News Archives Oct 2012 - Dec 2012

Hawkesbury Bushcare Landcare Awards and Christmas Party

The Hawkesbury City Council invites you to come and say g’day to your Bushcare and Landcare buddies. Awards will be presented to Volunteer Bushcare & Landcare Groups and individuals for outstanding achievement throughout the year. There will also be free pizza, pavlova and pancakes, as well as prizes and giveaways.

When: Sunday 2 December 2012, from 9am
Where: Hawkesbury Community Nursery, 10 Mulgrave Road, Mulgrave
Cost: FREE!
Food: Please specify particular dietary requirements if required by RSVP date.
RSVP: RSVP to Martin Gauci by Tuesday 27 November via email martin.gauci@hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au or 4560 4525.
N.B: To help make this a sustainable event, BYO cups and cutlery (plates provided)

Earth Building Talk

With rising fuel costs transportation of materials to a construction site can greatly increase the cost of a finished building. Earth is probably one of the most efficient building materials available.

Come along to a talk by Ray Trappel who will pass on tips about using mud bricks and ways to make them economical, considering weather protection, detailing, thermal performance and humidity control.

When: Saturday 3rd November
Time: Arrive at 1.15pm for a 1.30pm start
Where: Hawkesbury Earthcare Centre. Corner of Campus Drive and Science Road, University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Campus at Richmond.

For more information phone 4567 8424 or 0438731712

Global Sustainability Jam

One weekend in November creative, passionate people will meet, form teams & get to work in an energetic, global, face-to-face event. You'll have fun creating brand-new real-world designs, projects and initiatives which might make a difference!

When: 2nd to the 4th November
Where: Sydney (venue still to be decided)
How to get involved: To partake in the Sustainability Jam please contact Selena Griffith for further information selenagriffith@gmail.com

Find out more on the Global Sustainability Jam website (opens in a new window).

Green Meeting Day

To celebrate the University's ongoing commitment to sustainable practice, Thursday 8 November is IT Services Green Day, an initiative of Information Technology Services (IT Services).

On IT Services Green Day, UWS staff are encouraged to use technology rather than travel by car to attend meetings. In 2011 alone, videoconferencing saved 81,646 km. UWS aims to incorporate sustainable practices in all of its activities and to reduce the carbon footprint generated by travel where possible.

After IT Services Green Day, enter a competition by telling IT Services what you did. One lucky group will win a catered morning tea delivered to several locations with videoconference rooms and links provided so the winners can have a group morning tea together. Find out how you can get involved, use Green Technology and reduce your carbon footprint.

The Hungry Tide Film Screening

The Provost Penrith Campus, Office of Sustainability and School of Humanities and Communication Arts presents a free film screening of Tom Zubrycki’s 'The Hungry Tide'. The film is about the Pacific nation of Kiribati which is likely to be the first country in the world to disappear as a result of climate change.

When: Thursday 8th November
Time: 5.30pm includes canapes
Venue: Building BB, Lecture Theatre BB.G.13, Werrington South Campus, UWS. Use the Great Western Highway entrance.
Parking Free: Park at P8 for free parking. All other locations are pay to mark areas.

Watch the trailer (opens in a new window)

Australian Sustainability Conference and Exhibition

The Australian Sustainability Conference and Exhibition is for C-level executives, business leaders and sustainability mangers, the interactive and multi-stream Australian Sustainability Conference and Exhibition will leave delegates and exhibition visitors armed with...

Strategic insights into sustainability best practice
Practical, cost-effective and sustainable solutions
Sustainability thought-leadership from over 50 industry experts

When: 8 and 9 November 2012
Where: Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre

How to Register
Visiting the Australian Sustainability Exhibition and Seminars is free of charge and open to all company representatives seeking sustainable products and solutions for business. Register your interest in attending and we'll keep you updated.

Visit the Australian Sustainability (opens in a new window) website for a full list of speakers and conference details.

Love Food Hate Waste Student Workshops

The Office of Sustainabilities first UWS student workshop will be held on the 10th October from 6.30pm in Building M10 Kitchen on Hawkesbury Campus.

Come along and see how easy it is to eat healthily, shop smart and save money. There will be great prizes, free give aways and a delicious dinner supplied. RSVP to sustainability@uws.edu.au.

Staff workshops coming soon - watch this space for details.

ParraCAN Eco Fest

Come along and enjoy the rose gardens with fresh food and refreshments, free music, poetry, face painting and exciting displays. There will be giveaways, workshops, cooking demonstrations and a 7 Bridge Heritage bike ride and BBQ.

When: Saturday 13th October
Where: Rumsey Rose Garden, Parramatta Park, NSW
Cost: Free entry

This event is run by ParraCAN, a partner in the Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE-GWS). For more details visit the ParraCAN website (opens in a new window).

Sustainable Sydney Forum

Hear from innovators who are proving that good soil and water management can secure food for the future, and join the discussion.

When: Monday September 24, 2012; 6:30 for 7pm-9pm
Where: Richmond Club, Cnr East Market & Francis Streets, Richmond (3 min from station)

Tea/Coffee and sandwiches provided. Gold Coin donation. RSVP by the 20th September.

Visit Sydney Food Fairness website (opens in a new window) for more information.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Month

For the duration of October 2012 each campus will be jam packed with an exciting range of events, activities and promos.

Mental Health and Well Being Month gives you the opportunity to look at your current lifestyle and find ways to possibly make improvements.

Visit uwsconnect events page (opens in a new window) for more information.

Ride2Work Day

Last year, over 45,000 people registered for Ride2Work. This year, we're striving for 50,000 registrants for Ride2Work Day on 17 October 2012. Help us win gold by registering today - it's free, and you can win too!

By registering for Ride2Work (opens in a new window) you help encourage more new riders to give it a try - and the total numbers help us improve bicycle facilities across Australia when they are reported back to local and state councils.

What can you win if you ride to work?

Increase your fitness and lose weight without having to find extra time in your day
Replace your commuter stress with a fresh air and a smile
Chat to your fellow commuters at traffic lights
Arrive at work bright, and fully charged
Go in the draw to win Trek bikes and Bontrager bicycle accessories

Penrith City Council Water Week Photo Comp

To celebrate National Water Week, we’re calling all amateur photographers to take part in our 4th ‘Water in Penrith’ photography competition. Simply snap your photo on the theme: Valuing Our Water in Penrith.

Prizes include $500 Photography Gift Voucher PLUS a double pass to Penrith Whitewater Stadium valued at $188. To download an entry form and for the competition terms and conditions, go to the Penrith City Council website (opens in a new window).

Email your photo to photocomp@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au in JPGE form. Competition closes 22nd October 2012.

EarthCare Lao Vegetarian Cooking Workshop

Come along to our Lao Vegetarian Cooking workshop at Hawkesbury Earth Care Centre. Prepare delightful Asian dishes from Laos that will enchant your family. This workshop is Marlvern specials on Saturday 20th October 2012.

Time: 11am to 2pm (Sat)
Cost: $25 (we share the lunch we cooked)
Where: Hawkesbury Earth Care Centre / Community Garden, corner Campus Drive & Science Rd, UWS Hawkesbury Campus

Bookings: Ling 0410 688 499 / Email ling300ppm@gmail.com

Calling all Film Makers - Love Food Film

Love Film? Love Food? Love Sustainability? Hate Food Waste? The Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney in conjunction with the City of Sydney and UWS, have launched the ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ short film competition.

Make a short film of either 30 seconds or 3-5 minutes in length and be in the running to have your film shown as part of the Australian Film Festival. Deadline for entries are 16th December 2012 5pm AEST. More information about the competition, T&C, entry forms and prize details available at the competition website Love Food Film (opens in a new window).

Hawkesbury Cultural and Arts Plan

Hawkesbury City Council and the community have developed a vision regarding where we would like to be 20 years from now, titled “Shaping our Future”– Hawkesbury Community Strategic Plan.

Now they want to hear your opinions and hopes for the Hawkesbury’s cultural and arts future. The community’s visions and aspirations will help create a ‘cultural and arts plan’ for the Hawkesbury.

If you are between 8 and 100 plus years of age, a resident or a visitor to the Hawkesbury Local Government Area, I encourage you (and your friends and relatives) to please complete the survey. The Survey can be filled out online. The link to the survey is via this page HHC Cultural Plan web page (opens in a new window) where you will find some more explanatory information.

Beyond Zero Emissions Radio: The only full hour of climate change solutions brings you voices from UWS.

The line up included Jen Dollin from the Office of Sustainability, Professor Bobby Banerjee from UWS School of Business, Emeritus Professor Richard Bawden and Professor David Ellsworth from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment.

Download the free podcast today from Beyond Zero Emissions website (opens in a new window).

UWS endorses the HE Treaty at the UN 2012 Conference on Sustainability - Rio +20

Last Friday UWS gave its endorsement to the HE Treaty on Education for Sustainability. The Treaty is being discussed at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development which is currently bringing together the governments of the world in Rio De Janeiro.

Those signing the HE Treaty give their commitment to making sustainable development a key guiding principle for HE: to using their campuses as living models of social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability; to reorient their curriculum to align with sustainable development; to engaging in a two-way fashion with their communities on the key sustainability challenges facing their region; and to ensuring greater alignment between their policies, incentives, rewards, tracking measures, platforms and structures and the principles and practices of sustainable development.

A range of short term and long term actions to enact this agenda have been endorsed.

The UWS Riverfarm, which is part of the activities of RCE-GWS, is being featured at Rio +20 as an international case study of international best practice in bringing together school, VET and HE with community groups. Also being discussed is the UWS-led international study of turnaround leadership for sustainability in higher education in 200 universities in Australia, NZ, the UK, the European mainland, Canada and the USA.

For the full text of the HE Treaty please download Treaty 13 (opens in a new window).

To see the Universities Australia endorsement please see the United Nations Commitment to the Sustainable Practices of Higher Education Institutions Initiative (opens in a new window)