Sustainability Champions Network

We asked

We have a diverse and engaged population who care about their municipality. Many of you have ideas and enthusiasm for making your community more sustainable.

In March 2018, we sought expressions of interest for Sustainability Champions. This group aims to support grassroots community initiatives, provide networking opportunities and help local projects come to life.

We held the first Sustainability Champions forum on Wednesday 17 October 2018.

You said

More than 40 people attended our first forum, generating ideas for community-led sustainability initiatives and listening to guest speakers.

You came up with dozens of ideas in a range of areas, including waste, climate change, biodiversity and water. There was a great sense of inspiration and energy after the forum.

We did

We facilitated the next meeting on 15 November 2018, aiming to prioritise projects and work out how you'd help get them off the ground.

We created project plans and working groups on many projects including:

• biodiversity gardens
• a new Love Our Street group
• a community vegetable garden and eco centre
• parks utilisation
• Glen Eira Co-Ops
• recycling and green waste awareness
• soft plastics awareness
• keep your cup
• house life cycle (home energy efficiency)
• the annual Sustainable Living Festival.

The champions have met bi-monthly since the inaugural meeting in October 2018. They meet to discuss their projects and communicate through a Facebook group in between meetings. Initial project ideas included establishing an annual Glen Eira Sustainable Living Festival, biodiversity verge gardens, and improving waste and recycling awareness. The group is now focusing on developing a solution for soft-plastics recycling within schools.