs Research Scheme report Sustainable Consumption: Young Australians as Agents of Change at http://www.iypf.org/IYPF-projects.htm#YouthSC.

Julia Collin
Project Officer
Youth Leadership for Sustainable Consumption Capacity Building project
Hosted by Community Education and Training
114 Maitland Street
Hackett ACT 2602
(02) 6257 6321
programs@cet.org.au
]]> Tue, 19 Sep 2006 23:13:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/43741 -35.2833333 149.2166667-35.2833333149.2166667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/42412
You can download the report from the following link: www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=367.

The primary emphasis of the report - as reflected in the I Will If You Will title - is that sustainable consumption is everyone's business and it will take collective action on the part of government, business and the community to make significant progress. Individual business doesn't want to be the first to adopt new potentially risky innovations that threaten their profits if other companies are not doing anything. Consumers and home owners want to feel as though they are part of something big, that others are doing it too, that they are not fighting an unwinnable battle against the major trends. Government has a clear role for creating the right regulatory environment to facilitate collective action on the part of business and the community - and they need to act fast.

Interestingly, the report benefits from a 'host-positive' government environment. Blair has been an outspoken supporter of Kyoto and they have set individual emmissions targets for each person in the UK. The Roundtable's report is an important part of the overall approach to finding ways to reduce emissions across the country to achieve these targets, involving a combination of production and demand side processes, and driving rapid change towards more sustainability - in fact, as the UK Government policy framework puts it, "from a 3 planet economy to one".

The core of the report is built around discussion and recommendations on 4 areas - how we run our homes, the food we eat, how we get around, and how we travel on our holidays. These four areas generate 80% of an individuals' overall environmental impact. The report believes that "a mass of people are ready and willing to see new policies introduced that will help them change their behaviour in the face of climate change and global poverty".

Download the report and post your comments:
www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=367.]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2006 23:56:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/42412 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/41615
YOUTH SUSTAINABILITY COALITION POSITION DESCRIPTION

Expressions Of Interest are sought by Friday August 18 for a casual Project Officer to work 12-20 hours per week for 4-6 months. Salary is $28 per hour.

The ACT Youth for Sustainability Coalition is a group of community and government organisations that is committed to supporting young people to become sustainability ambassadors in their local communities. This project, consisting of workshops and post-workshop action support, will support youth in the ACT to develop the action competence they need to make changes in their own resource consumption and to become catalysts for change in the wider community, helping to lead society in more sustainable lifestyle choices.

Key Duties:
1. Assist in the design and delivery of an 8 week community education program
2. Resource the Coalition group to convene meetings - send emails, write minutes, send correspondence, write letters, prepare training resources
3. Conduct research on the Internet and in libraries to search for teaching resources, games, service information about the delivery
4. Assist in recruiting young people to participate in training programs
5. Participate in the evaluation process to review the effectiveness of the Youth Leadership for Sustainability Program

The successful applicant will have the following essential skills and experience:
· a background in the youth, environment and/or sustainability sectors
· skills in event management, and some experience in coordinating a network.
· skills in working with young people

The successful applicant may also meet the following criteria:
· Aged under 25
· Secretariat experience- running meetings, taking minutes, contacting members
· Able to be self-directed, autonomous and a team player

Your expression of interest should include:
1. a covering letter outlining your interest in the role and your skills and experience relevant to the key duties and criteria outlined above
2. a brief CV

Send your expression of interest to Kim Sattler via email director@cet.org.au or post it to:

The Director
GPO Box 2656
Canberra ACT 2601

Any enquires on the role can be addressed to director@cet.org.au or cameronneil@iypf.org.

This project is funded by a 2006 ACT Environment Grant and is a collaborative project between a coalition of stakeholders in the ACT, the International Young Professionals Foundation (www.iypf.org), and RMIT University (www.rmit.edu.au). For more information see http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise.




]]> Sun, 06 Aug 2006 09:15:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/41615 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/41481
These funds will be used to run a train the trainer workshop, develop localised materials, run 2 youth workshops, implement an action support program for all youth workshop participants, and evaluate the project.

We also recently met with a new potential partner - Manningham City Council in Melbourne ... so we could be getting going down there soon too!!

Cameron

]]> Wed, 02 Aug 2006 05:23:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/41481 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/39707 2. ECOVILLAGE DESIGN COURSES, JULY/AUGUST 2006

1. CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE IN BENDIGO, 2007

Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities
National Conference on the Socio-Economic Implications of Climate Change on Regional Communities

2007: Date to be confirmed
Bendigo - Australia
Call for papers
Abstract and Presentation Submission

Abstracts and presentation proposals are now sought from
practitioners, government officials and academics. Presentations will be accepted in 3 categories:

* Non-refereed presentation (electronic version, if available, will be published on the conference website)

* Refereed publication (published on the conference website, with selected papers included in an edited book)

* Posters and displays

Abstracts and presentation proposals required by the 31 December 2006.

* 300 words in length
* Paper / Presentation Title
* Author(s) name, Institution (principal author listed first)
* Contact details for principal author
* Author biography(s) 75 words maximum

Please indicate your intention to submit a full paper for inclusion in the refereeing process. (Full papers required by 31 December, 2006).

For more information please contact:
Professor John Martin
Director,
CSRC
Ph: 5444 7804
Fax: 5444 7998
Email: csrc@latrobe.edu.au

2. ECOVILLAGE DESIGN COURSES, JULY/AUGUST 2006

The first Ecovillage Design Education Programme is scheduled to commence July 31st and continue through until August 26th. This programme has been certified by GAIA Education as an official programme of the Global Ecovillage Network and is endorsed by UNITAR as an official contribution to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014. This programme is being offered within a number of Ecovillages internationally, and GAIA are generously contributing to this programme by offering sponsorship
for a couple of places on the course.

The Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) Course will provide a strong theoretical and experiential base in the design and development of ecologically designed settlements in rural or urban settings, providing a valuable opportunity for anyone considering living in or starting up a sustainable settlement. Already, we have participants confirmed from the UK, Myanmar and the USA, and there are still places available if you are thinking about joining the course. As an incentive, we are offering a generous early bird discount for those enrolments received before May 31st too.

More information about the programme can be viewed at our website at
http://www.ecologicalsolutions.com.au/courses/crsdetail.php?
crsid=28
and http://www.gaiaeducation.org/

]]> Mon, 19 Jun 2006 03:29:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/39707 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/39706
Link: http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=367

check it out, read it, and tell us about what you think in the comments section!

]]> Mon, 19 Jun 2006 03:03:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/39706 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/38658
"Sustainability is an ethical principle more than a scientific one," Prof Fien said. "Certainly the science of land cultivation and climate change are really important, but sustainability seeks to find ways to improve the way of life for people now and in the future." It is learning to use resources today in ways to make sure they are available for our children and grandchildren.

The process of learning is key to Prof Fien's view of sustainability, which began when he worked as a geography teacher. "I've always seen learning as important. It is the process of cultural change. We need to learn our way out of the dilemmas we face."

This emphasis on learning has been reflected in his work at RMIT. Prof Fien is looking at new research to find out ways of building the capacity of teens and young adults to 'live otherWISE'. By this he means to live differently and wisely, to take time to think and reflect.

This research at RMIT by Prof Fien and others has led to them developing a capacity building and training program for youth groups.

For the first time, the otherWISE program will be run in full in Hamilton in July by the International Young Professionals Foundation (IYPF).

"The program will train youth group leaders and support them in training members of the groups to make decisions about consumption and lifestyle that reduces impact," Prof Fien said. "It teaches action competence -competence in making decisions to live otherWISE.

"The program will bring together a dozen youth leaders. In a series of meetings the youth will work out how to go forward, what's best for young people in the Hamilton region.

"At the end of the process, different groups of young people will have a sustainability project they will implement in Hamilton and surrounding areas." The program, previously trialed in Bendigo and Frankston, has support from the Future Environment Fund. RMIT and the IYPF will be working together on the Hamilton based project.

The otherWISE program is open to all youth organisations, such as schools, TAFE, Scout and church groups.

Any youth group in the Hamilton region interested in being involved in the Youth for Youth program can contact Prof Fien at john.fien@rmit.edu.au.

Based his years of work in the area, if there was one thing people could take on board about sustainability, Prof Fien said it would be "to learn to think in terms of forever. Pressures force us into short-term thinking. Slow down, look at alternatives, think otherWISE."
]]> Thu, 18 May 2006 03:33:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/38658 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/36827
The big news is that our project partner, RMIT University, received an Australian Research Council grant to conduct further research in to sustainable consumption and young Australians and evaluate and enhance the community capacity building program developed as part of the National Youth Affairs Research Scheme funded research. For more info, go here www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/31832.

As a consequence of this grant, we now have additional momentum and resources to implement the community capacity building program in sites around Australia. A PhD student will be working with the Working Group members to collect data from the workshops and community evaluations to assess the effectiveness of the program in enabling young Australians as effective social change agents for sustainability and refining the program as we go.

The first two implementations of the revised program are in the Australian Capital Territory and Western Regional Victoria. Youth workshops will happen there this year. We are looking at other workshops throughout Victoria and in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and perhaps Perth and WA, in 2007. Lots of work has been going in to developing the programs with our partners in the ACT and Victoria. As an example, Cameron is training some peers and young people to run a very short version of the Youth Workshop at the ACT Youth InterACT conference being held on March 31 as part of National Youth Week.

We have also just submitted a joint funding application to the Victorian Sustainability Fund with RMIT University, The Gould League and the Victorian Association of Environmental Education. This project fits in to the overall ARC research process and provides funding for many youth workshops in Victorian communities. The Gould League will lead the implementation of similar programs in Victorian schools.

The Working Group has also been reshaping itself, with a few people leaving, and some new people joining. We are gradually adding everyone's bios to the blog. See here: www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/35502.

Iris Bergmann has also joined the team at RMIT, working with John Fien on the ARC project. Jane Stewart from Ollie's Island (www.ollierecycles.com) has also joined the team as we explore ways to utilise the Ollie's Island resource as part of the project.

Over the next few months, in addition to working on the ARC grant and furthering the implementation of the community capacity building program in the ACT and Victoria, members of the working group will be presenting to the Victoria EPA on the project (May 8) and Cameron will be presenting results of the NYARS research at the National Young Professionals Forum (May 9).

For background on the project, to find out how you can be involved, to read past updates, to subscribe to the project blog, or to download a copy of the Sustainable Consumption: Young Australians as Agents of Change report, go to www.iypf.org/IYPF-projects.htm#YouthSC.


Related news

* Reflections on the Asia-Pacific Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production
www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/31866
www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/31867

* Some articles on young eco-entrepreneurs
www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/34825

* Australian Consumer Congress and the Victorian Association of Environmental Education (VAEE) Consumerism Network
www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/35809
]]> Mon, 20 Mar 2006 21:45:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/36827 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667 http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/35809
best to find out more by going to the home page
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/

and clicking on '3rd national consumer congress' under 'what's new'.

if you are interested in attending, be sure to also let me know!

the person who contacted me also told me about this:

"Would you like me to put you on the consumerism education network, managed by VAEE, which has 15 people involved in consumerism resource development /projects to enable you to share information etc"

she has done so and if you want to join, do so by sending a blank email to join-vaee-consumernetwork@edna.edu.au. You will need to turn of any mail signatures when you are subscribing and will need to confirm your registration before you will be joined to the list.

cam

]]> Wed, 22 Feb 2006 07:09:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/otherwise/post/35809 -37.8166667 144.9666667-37.8166667144.9666667