Sustainability Victoria has selected 33 finalists across 11 categories for their innovative work in promoting greener practices and achieving more sustainable outcomes within their schools and communities, as part of this year’s Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards.
In the Education category, the first finalist is Ballarat Tech School’s War on Waste program that aims to inspire and empower students, other schools and local businesses in the battle against plastic waste, encouraging them to consider the long-term effects waste has on the environment and to use circular economy thinking. The program provides students with the chance to design and develop products and business ideas from other people’s waste, seeing waste as potential, not just rubbish.
Education category finalist, the River Nile School offers programs delivering the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) curriculum to re-engage refugee and asylum seeker school-aged women. The topic of sustainability was a key theme throughout the year. Students learnt about the topic in depth, culminating in two student-led projects, a Sustainability Expo and a Sustainability Market.
St Aloysius Primary School’s Inspiring Marine Science Experts – Stewards of Swan Bay is a marine science/environmental education program used throughout the school that also develops community-based science, civics, health and technology curriculum, transferable across other schools. The project is supported by academic partners, Faculty of Marine Science, Deakin University, and community partners, the Marine and Freshwater Discovery Centre and Fisheries, Queenscliff. It teaches students to care for the shores of Port Phillip and Swan Bay.
Carl Muller, interim CEO of Sustainability Victoria, congratulated finalists for their innovative work in trying to build a more sustainable environment for current and future generations.
“Delivering these Awards means we continue to discover and celebrate the talent and enthusiasm Victorians have for thinking creatively about new models of sustainability,” he said.
“The Awards, now in their 17th year, acknowledge leadership, innovation and achievement. Each finalist is commended for improving sustainable outcomes across business, government, education, health and within the community.”
Winners will be announced during a ceremony on Thursday 10 October 2019 at the Forum in Melbourne. For more information, please click here.
