Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga will help create a sustainable future for communities across the Murray-Darling Basin with the launch of a new centre for excellence in environmental education.
The host of ABC’s national Gardening Australia program, Mr Costa Georgiadis, will join representatives from across the Murray Darling Basin for the launch on Thursday 31 October.
The Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development for the Murray Darling Basin (RCE-MD) will be the fourth such centre to be established in Australia and is acknowledged by the United Nations University.
Inaugural centre convenor and research associate with the Institute for Land, Water and Society, Dr John Rafferty, said the centre aims to connect people and organisations across the Murray-Darling Basin concerned about and working toward creating a sustainable future for their communities. “The RCE-MD will facilitate networks and collaborative partnerships to share knowledge and resources and to add value to projects planned or underway as well as identifying and generating opportunities for additional resource,” Dr Rafferty said.
“The Centre will focus on assisting the development of sustainable, resilient, culturally diverse and prosperous communities that build on the Basin’s competitive attributes.”
The RCE-MD will be a ‘think tank’ of expertise that will:
- inform and educate about sustainability through forums, action and education;
- provide a catalyst for leadership and support for local sustainability initiatives;
- harness opportunities and maximise effectiveness of initiatives through collective power;
- share resources and ideas;
- link education providers, employers, industries and the community; and,
- engage processes that “re-conceptualize” community engagement as a critical aspect of future life in the Murray-Darling Basin.
The RCE-MD will be launched at 4pm in the CD Blake Lecture Theatre, CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona, followed by a reception.
Other events to be held on 31 October include:
- 10–11 am: Tour of the City of Wodonga Waste Transfer Station, a recycling and re-use centre which has won many awards for its innovative methods of operation.
- 12 noon–1 pm: Tour of Wodonga Middle Years College Sustainable Gardening Program and Birallee Park Neighbourhood House “Our Table to Yours” Program. Students in the Wodonga Middle Years College Garden maintain the school gardens and a vegetable patch and orchard. The students sell produce to generate funds and distribute the surplus in the community while learning many skills and making community connections. The “Our Table to Yours” project is a registered agency with Foodbank Victoria, taking an active role in many local emergency food relief programs including Palliative Care and the Ronald McDonald Family Room.
- 1–1.30pm: Lunch, pizza and salad, produced by Birallee Park Neighbourhood House in their pizza oven and Wodonga Middle Years College students from their garden.
- 2 –3pm: Tour of Albury City Council’s Banjora Children’s Centre, Glenroy
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