Project.
Sustainability Projects
“The group project was a great idea for really getting to know what it takes to conceptualise, design and then actually implement environmental programs. It taught me so much about group dynamics, societal views and the tools to use when going about such tasks.”
- John Conallin
Consultant
Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Program Graduate 2005
Run concurrently with the workshops, program fellow will develop and implement a ’sustainability project’ in their local community. The twin aims of this project are to help create more sustainable communities and to provide valuable community-based environmental change management experience to the fellows. The creation of each project proposal will be guided by ‘just-in-time’ learning from the workshops, where fellows will be given skills for each stage of their project planning as these skills become necessary.
2009 Fellows’ Projects
Infra-link
Renewable fuels race
Rachel Mimmo came to Australia from the UK in April 2008 when she gave up her job as a corporate lawyer in Sheffield. Rachel and her husband, who works in sustainability, decided to travel around Australia by car for eight months. As a way of lessening their carbon footprint they had the novel idea of using waste cooking oil to fuel their epic 37,000 km car journey.
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Urban farming
Creating a green oasis and fresh food farm in the city jungle is the ambitious aim of a group of Melbourne urban professionals.
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Wipe it out
At the age of 21, Aaron Fuller, Fellowship Program participant and creator of Wipe It Out, had an epiphany.
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2008 Fellows’ Projects
On the path to a better future
Learning to ride a bike is almost a given for most Australians. For a refugee from a war-torn nation, it can be a life changing experience.
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Bright Sparks Seeking a Just Change
Everyone from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd down has identified that one of the biggest political challenges of an emissions trading scheme is the impact it will have on low income earners.
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Calling on you to save the gorilla
Did you know that by recycling your mobile phone, you can help save endangered gorillas in Africa?
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2007 Fellows’ Projects
Get Earthed
Created by fellows Gemma, Wyan and Siska, Get Earthed is an initiative that strives to bridge the gap between the sustainability movement, and the general public. Using popular media, such as the newspapers and radio programs, Get Earthed encourages the general public to ask questions about sustainability. By providing simple answers to questions and practical solutions to household problems, the program strives to make sustainability issues more accessible for the wider public. In the future, the group has ambitions to publish an archive of answers in book form, to run public information sessions for discussion of key sustainability issues, and to develop a web-based community to generate and distribute solutions globally. Get Earthed aims to propel action on sustainability by demystifying the core issues for the general public, and thereby developing a groundswell for environmental concerns throughout the community.
Greening the Outdoors
The Greening Outdoors project was developed by fellows Mark Dingle, Megan Holbeck and Matt Perry, who looked at resolving the ideological conflict faced by the thriving Australian outdoors industry: the industry paradoxically contributes to damage inflicted on the environment upon which the profitability of the industry depends. The project works with businesses to reduce their environmental footprint, and develop products with a green ethic. By reconciling the environmental ideology and practice of the outdoor industry, Greening the Outdoors aims to change the relationship between businesses and the environment by establishing successful industry models for other businesses to follow. Four businesses have already subscribed to the program, capturing the attention of Wild, Australia’s premier outdoors magazine, and the Victorian Outdoor Education Association – a positive step toward the recognition of sustainable business practices.
Conservo: Driving Sustainability
In early 2007, Daniel Epstein founded Conservo, an innovative sustainability consulting business. As a part of the Future Sustainability Leaders program program, Daniel improved the business model of his first Conservo project, a service station that promotes sustainable living. The service station, in busy High Street, Prahran, sells biofuels and organic foods, as well as providing an education and information space for public use. As a result of his project, Daniel has developed a business plan to expand his popular business to impact the lives of more Melbournians. Conservo looks to multiply its service station business into other suburbs of metropolitan Melbourne. The project also plans to expand into other sustainability initiatives, including: flexi-car (car sharing), home and business sustainability audits, and eco-consulting for businesses, all of which are founded on the spirit of empowering the general public on issues of sustainability.
1,000-Year Plan
The 1,000-Year Plan is a highly original project that revolutionises the way in which we view the timelines for sustainability issues: the way we view historical data and interpret sustainability science, but also, the way in which we plan for a sustainable future. The project is an institution – a think-tank – that will seek to finds apolitical solutions for our sustainability issues that will provide lasting change and is the brainchild of 2007 Future Sustainability Leaders program participant Jack Fuller. Rather than planning within a 3-4 year political period, 1,000-Year Plan broadens the historical perspective so that, “we live, for the first time, with the knowledge of our billion-year past”. Jack envisages an apolitical planning process through the 1,000-Year Plan, which aims to understand what sort of society, economy and environmental relations could last for 1,000 years.
Planet Positive: Future Visions Art Competition
The Fellowship Program fellows behind Planet Positive developed the art competition with the concept of creating a positive vision for a sustainable future. The project aims to inspire people of all ages to engage with and create their own image for the future in light of the current environmental crises, thereby allowing people an avenue to engage with environmental issues in an artistic manner. The second aspect of the project co-operates with NGO Ozgreen, an environmental education provider. Using funds raised from the art competition and other sources, Planet Positive will assist Timor-Leste to develop a national park, sustainable agricultural industry, community and education programs, establishing a working sustainability model for developing countries. By encouraging creativity, Planet Positive empowers individuals to be innovative with their visions for a sustainable future, and inspires them to act upon this vision.
The Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Program Graduate creates 1000 year plan
The Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Program Graduate starts Biofuel revolution
The Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Program Graduate leads business change