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Forum as an annual event in the region to maintain an ongoing commitment to educating our kids about sustainability, it’s importance and relevance to us all, and to provide them with the right tools, information and networks so that they can take action and make a real difference. ‘We had many great sponsors helping to make this happen. The venue itself, Linneaus Estate, was offered as part of Linneaus’ contribution to environmental education. Trust member Phil McMaster was very pleased with the outcome and how it ran and they are eager to support it again in the future.’ The forum was a partnership program between Rous Water, North East Waste Forum, Parks and Wildlife Division, Dorroughby Environmental Education Centre, Cape Byron Marine Park, Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority and Linnaeus. Corporate sponsors were Geolink, Country Energy, SCU Environmental Analysis Labs, and Conacher Travers.
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Learning a new way of living lightly Lou Beaumont Forty-three students and eleven teachers from eleven regional high schools took part in the first Students Using Sustainable Strategies (SUSS) Forum held over two days last week at the Linneaus Estate, Broken Head. Students and teachers participated in a series of workshops which provided them with information and resources on waste, water, energy and biodiversity practice management. It is hoped that attendees of the forum will then take this back to their schools and develop action plans that can be implemented through the School Environmental Management Plans (SEMP) and create a more sustainable school. Workshops were conducted around such subjects as NPWS biodiversity, marine biodiversity, greenhouse, waste and water audits, catchments, bio-diesel, sustainable architecture, plants biodiversity, drama and many more. Also, specific workshops were run for teachers to introduce them to regional environmental educators and the possibility of introduction of SEMP’s into their schools if there were not already environmental management plans in place. With its diversity of activities and mix of students and teachers from so many schools, the forum offered a multitude of learning opportunities within a fun, social structure. Forum goers stayed at Camp Drewe in Lennox Head overnight and engaged in social activities including watching the DVD An Inconvenient Truth, spotlighting with NPWS, and making up a sustainable rap with Lismore rappers Nadine and Zara. The chorus of which went something like this... ‘the ice is melting way too fast, at this rate we just can’t last.’ The organisers of the forum clearly have a mind to what is the most appropriate form of learning for teenagers, so it was no wonder all students were observed to be not only genuinely enjoying themselves, but coming up and going
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THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au Available early Tuesday at: http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 21 #51 TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2007 22,300 copies every week
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Art of war Celebrated Archibald-winning artist Wendy Sharpe will be a guest speaker at FEHVA this year. Wendy was the first woman war artist in Australian history. In 1999 she was sent to East Timor to document the part the Australian troops played in bringing independence to this new nation. Wendy Sharpe describes her experience in Timor as incredibly intense, drawing from morning to night. Her sketchbooks, of around 500 drawings are now in the War Memorial in Canberra. Like a diary they document getting up in the morning, doing drawings at breakfast and right through the day. Some of the drawings are quick, charcoal sketches which Wendy later developed some into large paintings. Her experiences will be highlighted in a panel discussion on Sunday July 1 at 1.45pm with fellow artists Fiona Hall and Anne Zahalka. The three will reveal how a commissioned artist balances political, social and personal responses. Steven Alderton, direccontinued on page 3
Homeless benefit from new centre
A team effort, with Neil Armstrong, Maths teacher from Byron Bay High, assisting Stephanie Payne, a Year 11 student from Alstonville High, in a beachside tree planting to mark the end of the first Schools Using Sustainable Strategies (SUSS) Forum last week.
away with an abundance of sustainable ideas. Students and teachers planted trees together on the last day at two sites on the Linneaus Estate, one a rainforest area and the other a site adjacent to the beach. Kate Adams, Discovery Coordinator for the Northern Rivers Region Parks and Wildlife Division, said, ‘I very much hope the SUSS Forum 2007 was the first of many as it was a huge success with positive feedback from students, teachers, workshop presenters and steer-
ing committee members. The workshop content was broad and diverse and I think the students got heaps out of it. One of the main comments at the open discussion on the last day was “I feel really inspired to go back to school and make some real changes now” and “I realise now that it’s not just a problem for schools but for home life as well and I have learnt that we can all do something as individuals as well as part of a school and/or community”. ‘We hope to run the SUSS
Much excitement was generated at last Wednesday’s homeless breakfast when the remaining goods donated to last year’s successful Beggars Banquet were distributed. The weekly homeless breakfast, hosted by Byron Bay Community Centre, provided a backdrop for the offering of blankets, towels, clothes, toiletries and food items to breakfast participants. Beggars Banquet organisers had decided to save these items for distribution as the weather grew colder. The Beggars Banquet provided a free feast and entertainment to all members of Byron Shire last December, and its aim was to bring community together in a spirit of equality, friendship and celebration. Of particular focus were marginalised and disadvantaged sections of the community, including the homeless. Byron Youth Service Director
Paul Spooner told The Echo, ‘The event was collaboration between existing community services, which included Byron Youth Service, Byron Shire Council, St. Vincent’s de Paul, Byron Emergency Accomcontinued on page 3
Afghanistani refugee Quarsim AlumZadah with bed sheets from the Byron Neighbourhood Resource Centre.