Among the towering gum trees on the banks of Lake Guthridge stands the Nakunbalook Environmental and Cultural Education Centre, Sale’s new $650,000 centre, boasting myriad environmentally sustainable design elements and low-impact materials.
On Thursday, November 10, selected students across Wellington Shire joined Raquel Harris, Will Tait and Monica Green from the Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development Gippsland (RCE Gippsland) for the subsequent Here Comes the Future Youth Summit.
Here Comes the Future Youth Summit brought students from Maffra Secondary School, Maffra Primary School, Wurruk Primary School, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Sale, Gippsland Grammar Junior School and Gippsland Grammar Senior School together inside the rammed earth walls of the Nakunbalook Centre for a day of thought-provoking education on climate change and sustainability.
Keen learners spent the morning connecting with students from other schools, RCE Gippsland educators, Wellington Shire sustainability education officer Sharon Ray and special guests Esther Lloyd from Gippsland Climate Change Network, Tammy Logan from Sustainability Victoria, Fred Hellriegel from Sale Community Seed Garden, artist Jo Caminiti and Beth Ripper from Maffra and District Landcare Network.
After getting to know their peers, sharing ideas on climate change, climate adaptation, and sustainability, exploring their own relationships with planet earth, and identifying proactive behaviours to cut emissions and slow the pace of global warming, students were addressed by guest speakers, referred to as ‘olders’.
Mr Lloyd, Ms Logan, Ms Caminiti, Mr Hellriegel and Ms Ripper shared their stories and experiences about the effects of climate change and climate adaptation projects, and possibilities that inspired them with young Wellington Shire learners. Nourishing young minds with thought-provoking concepts before they retired outside for lunch to nourish their bodies under the shade of the Nakunbalook Centre patio.
Alice and Annalyn, Year 5 students from Maffra Primary School, sat on a black and white patterned, woven mat, nibbling at the last remains of their packed lunch, rosy-cheeked and chattering away.
They shared their knowledge from the morning’s session, how global warming could affect their future without change, and how to be sustainable to prevent climate change from worsening.
“I have really enjoyed my time,” Annalyn said.
“Learning about recycling plastics, finding solutions to help climate change because I’m not just worried about me but everyone else.”
Alice shared she learned how to grow her own food to reduce her carbon footprint and support a sustainable lifestyle, breaking for lunch inspired by stories shared by the olders.
“My favourite part so far has been asking questions, learning about people here and hearing the olders stories,” Alice said.
“I’ve learnt how I can help the community, like by helping with botanic gardens, and I will share with my friends at school how they can make changes at home to be sustainable and help our planet.”
Year 7 students from Gippsland Grammar, Olivia and Darcee, discussed the morning just done as they sat together under the structural shade in the Sale Community Seed Garden.
“We have learnt a lot,” Olivia said.
“We learnt all the ways we can help prevent global warming from becoming worse but don’t because there are lots of people in denial about climate change.
“It is not just up to the government to help”, Olivia added, creasing her brow concernedly, “there are things we can do too”.
Red-faced, sweat-stickied schoolchildren began to pack away their belonging as educators indicated lunch was over.
Mason and Sam, Year 6 students from St Mary’s, were among the final to return to the cool inside of the Nakunbalook Centre, distracted in deep conversation about how the world is being affected by climate change and what they can do to stop it.
There was a twinkle in the eye of young Sam as he voiced his climate adaptation project ideas.
“Project inspiration,” he announced jollily.
“Inspiring others to make changes to be more sustainable to help climate change; switching to solar energy, participating in No Plastic July, choosing nude food, recycling, and reducing the use of single-use plastic.”
The afternoon session of Here Comes the Future Youth Summit guided students in their school groups, using a framework to invoke the questions of who, what, when, where, how and why, in creating a climate adaptation plan/project. After hours of hard work, intense discussion, teacher, educator and older collaboration, participants presented their projects to the other groups, concluding the second RCE Gippsland youth summit.
Summit facilitator Will Tait said while educating young people about the causes and consequences of climate change and ways in which they can help prevent further worsening of climate change was vital, it is only a small part of what RCE Gippsland is achieving through the youth event.
“The end goal is to give these young people the confidence and the skills and the understanding to express what they are feeling and thinking,” he said.
“Education is part of that, giving them confidence and not only for their benefit but because their youthful thinking and ways of being mean that they come at solutions with a lot of creativity, a lot of fun, a lot of freedom; we adults need that.
“They are the generation that is going to be living their whole life under the shadow of climate change, so the sooner they are skilled up and empowered to be taking action and collaborating with all ages in action, the better for all of us.”
Dr Monica Green, adjunct senior research fellow in pedagogies and curriculum of environmental sustainability education at Federation University and Chair of RCE Gippsland, says by equipping students with knowledge and confidence, they are supporting them from youth in waiting to youth in action.
“Days like today give an explicit message,” Dr Green said.
“I know we refer to them as the future leaders, but I would call them the current leaders because, I think, there is a mood and a swing toward recognising that youth have opinions, they’ve got things to say.
“A lot of the stuff we’ve worked through today doesn’t necessarily go on in schools for all sorts of reasons. That’s not a criticism; that just means we can create an agenda today that really brings them into this role of empowerment and the tools, the knowledge, the confidence to say; actually, I am getting a powerful message that it is legitimate for me to participate right now, not wait.”
