Western Sydney Environmental Education Group – Department of Education and Communities

The inaugural Youth Eco Summit took place at the Newington Armoury in Sydney Olympic Park in October 2012. Over 6000 students from 180 schools took part in this Western Sydney Sustainability Education Group initiative that brought together over 65 organisations to showcase and workshop environmental projects with students. This summit presented opportunities for young people to creatively express what 'sustainability' means for them.

The event included a series of live video conferences that were broadcast across New South Wales to more than 3500 students from rural and remote areas. A partnership agreement has been signed for 2012-14 with event numbers forecast to increase each year.

Cumberland Plain Counts Project

WSSEG received a National Resource Advisory Council Grant of $29,000 to develop a curriculum resource for schools that focused on the endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland of the Sydney basin. The Cumberland Plain is a unique ecological community that is of significance to the Aboriginal Peoples of the Greater Western Sydney region.

Sustainable Schools Website

A joint project with the Department of Environment & Climate Change to develop the Sustainable Schools website. This website supported schools in the development of an online School Environmental Management Plan.

University of Western Sydney - Office of Sustainability

Hawkesbury Riverfarm

The reinvigoration of the UWS Hawkesbury Riverfarm (opens in a new window) Education Centre led by the Office of Sustainability will transform the site into a unique outdoor living and learning laboratory that links land, food, culture and water for a range of educational purposes.

UWS occupies an historic 40 hectare holding of prime agricultural land on the Hawkesbury River - including 1 kilometre of river frontage gazetted in 1799. The river banks are revegetated with species commonly found in River Flat Eucalypt Forest, a listed Endangered Ecological Community. The Darug are the traditional custodians of the land and yams and other indigenous plant food are still growing on the riverbanks.

The farm complex is made up of a circa 1900’s cottage, a series of timber framed farm buildings, silos and a historically significant water pumping tower. The pumping station was used as a dependable source of domestic, farm and irrigation water for the Riverfarm itself as well as the town of Richmond and the Hawkesbury Agricultural College in the early 20th Century. The pumping stations design and building type, is a rare example of an early 20th Century reinforced concrete pumping station incorporating a tower and well.

The Riverfarm is significant in NSW’s cultural history as evidence of agriculture and grazing on the fertile but flood prone Richmond Lowlands from the late 18th century until the present day.

The project is the flagship initiative of the newly endorsed United Nations University Regional Centre of Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development – Greater Western Sydney. TAFE WSI pre-apprentice carpentry, electrical and plumbing students, under the supervision of their teachers, will assist with the rejuvenation and renovation of the Riverfarm site gaining skills in their specific areas.

Hawkesbury Environmental Network

Hawkesbury Environmental Network (opens in a new window) engages and sanctions the local community through numerous educational and fieldwork based activities surrounding sustainable living and environmental protection; including a variety of bush regeneration projects protect bush health in local areas.

Hawkesbury Harvest

Hawkesbury Harvest (opens in a new window) is a community-based project aiming to improve the economical sustainability of the local agriculture regions as well as increasing consumer access to fresh nutritious foods and wines without having to travel vast distances to get it.

David Mason, the foundation chair of Hawkesbury Harvest and a UWS post-graduate, was awarded an inaugural UWS Community Award in 2012 and is an exemplar of how UWS’s applied pedagogies can be put to work on real community issues. Hawkesbury Harvest has established Farm Gate Trail tourism, farmers markets, a Slow Food convivium, Open Farm Days and Schools Harvest, a collaboration between Harvest, the School of Natural Sciences and the Hawkesbury Foundation engaging primary and secondary schools in paddock-to-plate learning. Hawkesbury Harvest was recognized with a UWS Partnership Award in 2006.

Hawkesbury Harvest Inc. directly supports the Slow Food® movement, Hawkesbury Environmental Network (HEN), Hawkesbury EarthCare Centre, and Hawkesbury Skills Secret Garden and Nursery. Read more about Hawkesbury Harvest (opens in a new window) (PDF, 1.9Mb)

Parramatta Climate Action Network

350.org day on September 24, 2011. For more information, please see the 350 Australia (opens in a new window) website.

The Earth Relay

The Earth Relay coordinated by Nature Conservation Council of NSW on October 15, 2011 came to Old Parliament House at Parramatta Park and coincided with our John Seeds “Despair and Empowerment Workshop” at Parramatta Lake. Please see the NSW Earth Relay 2011 video on YouTube (opens in a new window).

Climate Action Summit 2012

The Community Climate Action Summit is organised by the National Community Climate Network – a network of over 100 climate action groups across Australia. The RCE partnered with the summit. The directory of Sustainability at UWS met with the climate change commission in May to discuss issues.

Penrith City Council

Werrington Creek Rehabilitation and Community Engagement Project

The Werrington Creek Rehabilitation and Community Engagement Project (opens in a new window) is another example of a grant program being delivered for the local community. Funded by the NSW Environmental Trust, the project aims to improve the quality of the bushland riparian corridor along Werrington Creek, and improve water quality in the creek and the lake which receives its water. The work includes bush regeneration work, tree planting, and the installation of stormwater improvement devices. In addition to this, the Penrith Valley Sports Stadium, which is located adjacent to the creek, is receiving a number of upgrades to improve its water efficiency.

To complement the substantial work being undertaken as part of the project, extensive community engagement activities are being undertaken. These include general community events such as tree planting days and Clean Up Australia Day activities, and targeted schools activities including bushcare working bees and the development of curriculum based self guided activities for local teachers to utilise with their students. In addition to this, signage and other actions will be undertaken in the Penrith Valley Sports Stadium to promote the project in general, and the water efficiency measures undertaken within the Stadium itself.

Television Sydney (TVS)

Local Loop is a new weekly show presented and produced by the University of Western Sydney's School of Communication Arts students and will premier Friday 23rd September at 6.45pm.

Men’s Health at UWS

Men’s Health Information and Resource Centre (opens in a new window) has been in existence at UWS since 1999. It is funded by NSW Ministry of Health, by the Federal Department of Health and Ageing with some small gifts from benefactors. Its focus is engagement with the community, especially with disadvantaged men by attempting to shift popular culture and that of institutions and governments towards positive engagement with men and addressing the social determinants of their health.

One of MHIRC’s projects is a drop in centre for men at risk of suicide in Mt Druitt in Western Sydney. Mt Druitt has a large community of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, many of whom are struggling with issues such as employment, housing, the law, drugs and often mental health problems. The Shed, as it is called, is run by aboriginal men and offers a one stop shop for men and all the services which have difficulties in reaching out to this population; health, probation and parole, mental health, housing etc. The Sheds research on male suicide as can be seen in our MHIRC paper, Pathways to Suicide, the social determinants of male suicide.

MHIRC also runs a network of support for professionals working with men’s health in every area of NSW; it has also a project with Aboriginal men who have prolonged experience of incarceration. In all of our work, the focus is on working together with men and our research is participatory in nature.