The
heat and blue sky’s of a Darwin
dry season welcomed the 4 Waterwatchers
from SA who
attended the 15th Biennial AAEE conference held July 9th – 12th.
Indigenous issues and the climate change crisis were strong themes
throughout the 4 day conference titled: Environmental Education up the
track:
Hot topics for our community.
There
was a real sense of urgency among delegates,
with the recognition of the ongoing role of education in tackling
climate
change, but also the urgent need for political lobbying to ensure that
appropriate and swift action is taken to reduce the impacts of climate
change
on our society. This sense of urgency resulted in the Darwin
declaration, an agreed statement of
intent by delegates.
The
living culture provided by Indigenous Australians
in Darwin
is
strong, with Aboriginal Art a thriving industry, and Indigenous
custodianship
and knowledge of land alive and well. The continued practice of
firestick
farming and biofuel reduction burning provides explosive red sunsets
splashed
across the Darwin
skyline as each day drew to a close. It was not surprising then that
indigenous
themes ran strongly through the conference.
Some key messages included:
a.
Culture
exists, it is not necessarily
disappearing. It is important for educators to help indigenous students
to self
identify (identify the existing elements of culture they already have).
b. Successful
programs that engage
indigenous kids with their environments (Junior Rangers) had elements
of
traditional skills, life skills and Ranger skills.
c. The use
of film and IT in storytelling;
allowing indigenous people to tell their stories from their remote
locations
and share them with the world.
d. Indigenous
people are important
environmental ambassadors and an important resource in the fight to
maintain
biodiversity with the looming threat of climate change; particularly
since
large proportions of Australia’s
biodiversity assets exist on Indigenous held land.
e. Lessons
that western society can learn
from Indigenous people; living the land, notions of connection to land,
and
social connections which are a source of strength during difficult
times.
Some practical ideas for those working at the coal face include:
1. The notion of the ecological handprint (a more positive approach to
using ecological footprints).
2. Use of reflective journals as a sustainability learning tool.
3. Ollie's Island interactive DVD resource to explore sustainability
issues.
Whole
school education for sustainability approaches
were another significant element of the conference, with other States
sharing
how they are engaging with the Sustainable Schools Initiative. It was
great to
see that other states are choosing a similar path to us in engaging
with the
Sustainable Schools Initiative
A youth conference was held in parallel in Darwin, and
included
delegates from 4 states. The Darwin
youth conference was linked to youth events in 4 states which included
the
‘Youth of SA come and have your say’ event (click here to find out
more).
For
those who are interested in delving more deeply
into issues raised at the conference it is planned that presentations
will be
made available on the AAEE website www.aaee.org.au
