* Film explores refugee experience and hope in Australia * CSU and Bathurst Refugee Support Group co-host important screening * Leading Australian documentary filmmaker to host Q&A sessionThe next Explorations Series free public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Thursday 16 August will feature the screening of the documentary film Hope Road by renowned Australian filmmaker Tom Zubrycki.Hope Road will be co-presented and hosted by CSU with the Bathurst Refugee Support Group.The director of the film Mr Tom Zubrycki will be attending the event and hosting the question and answer session at the end.Hope Road follows an ambitious project undertaken by a Sudanese refugee, Mr Zacharia Machiek, one of the original ‘Lost Boys’, who now lives in Sydney.Zac’s dream is to build a much needed school back in his home village in the new nation of South Sudan. He enlists the backing of an eager, but inexperienced, group of supporters in Australia who organise and join him on a 42-day charity walk to raise funds for the venture.Will this strategy raise the funds they need? Thwarted by escalating conflict back in South Sudan, and shocked by a broken relationship, Zac has to draw on all his resources to keep his dream alive.Hope Road lifts the veil on what life can be like for refugees like Zac caught between two worlds as they re-establish their lives in Australia, but at the same time feel an acute obligation to their homeland.Mr Brian Mowbray, Chairperson of the Bathurst Refugee Support Group, said, “The Bathurst Refugee Support Group would like to thank Charles Sturt University for hosting this event.“It’s great that we are able to partner with the University to deliver this important cultural and community event.“We look forward to this event in Bathurst, and it’s a real honour that such a significant Australian filmmaker as Tom Zubrycki is able to join us for the evening on Thursday 16 August.”The Explorations Series free public lecture and film screening with Q&A session is from 6pm to 8.30pm on Thursday 16 August in room 223, building 1292, at CSU in Bathurst.For catering purposes please register with registration button at the bottom of the CSU Events Page: http://news.csu.edu.au/events/bathurst/explorations-series-film-screening-of-hope-road-by-tom-zubryckiThe official Hope Road webpage is http://hoperoad.com.au/The Explorations Series is part of the University’s community engagement program and aims to engage our rural and regional communities in discussion and debate about major issues facing our regions, the nation, and the world.

* CSU CUP small grants available for Dubbo region arts and culture projects * Applications close Friday 24 August * Previous recipients include the Dubbo Koori Interagency Network, Marathon Health/headspace (Dubbo), Wee Waa High School, Henry Lawson Festival of Arts in Grenfell, Uranquinty Preschool, the Wagga City Rugby Male Choir, Canowindra Arts Inc, Cudal Public School P and C Association, the Rotary Club of Orange Inc, and the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre * The grants help the community to encourage participation in arts and cultureThe next round of 2018 Charles Sturt University (CSU) Community-University Partnership (CUP) grants for arts and cultural activities are available for applications.Individuals and community groups across the University’s regions covered by its campuses in Dubbo, Bathurst, Albury-Wodonga, Orange, Wagga Wagga, and Port Macquarie are invited to apply.Head of Campus at CSU in Dubbo Ms Cathy Maginnis (pictured) said, “The University provides up to $20,000 worth of CUP grants across its regional footprint, and I encourage individuals and groups with projects or initiatives that meet the criteria to apply.”Applications close on Friday 24 August, and the CUP grants application form is here:https://about.csu.edu.au/community/grants/arts-and-cultureIn 2016 $1,000 CSU CUP arts and culture grants were awarded to Dubbo Koori Interagency Network, for an art show at Barraamielinga Indigneous Student Centre Dubbo Campus by CSU students and community artists; Marathon Health/headspace (Dubbo) for Creative Psychotherapy for Vision Impaired Young People; and Wee Waa High School for its inaugural Combined Schools Art Exhibition and Art Workshops.Previous 2017 CSU CUP arts and culture grant recipients from across the CSU regional footprint include:The Rotary Club of Orange Inc received a $1,000 CSU CUP arts and culture grant to stage 17 poetry workshops in 10 primary schools across the Orange region from17 to 27 October 2017.The Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) used its $1,000 grant to bring professional writers to speak at the Bathurst Writers’ and Readers’ Festival, and keep the festival free and therefore accessible for the community.The Henry Lawson Festival of Arts in Grenfell organises national competitions and exhibitions in the literary, visual and performing arts, and celebrates and promotes the winners. As in 2016, the CSU Cup grant was used to help stage and judge the 2017 Verse and Short Story Competition.Mount Austin High School in Wagga Wagga used its grant to help fund students to go to Sydney for rehearsals for State Dance and the Schools Spectacular. The grant assisted the students with accommodation and food while in Sydney for rehearsals and performances.Uranquinty Preschool’s project explored the music of other cultures with three- to five- year-old children. The grant was used to invite musical artists to the preschool to engage the children in music and dance with instruments that included a didgeridoo, and African drums. Instruments, CDs and cultural costumes were also purchased to support this project.The Wagga City Rugby Male Choir, in conjunction with the South Wagga Public School used the CSU CUP grant to contribute to the availability of sound and amplification equipment to assist student band members to engage with learning and future musical education.The Canowindra Arts Inc CSU CUP grant funded an art course for young artists in Canowindra to develop students’ personal skills in specific art mediums and styles, and facilitated their practical knowledge and application of art.Cudal Public School Parents and Citizens Association received a $1,000 grant to create stronger ties within the small community by staging a school and community theatrical production. The funds were used to cover costs associated with the project, including sound and microphones for students to use during the play and the creation of props and costumes.

* CSU CUP small grants available for Wagga Wagga region arts and culture projects * Applications close Friday 24 August * Previous recipients include the Henry Lawson Festival of Arts in Grenfell, Mount Austin High School, Uranquinty Preschool, and the Wagga City Rugby Male Choir * The grants help the community to encourage participation in arts and cultureThe next round of 2018 Charles Sturt University (CSU) Community-University Partnership (CUP) grants for arts and cultural activities are available for applications.Individuals and community groups across the University’s regions covered by its campuses in Wagga Wagga, Bathurst, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Orange, and Port Macquarie are invited to apply.Acting Head of Campus at CSU in Wagga Wagga Mr Adam Browne said, “The University provides up to $20,000 worth of CUP grants across its regional footprint, and I encourage individuals and groups with projects or initiatives that meet the criteria to apply.”Applications close on Friday 24 August, and the CUP grants application form is here:https://about.csu.edu.au/community/grants/arts-and-cultureThese previous recipients each received a $1,000 CSU CUP arts and culture grant for their projects:The Henry Lawson Festival of Arts in Grenfell (pictured left, in 2016) organises national competitions and exhibitions in the literary, visual and performing arts, and celebrates and promotes the winners. As in 2016, the CSU Cup grant was used to help stage and judge the 2017 Verse and Short Story Competition.Mount Austin High School in Wagga Wagga used their grant to help fund students to go to Sydney for rehearsals for State Dance and the Schools Spectacular. These students are selected from over 3,000 participants state-wide. They studied professional dance under the instruction of Bangarra Dance Company teachers, and the grant assisted the students with accommodation and food while in Sydney for rehearsals and performances.Uranquinty Preschool’s project aimed to explore the music of other cultures with three- to five- year-old children. This included the music and instruments used by the Wiradjuri people, and music from Asia and Africa. This was a social activity that unites children and gives them the opportunity to express feelings and ideas. The grant was used to invite musical artists to the preschool to engage the children in music and dance with instruments that included a didgeridoo, and African drums.  Instruments, CDs and cultural costumes were also purchased to support this project.The Wagga City Rugby Male Choir, in conjunction with the South Wagga Public School, is developing a concert band which will provide accompaniment for the Choir when it performs. The CSU CUP grant to the Wagga City Rugby Male Choir contributed to the availability of sound and amplification equipment to assist student band members to engage with learning and future musical education.

* The next round of 2018 Charles Sturt University Community-University grants for arts and culture activities are open for applications * Previous recipients include Canowindra Arts Inc, Cudal Public School Parents and Citizens Association, and the Rotary Club of Orange Inc * The grants help the community to encourage participation in arts and cultureThe next round of 2018 Charles Sturt University (CSU) Community-University Partnership (CUP) grants for arts and culture activities are open for applications.Individuals and community groups across the University’s regions covered by its campuses in Orange, Bathurst, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, and Port Macquarie are invited to apply.Head of Campus at CSU in Orange Dr Heather Robinson said, “The University provides up to $20,000 worth of grants across its regional footprint. I encourage individuals and groups with projects or initiatives that meet the criteria to apply.”Applications close on Friday 24 August, and the CUP grants application form is here:https://about.csu.edu.au/community/grants/arts-and-culturePrevious arts and culture CUP grant recipient the Canowindra Arts Inc reported the CSU CUP grant funding (a) enabled an art course for young artists in Canowindra; (b) allowed students to develop personal skills in specific art mediums and styles; and (c) facilitated the growth of young artists giving them a desire to further their practical knowledge and application of art.‘Over a period of nine teaching sessions, 10 students from the ages of 12 to 15 took part in the Canowindra arts Mentoring Program,’ the report noted. ‘The grant funds were used very specifically to buy resources for the students to sample and experience all different forms of art mediums and styles, from life drawing, water colours, oils, acrylic, and pastels. Then with these resources they were able to choose their own personal projects and put together an exhibition to be shown publicly in the New Year. The CUP grant money has also covered the teaching costs, hire of the hall, and frames for the final exhibition.’Cudal Public School Parents and Citizens Association was another 2017 CSU CUP arts and culture grant recipient. The school received a $1,000 grant and the P&C Association Vice-President Ms Catherine Kearney thanked CSU for supporting the creative arts in the small town of Cudal.“The funds allowed the whole community to come together and shine,” Ms Kearney said. “It was wonderful to watch the joy in both the students and the audience. The arts are alive and well here at Cudal.”The aim if the Cudal Public School project was to create stronger ties within the small community. The funds were used to cover costs associated with the project, including sound and microphones for students to use during the play and the creation of props and costumes. The strong community ties were evident during the preparation and during the actual performance. There was a full house at the evening performance, and many older community members attended the matinee. They thoroughly enjoyed the performance and it was ‘the talk of the town’. The students enjoyed all aspects of the production, including working on and modifying the script, rehearsals, costume and prop design. Parents and community members helped with make-up and costumes as well. It truly brought the community together.The Rotary Club of Orange Inc also received a $1,000 CSU CUP arts and culture grant to stage creative poetry workshops in primary schools in the region.Rotary member Mr Len Banks said, “Primary schools students around Orange, NSW, now approach poetry with enthusiasm and confidence. A partnership between Charles Sturt University and the Rotary Club of Orange brought Australian bush poetry to life by engaging champion poets ‘Mel and Susie’ for workshops in rhyme, rhythm, and performance skills.”The Rotary of Orange project brought two Australian champion performance bush poets − Melanie Hall and Susan Carcary − to Orange from 17 to 27 October 2017. They conducted 17 workshops in 10 primary schools across the Orange region over 9 school days. The workshops were one to two hours duration depending on the school’s timetabling constraints, and provided instruction in rhyme, rhythm, storytelling, and performance techniques to 449 students from kindergarten to Year 6, but mostly in Years 3 to 6. All were kept enthralled and entertained by Mel and Susie as they performed some classic Banjo Paterson poems as well as some of their own creations. Throughout the workshops the students were involved with play acting, reciting, and creating. A survey completed by teachers after the workshops showed that the project fitted well with their curriculum and met the schools’ learning outcomes in literature, creative writing, and performance. Teachers also advised that the workshops gave them new skills in teaching poetry and using performance as a learning technique. The schools also showed interest in participating in the 2018 Banjo Paterson Australian Poetry Festival in Orange and in encouraging students to enter the poetry competition in February.

* Small wetland on CSU in Albury-Wodonga is home to the vulnerable Sloane’s froglet* Volunteers are planting native vegetation around the wetland to provide vital protection for the species* CSU in Albury-Wodonga is also home for a thriving community of native animals and birds in the midst of suburbiaA frog listed as ‘vulnerable’ in NSW will benefit from some human intervention on the Charles Sturt University (CSU) campus at Thurgoona next Tuesday 7 August.Recent school leavers and support staff will plant native grasses to provide important cover for a small population of Sloane’s froglet (pictured left) establishing itself near the David Mitchell Wetlands at CSU in Albury-Wodonga.Ms Michelle Wilkinson from CSU Green said the planting will add to vegetation planted last month around a small wetland in which the frogs have been found.“Native grasses are important for the Sloane’s froglet as provide important shelter for this tiny frog,” Ms Wilkinson said.“They like areas of grassland or woodland that are periodically inundated, but recent populations have been decimated by trampling by cattle, loss of habitat caused by clearing for growing urban areas, drought and long-term changes to climate patterns, and changes in water flows through creeks and wetlands."We hope our revegetation program will help these little critters increase numbers again.“It will also allow experts in the School of Environmental Sciences to carry out more detailed studies of the species, particularly to assess if they are affected by the chytrid fungus disease which has devastated so many other frog species across Australia.”CSU ecologist and frog expert Dr Geoff Heard will be on hand to speak about the Sloane’s froglet to the visitors and lend a hand in the planting.

* CSU CUP small grants available for Bathurst region arts and culture projects * Applications close Friday 24 AugustThe next round of 2018 Charles Sturt University (CSU) Community-University Partnership (CUP) grants for arts and cultural activities are available for applications.Individuals and community groups across the University’s regions covered by its campuses in Bathurst, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Orange, Wagga Wagga, and Port Macquarie are invited to apply.Associate Professor Laura Dan, Director Knowledge Exchange and Engagement at CSU, said, “The University provides up to $20,000 worth of CUP grants across its regional footprint, and I encourage individuals and groups with projects or initiatives that meet the criteria to apply.”Applications close on Friday 24 August, and the CUP grants application form is here:https://about.csu.edu.au/community/grants/arts-and-culturePrevious arts and culture CUP grant recipient Ms Kylie Shead from the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) said, “With the support of CSU Community-University Partnership grants we have been able bring professional writers to speak at the Bathurst Writers’ and Readers’ Festival, and at the same time keep the festival free and therefore accessible for the community”.

* Dementia explored in two free films as part of Ageing Symposium in Wagga Wagga * An opportunity to learn more about dementia and to improve interaction with people who live with dementiaEncouraging people to think differently about how they interact with people with dementia is the focus of a free film night in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 8 August.The evening is part of the ‘Inspire Ageing in Rural Communities: Together we can make a difference’ Symposium hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) for the Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG).Conference co-convenor and Associate Professor of Nursing Maree Bernoth (pictured left) in the CSU School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health said, “There are more than 425,000 Australians living with dementia. It’s the single greatest cause of disability in older Australians, with one in ten people aged over 65 living with dementia.“So the chances are that many of us know someone with dementia, have loved ones affected, or are caring for someone with dementia.“This free event is an opportunity for people to learn more about dementia and how we can improve how we interact with people who are living with this disease,” Professor Bernoth said.There’s no need to register to attend, and people are encouraged to be at the Forum 6 Cinema in Trail Street in Wagga Wagga for the screening at 6pm on Wednesday 8 August.Two films will be screened:* Head of the Health Law and Ageing Research Unit at Monash University, Professor Joseph Ibrahim will show his film, The Dignity of Risk, which challenges the popular ways of thinking about the rights of people diagnosed with dementia. After the film Professor Ibrahim will lead discussion about the content of the film.* Catholic Healthcare will show a film about arts and dementia called Together we can inspire and create.After the screening of the films there will be an opportunity for people to continue the discussion and network over pizza and soft drink.The evening is sponsored by a grant from Destination NSW.

* CSU nominated and a finalists in two categories: * Outstanding Employer of Choice (HR) * Childcare, Education and Training (Learning and Teaching area)Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Port Macquarie is a finalists in two categories of the 2018 Holiday Coast Credit Union Greater Port Macquarie Business Awards this weekend.Being a finalist in the Outstanding Employer of Choice (HR) category reflects staff morale and the campus at CSU in Port Macquarie.As a finalist in the Childcare, Education and Training (Learning and Teaching area) category, CSU’s contribution to being a thought leader in the Port Macquarie community is acknowledged.CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann (pictured) said, “The University is proud to be associated with the Port Macquarie Business Chamber and we’re humbled to have been announced as a finalist.“Being recognised alongside other high achieving businesses and organisations, both in the area of learning and teaching and as an outstanding employer of choice, is testament to the wonderful staff and students who study and work at our campus in Port Macquarie and across our entire footprint.“Well done and congratulations to all finalists, and thank you to the Port Macquarie business and wider community for their continued support and faith in our institution.” More information can be found here: https://portchamber.com.au/event/gala-awards-night-2018/The winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner at Port Macquarie Panthers on Saturday 28 July.

* CSU in Wagga Wagga aims to plant 500 trees on Saturday 28 July * Tree planting increases biodiversity and connectivity of vegetation and riparian corridorsAs part of National Tree Planting Day Week, staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will gather on Saturday 28 July to plant trees to expand and enhance the University’s biodiversity zones on the campus.National Tree Day on Sunday 29 July is Australia’s largest tree-planting and nature care event.CSU Green sustainability project officer Ms Kym Witney-Soanes said, “Every year, CSU Green coordinates revegetation works at each campus for CSU Tree Planting Day events. Revegetation works occur strategically across campuses in accordance with the biodiversity plans.”“On Saturday in Wagga Wagga we hope to plant approximately 350 locally indigenous seedlings on the University farm, extending biodiversity area E at the southern end of Houlaghans Creek.“If we have more time and volunteers, we plan to plant the remainder of the 150 seedlings at the offset Ashmont biodiversity zone.“These planting areas have been determined in consultation with relevant University personnel and CSU Green specialists.”The aims of CSU revegetation works are to:* increase biodiversity areas to reduce the loss of species and improve the ecosystem function;* increase the connectivity of between vegetation corridors across campuses (including the CSU farms at Wagga Wagga and Orange);* rehabilitate highly disturbed sites.To date CSU has planted 16,810 native trees, shrubs and grasses across its campuses.Intending participants for the two-hour tree planting event at CSU in Wagga Wagga should register on csugreen@csu.edu.au, and will meet at the front of Joyes Hall at 10am Saturday 28 July.Participants are encouraged to bring their own hat, gloves, sunscreen, and boots, and a barbecue lunch will be provided at 1pm at St Martin’s.A tree-planting day will also be held at CSU in Bathurst on Wednesday 8 August, and tree planting days have already been held at CSU in Albury-Wodonga (Wednesday 18 July) and Dubbo (Tuesday 24 July).