Carbon Neutral Schools – Waru Waru Sustainable Schools Alliance

At our Term 1 TEN, we heard from teachers, parents and students who form part of the Waru Waru Sustainable Schools Alliance. This alliance between Albert Park Kinder, Albert Park Primary School and Albert Park College, with the support of the City of Port Phillip, are on a journey to becoming the first carbon neutral education precinct in Australia.    

We thank the City of Port Phillip and Bayside City Council for supporting these Teacher Environment Network meetings and professional learning opportunities. 

 

TEN Presentations


Australia’s First Carbon Neutral Kindergarten

In 2019, Albert Park Kinder became the first early learning centre in Australia to be certified carbon neutral. You can watch a snippet of the ABC 7:30 report here.

Albert Park Primary SchoolPresentation slides

Albert Park CollegePresentation slides

 

Energy Auditing Tools

ResourceSmart Program
RSS is a free program offered by Sustainability Victoria that supports Victorian schools to embed sustainability across the school facilities, community and curriculum, while saving resources and money for the school. 

Schools join the program, then have access to 1-1 support from a facilitator, including staff professional learning, as well as access to an online portal where you can track and monitor resource use at the school, and learn and practice ways to integrate sustainability. 

Climate Active Network
Climate Active is an ongoing partnership between the Australian Government and Australian businesses to drive voluntary climate action. The brand represents Australia’s collective effort to measure, reduce, and offset carbon emissions to lessen our negative impact on the environment. 

The certification is a new iteration of the Australian Government’s carbon neutral certification. Please note, this process is currently fee-for-service. 

Visions, Policies, School Environmental Management Plans, Energy Action Plans

ResourceSmart
The ResourceSmart Program provides templates for Schools Sustainability Visions, Policies and Action Plans including an overall School Environmental Management Plan. You can download these for free here.

CERES
CERES environment park provides both examples and templates for Education for Sustainability Visions, Green Purchasing Policies, School Environmental Management Plans, Curriculum Audits and Action Plans for Water, Energy, Waste and Biodiversity.  You can download these for free here. 

Albert Park College

 

Energy Education &
Curriculum Activities


Cool Australia

Free sustainability curriculum resources (including lesson plans and materials). You can find energy audits as well as a diverse range of energy education activities here. 

Climate7
Website developed by an Australian teacher, the 7 Ways can be used by children and adults, individually or together in schools, families and communities. They provide a framework for meaningful and ongoing change to address Climate Change. 7 Ways in 7 Days further supports the change process by breaking it down into a weekly routine of more manageable pieces. There is a section on curriculum which offers particular advice for teachers and schools and new resources are always being added. 

Land Art Generator
An interesting website that seeks to accelerate the transition to post-carbon economies by providing models of renewable energy infrastructure that add value to public space, inspire and educate – while providing equitable power to homes around the world. A great resource for learning and inspiring young people.

CERES
CERES has a range of free energy education activities that include lesson plans, materials, curriculum links, as well as links to ResourceSmart module actions. 

Energy Literacy/Helpful Websites


Yarra Energy Foundation

The Yarra Energy Foundation is a not-for-profit who are seeking to reduce carbon emission from energy down to zero. To get there, they help residents and businesses with services and advice to make better energy choices. They are currently developing workshops and materials to promote energy literacy in communities, as well as offering a range of other services. 

Melbourne Community Power Hub
Melbourne’s first metropolitan community power hub, seeking to mobilise local climate solutions for an exciting net zero future. This is a great website to learn more about energy efficiency as well as the benefits of going all-electric. 

Schools in Bayside City Council
Did you know that the City of Bayside was certified as a ‘Carbon Neutral’ Council with Climate Active at the end of 2020? Bayside was the ninth Council nationally to be certified carbon neutral, of 14 currently. Bayside has since halved its greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing all its electricity from renewable sources.

You can read the Public Disclosure Statement here https://www.climateactive.org.au/buy-climate-active/certified-members/bayside-city-council .

If you’d like to sign up to the City of Bayside sustainability e-news, you can subscribe here

Schools in the City of Port Phillip
If you’d like to find out more about how the City of Port Phillip is reducing emissions, you can read about their great work here

You can also subscribe to the City of Port Phillip sustainability newsletter here.

If you are a school or early learning centre in the City of Port Phillip and you’d like support to audit your school’s carbon emissions, or to discuss leadership strategies on Climate Change, you can email ten@ecocentre.com. We will facilitate an introduction to the council’s Greenhouse Emissions Officer who is happy to meet with your school.

TEN Hands-on Biodiversity - blog
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Hands-on Biodiversity at Elsternwick Park Nature Reserve
At our Term 2 TEN, 2022 we visited the Elsternwick Park Nature Reserve. Once a public golf course, the park is now being transformed into a unique reserve for wildlife, creating a biodiversity refuge for exploration, education and enjoyment by the community! The session included a guided walk through the reserve with local naturalist, educator […]
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Event - TEN - Big Blue Backyard
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Our Big Blue Backyard – Student Learning and the Bay
  Following on from our Teacher Environment Network workshop on ‘Our Big Blue Backyard: Student Learning and the Bay’ we have compiled a range of free learning resources for you to explore. These include videos, films, citizen science auditing tools, units of study and lesson plans. We have also linked a copy of the presentations […]
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The EcoCentre acknowledges the Kulin Nations, including the Yalukit Willam clan of the Boon Wurrung language group, traditional custodians of the land on which we are located.

We pay respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to other First Nations and Elder members of our multicultural community.