38. Toolbox for Environmental Change

I recently attended the Toolbox for Environmental Change, which is the premier event for environmental and sustainability education in Victoria and Australia. It attracted some 300 participants and involved many workshops and displays. I presented and promoted the Young Masters Programme on Sustainable Development or YMP and learned a lot more about the organisations in Australia engaged in environmental and sustainability education. Most importantly, I learned that the Australian Curriculum has defined three cross-curriculum priorities, which includes: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures; Australia and Asia; and Sustainability. The three cross-curriculum priorities are to be embedded in all learning areas, across all schools. There are various organisations that are producing learning material and activities on sustainability that teachers and schools can utilise within the Australian Curriculum, including Cool Australia, Carbon Kids and the Savewater Alliance. There are also other great inititives like Kids Teaching Kids and Habitat Heroes. Furthermore, it appears that many schools in Australia are engaging in sustainability both through teaching and learning, but also through investments in school property and infrastructure, like solar power, water tanks, energy efficiecny improvements, and vegetable gardens. In other words, schools are linking learning with actions. What I also learned is that while there are vibrant activities within and between schools in Australia, there is little international cooperation or linkages. So, in short, it seems the YMP could play a role in linking Australia to the world, and meeting the three cross-curriculum priorities, particularly Sustainability and Australia and Asia (as China and India are major partners in the YMP), but also Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, as the YMP encourages students and teachers to work in their local contexts and tap into knowledge and understanding in local communities.