Linking and Leveraging Educational Networks in Greater Western Sydney Jen Dollin University of Western Sydney ACTS 2012 j.dollin@uws.edu.au  

Greater Western Sydney:

Ø   1.9 million people Ø  14 Local Government Areas Ø  3rd largest economy Ø  Residents from 170 countries Ø  Over 100 languages Ø  Manufacturing

The RCE-GWS is hosted by the University of Western Sydney and it brings together key educational, community, NGO, government, business and council groups to link and leverage work that they have been undertaking in parallel. RCE-GWS in NSW is one of three RCE’s in Australia. This network provides a rich resource of ideas and strategies for engaging people with the challenges of social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability.

Ø  Transitioning to a low carbon economy Ø  Developing sustainable communities, including health, transport and

housing Ø  Ensuring agricultural sustainability and food security Ø  Conserving biodiversity and river health

RCE-GWS identifies four major sustainability challenges for GWS:

RCE-GWS delivers educational responses to these challenges via: Ø  Transformative education Ø  Research Ø  Engagement

•  Engaging the disengaged •  Diverse communities •  Lack of professional development and knowledge •  There is already an extensive range of research, development and

educational activity •  Not effectively linked nor leveraged •  The RCE –GWS will build this activity into an integrated learning

system.

Education for Sustainability Challenges:

•  24 committed partners with X 3 forums per year •  Working Groups:

•  SMEs, Riverhealth, Food Security, Teacher Education •  International linkages – schools and HE network •  Annual Reporting to UNU •  Funding applications over $200k in 2012 •  Case Studies: Riverfarm, Alive! and Our Place

RCE – GWS: Think global act local

Education for Sustainability Building UWS, VET colleges & GWS schools as living laboratories for sustainability, EfS Net, Teacher Education for Sustainability, linking GWS school children with those in other countries via the RCE Network.

Key action groups for RCE-GWS currently underway are:

River health Hawkesbury Waterkeeper project; Hawkesbury Riverfarm.

Waste & energy Love food, hate waste in GWS; Blue Economy demonstration projects; Green Office Program; smart metering programs.

Engagement Youth Eco Summit; Climate Action Summit; Powershift/AYCC; Alive Hawkesbury sustainable education program; Engaging SMEs with the Green Skills, Operations and Blue Economy agendas.

Policy formation, change leadership and implementation for ESD Membership of Australia’s Green Skills Accord Implementation Group; editor of the HE Treaty for the UN Rio +20 Conference on Sustainability; production of a national options paper for Universities Australia; a national stocktake of sustainability in the curriculum of Australia’s universities.

• Successful collaboration across three sectors of education •  Microcosm of the 4 RCE GWS challenges •  Proven model for a living laboratory – VET students apply green

Skills, UWS students from all disciplines learn by doing •  Positive promotion for UWS internationally, nationally and locally  

UWS RIVERFARM :

• Youth Empowerment Program in the Hawkesbury LGA • 10 Public Schools and 2 Community Groups • HEN, DEC, UWS, Earthcare, WSI, Hawkesbury City Council,

WIRES, Climate Action Network, Australia Youth Climate Coalition, NPWS and HNCMA

• World Environment Day – launched at UWS with 260 students • Peer Support and Mentoring – UWS students • UWS Communication Arts Students filming – media workshops • Teacher@sustainability pilot • TVS and community screening

Alive!

• NSW State Government moved to regional based approach • Collaborative agreement with NSW Office of Environment and

Heritage and Centre for Educational Research • Pilot project: Stage 1 and Stage 2 funding $100k • Community focus groups and x3 forums • Open Space Technology – same approach as Alive! • Seed Funding for collaborative projects • Church and multi faith groups, health and refugee

organisations

Our Place – Greater Western Sydney

• Undertake a stocktake of RCE partner projects early on • Link and leverage common areas for focus into one project • Jointly build an agreed plan of action with clear roles for each

partner, key indicators of success and milestones • Ensure that what is to be delivered is relevant and feasible • Allocate a single project coordinator for each RCE project • Make sure that the achievements of those involved in

implementation are identified and publicly acknowledged.

Key Lessons

Ø  Badanami  Centre  for  Indigenous  Educa4on  Ø  Blacktown  City  Council  Ø  Blacktown  Learning  Community  Ø  Brewongle  Environmental  Educa4on  Centre  Ø  Hawkesbury  City  Council  Ø  Hawkesbury  Earthcare  Centre  Ø  Hawkesbury  Environment  Network  Ø  Hawkesbury  Harvest  and  Farm  Gate  Trail  Ø  Nirimba  Educa4on  Precinct  Ø  North  West  Disability  Services  Ø  Office  of  the  Hawkesbury-­‐Nepean  Ø  ParramaJa  Climate  Ac4on  Network  Ø  Penrith  Business  Alliance  Ø  Penrith  City  Council  Ø  Sydney  Olympic  Park  Authority  Ø  TAFE  NSW  –  Western  Sydney  Ins4tute  Ø  TAFE  NSW  –  South  Western  Sydney  Ins4tute  Ø  Television  Sydney  (TVS)  Ø  UWS  Ø  UWSConnect  Ø  Western  Sydney  Sustainability  Educa4on  Group  -­‐  DEC  Ø  Western  Sydney  Regional  Organisa4on  of  Councils  

THANK  YOU