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World Environment Day
4 July 2009
World Environment Day, celebrated last Sunday on the University campus, provided USC with the opportunity to partner with the Council and key groups, such as the Sunshine Coast Environment Council, to co-host a genuine, whole of region event.
With more than 6,000 people attending, the day was a great success and demonstrated just what an engaged and enthusiastic community we have here on the Coast. It’s also testament to the well documented passion of our community for their environment and particularly, for maintaining it into the future.
I was especially impressed by the large number of family groups who attended. The numbers of young people and their active participation in the host of activities on offer was an encouraging sign that the next generation will be dedicated supporters of the environment. The level of interest in the extensive range of displays and presentations, and the sophistication underlying the questions I saw being asked, also made it clear that community understanding of environmental issues has come a long way—even in the year since the last World Environment Day.
I guess this is to be expected given the daily media exposure to issues such as climate change, if not our own recent run of extreme weather events and environmental disasters.
Another stand-out for me was the Indigenous involvement and the way the event extended past Welcome to Country, to feature a strong Gubbi Gubbi presence across the day’s program as a whole. The community interest, and engagement with same, suggests to me that it is a facet of the day that we can build on in the future, and it all makes a lot of sense, given that the traditional owners managed their/our country sustainably for millennia before the white fellas arrived.
Recognition of World Environment Day comes at an interesting time for the University. We are currently in the process of revising the Environment Policy and replacing it with a more comprehensive Sustainability Policy that recognizes the importance of economic and social sustainability, as well as environmental sustainability, in planning for the future.
This new policy will provide a framework for sustainable and responsible practices, activities and operations at the University of the Sunshine Coast. For us it is a natural progression that supports our mission, to be an exemplar within the university sector and, as well, to explicitly connect the University with the Council’s mission to be recognized as Australia’s most sustainable region.
It was interesting to see that this broader dimension of sustainability was also evident during the Mayor’s Panel. This was a capstone event to the day that featured a panel discussion, led by the Mayor, around what needs to happen if the Sunshine Coast is to become Australia’s most sustainable region.
The backgrounds of the panel members reflected this three pronged approach to sustainability and, prompted by an astute facilitator, and questions from an enthusiastic audience, debate explored how the different interest groups needed to interact to ensure the best possible outcomes for the region.
The potential role of the Council in facilitating change was highlighted, however, it was clear that all stakeholders have a role to play and that unless they are all willing participants in an inclusive approach to change, the region will not accomplish its goal to be an exemplar of sustainability.
World Environment Day was informative, stimulating, and a lot of fun. If you missed it this year pencil it into the diary for 2010, because it will be even bigger and better. But at the end of the day, as Bob Abbot pointed out, the feel-good aspects of these events aren’t going to do a lot of good unless each of us goes home and makes a conscious decision to change aspects of our lives so that we are more environmentally responsible.
The University certainly intends to do this and we look forward to sharing our progress, and experience, with our community.
Professor Greg Hill is Acting Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of the Sunshine Coast.